The Southern Highland Reader

CULLOWHEE–In a letter published in this week’s Smoky Mountain News, Jeannette Evans, owner of Cullowhee’s Mad Batter and principal in the area transportation advocacy group Smart Roads, has a look at where the “southern loop” issue stands.

A clip:

A new bypass has enormous potential to drastically change our community’s traffic patterns, economy and landscape. Conversely, all the other projects located in the CTP are designed to improve and/or expand existing roads, thus improving current traffic patterns and preserving our landscape. DOT’s own modeling showed that the 107 Connector would not solve the congestion on N.C. 107 or at the intersection of Asheville Highway. It is primarily these congestion areas that are cited as reasons for building the 107 Connector.

Read her letter here.

STATEWIDE–The Charlotte Observer editorialized today that Gov. Bev Perdue has done good things to make state government more trustworthy and transparent, but that when it comes to the NC Department of Transportation board – a notorious gathering spot for high-dollar political contributors – “some things never change”.

Here’s an excerpt:

Perdue’s approach was to change the Board of Transportation from a decision-making board with the power to approve highway and other transportation projects to a planning board where members could not use their influence to channel roads, bridges or intersections to benefit themselves or their associates. That’s a significant improvement over the old system, which all but invited the board to reward its members, though it still means members make decisions about planning.

But Perdue’s plan did not alter one time-honored, if that’s the right adjective, tradition. She still appoints campaign contributors to the Board of Transportation. Last week she named five members to the board: Sam Halsey of Jefferson, David Burns of Laurinburg, Gary Ciccone of Fayetteville, Ronnie Wall of Burlington and Stan White of Nags Head. All are accomplished business and civic leaders. And election records show all have been contributors to Perdue’s campaigns, though not all in large amounts.

Read the editorial here.

REGIONAL–A draft list of road-building priorities for the southern mountains, released last week, placed a Cashiers crossroads roundabout at the very top, but also included several projects designed to relieve congestion around Sylva.

The 25-project list, compiled by the Southwestern Rural Planning Organization’s Technical Coordinating Committee, plays a significant role in helping prioritize state road building efforts. It has been released for comment, and can be viewed at this address: http://www.regiona.org/rpo.htm

Planning officials hope to replace the heavily-traveled stoplight intersection of NC 107 and US 64 in southern Jackson County with a sizeable roundabout. The roundabout solution was much discussed during the 2008 Mountain Landscapes Initiative as part of a larger, cohesive plan for development around the center of the popular, unincorporated village of Cashiers.

Sylva-area projects on the list are additional improvements to Cope Creek Rd., which connects NC 107 with US 23/74; improvement of NC 107 south from its southern intersection with “old 107″ to its intersection with NC 281 at Tuckasegee, and further consideration of the much-discussed “southern loop” — half of which would connect NC 107 south to US 23/74, effectively allowing Western Carolina University traffic to bypass Sylva.

Missing the list, but also being considered, are these Jackson County projects (among others):

• Improvements to NC 107 from its intersection with Business 23 (Kel-Save) to near Lovedale Rd. (Ingles Area). “Improve the current 5-lane divided facility to divided boulevard facility with median from US 23 Business to south of Lovedale Road. Intersections would also be improved during this upgrade.”

• Improvements to Business 23 from Harris Regional Hospital to its intersection with NC 107 (Kel-Save). “Widen Asheville Highway from a 2-lane facility to a 4-lane divided boulevard facility with a median from NC 107 to US 23.”

Read more from the Cashiers Crossroads Chronicle, here.

STATEWIDE-It’s been a century or so since North Carolina was in the toll road business.

But various influences, including growing public sentiment for user-based taxation, and an apparent state government desire to divest itself of some road-building responsibility, is changing that.

But officials with the N.C. Turnpike Authority say they have no projects planned for the mountains, reports Mark Barrett at the Asheville Citizen-Times.

An excerpt:

The project “marks a new era in transportation in North Carolina,” [State Transportation Secretary Gene] Conti said in a statement last month. “With dwindling transportation revenues and more fuel-efficient vehicles, the state needed another tool in its toolbox to deliver megaprojects like the Triangle Expressway. By the community choosing to toll the expressway, we will be able to deliver this project decades sooner.”

Like many states, North Carolina has been looking for different ways to finance highway construction as the cost of projects has outstripped revenue from the gas tax.

Joyner said the state and nation may eventually replace or supplement gas taxes with technology that allows government to track vehicle movements and charge motorists for miles driven on any public road.

Here’s the whole story.

REGIONAL–Drive to Atlanta much? Me either, anymore.

But the one constant in that two-and-a-half jaunt is change, and that change isn’t going away anytime soon.

The Georgia Department of Transportation recently told an open house crowd of some 250 people at Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School about its plans to widen US 441 to four lanes from Clayton to the North Carolina line, south of Franklin. It’s a 7.5 mile stretch, and the road work will cost about $110 million.

The route is a major connector between the Atlanta area and the Smokies.

Here’s an excerpt from a story in the Highlands Highlander:

The plans include creating a four-lane highway to the North Carolina state line with a 20-foot raised median. Pope said the original plans included a 20-foot raised median through Dillard, but that has been changed to a 6-foot median. She added that the goal was to “minimize the impact on businesses.”

Here’s the whole piece.