Smart Roads Alliance


The Jackson County Smart Roads Alliance was formed in 2002 in response to a proposal by the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) to build a new $132 million* highway through the middle of our most precious and beautiful rural county. Our goal since 2002 has been to work together as a community and create smart solutions to our traffic and transportation issues. (* $132 million construction cost source: NCDOT 2008)

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North Carolina Department of Transportation


NCDOT is planning to build the $132 million Southern Loop Bypass (NC 107 Connector) from US 23-74 in Balsam to NC 107 between Sylva and Cullowhee - NCDOT project STIP R-4745 is funded and construction will begin in 2016 unless the public demands other solutions.

The Resolutions

The Resolutions, unanimously signed in 2003 by the representative leaders from all four of Jackson County's incorporated towns (Sylva, Dillsboro, Webster, Forest Hills) requested that NCDOT "remove the Southern Loop Bypass from its long-range plan" and instead develop strategies for "improving existing roads as alternatives to the Bypass". A copy of the resolution and a petitions with thousands of Jackson County citizen's signatures were turned in to NCDOT at their annual State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) meetings to stop this proposed new highway. Despite public opposition, NCDOT is moving forward with this massive new highway project.

Other important articles with background information:
2009 - Smart Roads Alliance Position: Jackson County Comprehensive Transportation Plan
2008 - Construction on 23-74/107 connector could begin in 2015
2008 - Smart Roads Files Compaint Over Southern Loop
2008 - Smart Roads Event Discusses Alternatives to Southern Loop
2007 - Leaders, citizens demand input as road plan progresses
2007 - Southern Loop Opposition Mounts
2007 - Burrell, Setzer Plug Plan for Southern Loop (ignoring public outcry and towns' wishes)
2007 - Southern Loop On Priority List, Transportation Advisory Committee Disagrees
2007 - STIP Includes Funding For Portion of Southern Loop
2003 - "Who will decide the future growth of Jackson County?"
2003 - Sylva, Dillsboro Join Official Opposition to Southern Loop (The Resolutions)
2002 - Smart Roads Alliance Formed
2001 - NCDOT Division 14 Engineer Ron Watson updates EDC on 'southern loop' status
2001 - Southern Loop Feasibility Study Approved


The original proposed new highway project would have cost over $230* million to construct ($26 million per mile) and continued to US 23-441 through Webster. The Jackson County Smart Roads Alliance was instrumental in getting the Webster portion of the bypass removed from the R-4745 plan. (* NCDOT 2001 estimate)

LATEST NEWS

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Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Burrell, Setzer plug plan for Southern Loop

From: http://www.smokymountainnews.com/issues/11_07/11_28_07/fr_burrell_setzer.html

11/28/07

Burrell, Setzer plug plan for Southern Loop

By Jennifer Garlesky • Staff Writer

Members of Jackson County Smart Roads Alliance are sifting through paperwork at the North Carolina Department of Transportation Division 14 office in Webster to find out how the Southern Loop road project suddenly appeared on the state priority list.

The group filed a public records request earlier this month to see all the documentation involving the Southern Loop, a four-lane bypass that would run through Jackson County from U.S. 441 to U.S. 23-74 near Scotts Creek.

But members are going to have trouble finding the sheet of paper that many consider the smoking gun.

“There is nothing in here about how the project got on the TIP (Transportation Improvement Program) list,” Joel Setzer, division 14 chief engineer, said about the project’s documentation. “I know how it got on the TIP — at the request of me and Conrad Burrell, Division 14 representative on the state Board of Transportation.”

Both men requested that the project be included in the TIP so that funding could be allocated to begin planning stages, said Setzer.

“Time was passing without any plan to address growth in Jackson County,” he said.

Since the road’s proposal, Smart Road members have been questioning why the project was even proposed.

The Southern Loop has received much opposition by Jackson County residents and county commissioners have gone on the record saying a comprehensive transportation plan should be done that outlines alternatives to the road.

Even though the Smart Roads group now knows who requested the project be included on the TIP, it still wants more questions answered.

“The question still to be answered is why should it be built,” said DJ Gerkin, an attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center in Asheville that is aiding the Smart Roads group.

“Either DOT decided its own reason, or were they persuaded by someone,” he said.

“There are road projects all over Western North Carolina that are not being funded. If DOT puts this on their own agenda, that also tells us something,” said Gerkin.

[The Sylva Herald] Smart Roads Alliance asks DOT for all documents on Southern Loop

November 8, 2007
from The Sylva Herald

Smart Roads asks DOT for all documents on Southern Loop

By Justin Goble

The Jackson County Smart Roads Alliance is using the N.C. Public Records Law to request all documentation pertaining to the Southern Loop bypass from the N.C. Department of Transportation’s Division 14.

The project is currently defined as a “multi-lane freeway” from U.S. 441 south of Dillsboro to U.S. 23/74 east of Sylva.

The request covers a four-year period, beginning with the creation of the Jackson County Transportation Task Force in November 2003 to this year, when the Southern Loop appeared on a regional transportation list for prioritized projects.

“We are the only community-based organization on the task force and feel it is appropriate for the public to be fully informed about the business of our state government,” said Jeanette Evans, a Smart Roads alternate representative to the Transportation Task Force. “In this case, how exactly did the Southern Loop become a ‘priority’ on a regional planning list within a statewide transportation planning process without public knowledge or input?”

The written request, prepared by the Southern Environmental Law Center, was mailed last week to Division 14 DOT representative Conrad Burrell; Division 14 Chief Engineer Joel Setzer; and NCDOT Planner Elizabeth Reddic, who is working with the Transportation Task Force.

When contacted Tuesday (Nov. 6), Setzer said he had received the letter and that all the information the group requested would be provided as soon as possible.

“Of course we’re going to give it to them,” he said. “I don’t have a schedule because they asked for such a comprehensive list. I don’t know how easily some of the information can be obtained.”

“It’s time for the Task Force and its members to be taken seriously by NCDOT,” said Susan Leveille, a representative on the Transportation Task Force. “Smart Roads believes the DOT is following its own agenda without consulting our community. Therefore we are advocating for the use on an independent traffic consultant as the county develops its own comprehensive transportation plan. The Task Force was meant to focus on fixing N.C. 107, not to function as a rubber stamp to advance the Southern Loop.”

The Southern Loop and Corridor K in Graham and Cherokee counties are the most costly transportation projects on the regional priority list. The current cost of the Southern Loop is estimated at more than $400 million, with Corridor K’s last segment (beginning in Andrews) estimated at $700 million in 2003.

The Smart Roads Alliance has been advocating for “alternatives” to the Southern Loop since 2003, when it held its first public program on “access management” for improving traffic flow on N.C. 107. Other presentations have included Dan Burden, a national expert on designing “walkable communities.”

The Smart Roads group plans a public meeting in January. For additional information, visit online at www.smartroads.org.

Welcome to the Smart Roads Alliance blog!

This web log (blog) will serve as a meeting place for Alliance members. Feel free to add comments or discussion here. This post will remain "sticky" to keep this discussion interactive.
"We are for the preservation of our communities.
We are not against growth and development,
nor a reasonable expansion of existing roads.
"

- Lydia Aydlett, Smart Roads Alliance

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,
committed citizens can change the world.
Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."


- Margaret Mead