A car flipped upside down on Providence Road in Waxhaw on Friday, Aug. 28, knocking out the traffic light at one of the town's busiest intersections and forcing police to direct traffic by hand during the morning rush.
The Waxhaw Police Department said it responded to the crash at approximately 7:30 a.m. at the point where Kensington Drive turns into Cuthbertson Road on Providence Road, designated NC-16. Queen City News first reported the incident, citing video showing the vehicle resting on its roof.
Officers were manually directing traffic at the darkened signal while the scene was cleared. The department advised drivers to avoid the area.
The Waxhaw Police Department had not confirmed by Friday morning what caused the rollover or whether anyone was injured.
A corridor already under construction
The crash site sits at an intersection where two road-widening projects converge. The North Carolina Department of Transportation plans to widen NC-16 to multiple lanes between Rea Road and Waxhaw Parkway under Project U-5769, with right-of-way acquisition scheduled for 2026 and construction slated to begin in 2030, according to a Town of Waxhaw capital infrastructure document.
Kensington Drive itself is the subject of a separate town-administered widening project, EB-5950, which was in the utility relocation phase as of September 2025. That project aims to improve east-west mobility between NC-16 and Connells Point Avenue by adding turn lanes and pedestrian improvements, with construction scheduled through 2026.
Waxhaw Police Chief Dexter Wilson has voiced broader concerns about crash-prone intersections in the town's road network. In a Charlotte Weekly story about school traffic safety on Aug. 10, Wilson said a nearby intersection at NC 75 and Old Providence Road is "a very bad intersection for wrecks." He was describing that location, not the Providence Road and Kensington Drive site where Friday's rollover occurred.
No public statement from the Waxhaw Police Department specifically addressing Friday's crash had been released as of publication.
Drivers who use the Providence Road and Kensington Drive corridor can contact the Waxhaw Police Department at 3620 Providence Road for updates on signal restoration.
