Transportation task force looks at road deficiencies

Transportation task force looks at road deficiencies
The Sylva Herald
February 5, 2009

By Justin Goble

Members of the Jackson County Transportation Task Force began looking at road deficiencies in the county during their meeting last Thursday (Jan. 29).

N.C. Department of Transportation Planner Pam Cook told members of the task force that DOT is looking at where and when traffic reached capacity in Jackson County in 2008 and trying to predict where those problems will be in 2035.

In its model, Cook said the DOT is looking at the county’s roads at three given time periods on an average day – 6 a.m. to 10 a.m.; 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.

According to the DOT’s observations, Cook said the biggest problem with congestion in the county is along N.C. 107 from N.C. 116 to Asheville Highway in the 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. periods. At those times, Cook said the road is nearing its capacity for traffic, which is creating congestion for county motorists to deal with.

Midday traffic is also heavy, said DOT Engineer Jamie Wilson, adding that there is probably as much, if not more, traffic along the roads during the 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. period as during the others being studied. However, traffic is steadier in the middle of the day, whereas the morning and evening hours usually see a spike in traffic as people go to and leave work.

“During the morning and evening times, you may have a one-hour overload on the system,” Wilson said. “The midday period is more consistent. You may not have a big overload, but it’s a good amount of traffic along N.C. 107 the whole time.”

Greenways representative Allan Grant agreed, saying that congestion can’t fully be blamed on the layout of the road during those periods.

“That has more to do with business hours,” he said. “Everyone’s going and coming from work and it’s creating that spike.”

Smart Roads Alliance member Susan Leveille said that’s what DOT needs to deal with in its planning.

“That’s what we keep hearing concerns about,” Leveille said. “That spike is what people are worried about. If we want to address the concerns of the people, we have to address that spike in traffic.”

Leveille asked if the plan proposed by former Sylva Planning Director Jim Aust had been considered by DOT as a means to alleviate congestion at those times.

That plan includes a 1-mile connector to join the relocated Hospital Road with Cope Creek Road, which would 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 proposed Southern Loop, to Cane Creek Road. That route already exists, though a portion of it is unpaved and difficult for many 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.

Cook said it could be included as a proposed option when DOT starts looking more in depth at the road deficiencies and begins formulating solutions for them.

In 2035, Cook said DOT is projecting for traffic to greatly increase along the county’s roads, given the predicted population increase and Western Carolina University’s expansion to at least 15,000 on-campus students.

Because of that, Cook said DOT is predicting that the problems county drivers face will increase if nothing is done to alleviate congestion, and traffic will go over capacity on N.C. 107 in the morning and evening hours. That congestion is spilling onto parts of other roads as well, with portions of West Main Street, Webster Road, Asheville Highway, Cope Creek Road, Little Savannah Road and Centennial Drive (on Western Carolina University’s campus) nearing capacity as well, she said.

Midday traffic, though not as heavy, is also expected to be at capacity on those roads, Cook said.

Commissioner William Shelton, who represents county officials on the transportation task force, asked if DOT has accounted for the expansion planned along U.S. 441 from Whittier to Cherokee. With a sewer system set to be completed in the area in the next year, he said there is a good amount of development expected to take place.

“With all of the developments there, are we sure that the roads will be adequate?” Shelton asked.

Wilson said he thought that it might be slightly congested as motorists get off the exit from U.S. 74 onto U.S. 441, but that would be the worst problem along that road.

WCU representative Pat Brown also asked if DOT had thought about adding a westbound entrance ramp off Asheville Highway onto U.S. 74. That would keep some traffic from going through downtown Sylva to get onto the four-lane, she said.

DOT District Engineer Joel Setzer said the idea is currently being considered, and officials are determining what the cost of such a project will be.

Task force members will meet again this month to discuss the benefits of bike and walking paths and how they might affect traffic in the county.