Smart Roads group seeks county's help

Smart Roads group seeks county's help
The Sylva Herald
January 15, 2009

By Justin Goble

Members of the Smart Roads Alliance are asking county commissioners for help in developing a community-based plan for N.C. 107.

Representatives Susan Leveille and Jeanette Evans went before county officials Monday night (Jan. 5) to discuss developing a plan similar to that being considered for the U.S. 441 corridor in Whittier.

That plan is allowing community members to give their input on guidelines that will help steer development in that area. Commissioners are hoping to have the plan complete sometime this year.

Evans said one of the reasons a plan like that would be better for N.C. 107 is that it would allow members of the community to lay out their vision for that area. Those ideas may be in stark contrast to the proposed N.C. 107/U.S. 23/74 connector that the N.C. Department of Transportation is planning, she said.

"Under the county's current land-use plan, the Department of Transportation can operate under their own assumptions of what the future of Jackson County will look like," Evans said. "We urge you to strengthen that document. You've also been doing some community-based development planning for the U.S. 441 corridor. We think it would be a good idea to expand that to the N.C. 107 corridor. The DOT's plan is vague. They are creating assumptions for the area that we think may be inaccurate."

Evans said if the DOT is allowed to move forward with its plans for a connector, several scenic areas and farmlands would be destroyed by road construction. If community members are given a say in the process, that could be prevented, she said.

Commissioners' Chairman Brian McMahan pointed out that the part of N.C. 107 that Evans was referring to was within Sylva's town limits, which means town officials have jurisdiction in the matter. However, he said the county would help with such an effort.

"It's something we're more than willing to look into," he said. "But this is something you will have to take up with the Sylva town board."

However, Commissioner Joe Cowan said the county's transportation task force has been working on plans to deal with traffic woes along N.C. 107 for almost a decade. They haven't produced an alternative to the DOT's plans, and the alternative proposed by former Sylva Planning Director Jim Aust (which was given public backing by Smart Roads) would be more harmful to the area, he said.

That plan includes a 1-mile connector to join the relocated Hospital Road with Cope Creek Road, which would then allow travelers from the Moody Bottom area to avoid the Business 23/107 intersection. Another connector could give Dillardtown residents access to the same new road. Constructing another mile or so of new road from Cope Creek to Haskett Road could provide travelers with an alternate route to Fairview Elementary and Smoky Mountain High schools. Also included is a connector from Claude Cook Road, off of East Cope Creek, to Songbird Lane in the area of Fairview Road.

Among other features of the plan are a new road to connect Griffin Road to Buchanan Loop – to provide a back entrance to Wal-Mart – and a connection from Cherry Street to Walter Ashe Road to allow Rhodes Cove travelers to enter the highway at a controlled intersection. Another road shown as a connector runs from Blanton Branch Road, one terminus for the 107-23/74 connector, to Cane Creek Road. That route already exists, though a portion of it is unpaved and difficult for vehicles to travel.

The map also shows numerous other proposed connectors. Included are projected roads from Locust Creek to East Cope Creek, Claude Cook Road to the new Blanton Branch-Cane Creek connector, Cope Creek to Lovesfield near Wal-Mart, and North River Road to the back of Wal-Mart.

"The plan that they put up, even a novice like me can conclude that it would cost more money, uproot more people and destroy more homes than DOT's plan," he said. "I've never seen a plan from the transportation task force (as an alternative). The DOT did away with the (western) part of the proposed connector, which cut through Webster. I was personally opposed to that. It would have been bad for the community, and people voiced that opinion. There we have an example of DOT listening to the community. The majority of traffic we're dealing with is going east out to Cullowhee. DOT has competent engineers. They wouldn't create a route that would destroy scenic areas if it's possible for them to avoid that. That's not their job. This whole process has been stagnant for six years. What do we expect DOT to do? Their job is to build roads. I think it's time we get behind them."

Commissioner William Shelton, who represents the county on the transportation task force, said he thought the community should be given time to voice their opinions on the matter. Though the task force has met irregularly in the past, he said the group is meeting more often and getting a lot accomplished.

"People are bringing up valid points about the issue," he said. "Why should we stop listening to the public's concerns on it now when the task force is finally moving forward?"

Evans agreed.

"Smart Roads is currently working with the Regional Planning Office," she said. "We're not trying to stop any process that's ongoing. We're just trying to come up with some alternatives. The DOT is great with quantitative things, but they're not so great at qualitative things. That comes from the community. It's not our job to create solutions. Our job is to create a vision as to what that area should look like, and the DOT should design the roads to fit in with that vision."

After suggesting Evans and Leveille take their suggestions to the Sylva town board, commissioners said they would continue discussing the issue at a later date.