February 21, 2008
Letters To The Editor
Sylva needs safer roads
To the Editor:
"Not new roads, smarter roads" reads a popular bumper sticker. The
building of the Southern Loop is under debate, but one fact that will
not be disputed is the need for smarter, safer roads.
As a Franklin resident who spends much time in the Sylva/Cullowhee
area, I am often told by Jackson locals that Franklin is an odd and
even scary town. If Franklin is shady or creepy, I have become
acclimated to it so as not to notice. I do know that I find Sylva, from
N.C. 116 to downtown to be very scary when it is dark and raining. When
Jackson County residents divulge to me their negative feelings toward
Franklin, I say, "hey, at least Franklin has reflectors on its roads."
They seem to stop and reflect, their faces flashing back agreement.
I am terrified driving through a dim, damp Sylva. The painted lane
markers are concealed underneath the reflective surface of rainwater.
If the stripes do reflect the light of headlights, they are not
discernible against the striped myriad of reflected tail-lights,
headlights, traffic lights, store lights and so on. Drivers must strain
to know their locations in the lanes and must trust that the drivers
around them know where they themselves are. Motorists drive into the
lanes of opposing traffic, thinking they are in a turn-lane, thereby
presenting ample opportunity for collisions. Now isn't that scary?
Come on Sylva. Make N.C. 107 a smarter, safer road by making the lanes
clearly visible in all weather situations.
Until Sylva installs road reflectors, I must say if I were to choose
between Franklin and Sylva, Sylva is scarier, at least with respect to
traffic.
Thomas Berger
Franklin
Fix is in' on Southern Loop
To the Editor:
Well it seems that the forces of "progress" are back at it again on
this Southern Loop highway that they are determined to ram down
people's throats. This time, because they were hammered with so much
resistance on their last foray, they have taken the Washington, D.C.,
approach of trying to sneak it in through backroom deals and "private"
meetings. The Smart Roads organization is trying to fight this erosion
of Jackson County, but they need help. I know that if your house is not
on the chopping block this seems like no big deal, but remember, they
can always come for your home on their next pork project. This road is
desired by a select few that will derive financial and political
benefit from a highway ripping a gash in the mountainsides of Sylva and
Webster. Make no mistake, there are some of your elected officials that
are all about this road happening, and it would be prudent to find out
whom, and make sure that they do not get re-elected – ever. They are
putting the wants of a very few over the wants of the community, and
using the power of eminent domain as a crowbar to break in and steal
people's land. In the case of my family, (it's) land we have had for
more than 100 years. Follow the cigar smoke, folks, and find the fat
man.
People have come to Jackson County for decades to escape congestion,
pollution and overcrowding. But now we have some that wish to inject
those things into this beautiful mountain oasis. This road will be of
great benefit to the massive expansion of Western Carolina University.
It will also help out the "mega-bucks" communities being developed
around Bear Lake and in Cashiers. But it is zero benefit to the local
residents. The locals will get the shaft, as usual, in a nice, pretty
package tied up with a bow. Drive up to where I live in New Jersey if
you want to see what you are going to be getting, or drive down to
Atlanta or to Raleigh. Is that what you want? This road will destroy
untold acres of pristine mountain land, and it will destroy the homes,
dreams and memories of hundreds of native citizens who just happen to
be in the way of a few greedy people's "progress." Stand up and fight.
This affects all of us. Don't allow backroom deals and sleazy politics
to destroy something as grand as our mountains. Once you send in the
bulldozers, there is no getting it back.
Frank Huguelet
Pennsville, N.J.
Truely written by someone who only vacations here - not by someone who lives here. Just try taking a 1 hr lunch break and having to travel 107 from one end of town to the other and you would see that you had better eat really fast if you have any chance of getting back to work on time!!! Sure hope you didn't need to run any errands while you were at it - there just is not any time left when it takes you 20 minutes each way!!! We need some answer to the traffic problems that 107 is currently experiencing!
ReplyDelete"We need some answer to the traffic problems that 107 is currently experiencing!"
ReplyDeleteFix 107 is the answer. Now. Not build a new multi-lane Southern Loop bypass highway sometime in the future. Not spend millions of taxpayer's dollars studying how to build the Southern Loop rather than looking at improvements to 107 that will solve our current problems. Building a new road does not fix what is wrong with 107.
How about demanding DOT utilize some proven traffic easing solutions combined with the ability to take side streets to avoid being held hostage to 107. DOT knows how to fix 107, they just haven't so far and they sure have had plenty of time since they were first asked.
And DOT won't fix 107, so long as they want to build the Southern Loop and want you to be frustrated enough to encourage them to do it. In the end they'll say, "it was the community's idea to build the highway, not ours".
It's all too obvious DOT has their own agenda with this proposed massive new highway construction/destruction project. The process we're in to make improvements to our roads was created and controlled long ago by DOT. The dice are loaded. If we are to plan for our future, we must take control of the process. Otherwise, we're at the mercy of Raleigh and their minions.
The Jackson County Smart Roads Alliance advocates for our entire community to be an equal partner in the process of improving our roads and increasing our transportation options, and not to leave these important decisions only in the hands of politicians or engineers. We deserve at least that much.
Anyone that thinks this Southern loop will make 107 less congested has no clue of why it is congested in the first place. All the major businesses and fast food and grocery stores line 107 from one end to the other. To get to main street you use 107. To get to wal-Mart you use 107. This loop will only mean that Friday afternoon will be better as the WCU kids will have a faster route home. Other than that, 107 will remain the same. Sylva should have had zoning laws to prevent all the businesses from building all up on the road like they have. That is the issue and it won't be solved by a Southern Loop. That is the big red herring in this whole argument.
ReplyDelete