Jackson County commissioners threw their support behind safer, wider bike lanes along N.C. 107 in Tuckaseegee after a contingent of bikers rode to the commissioners’ meeting to make their appeal.

A four-mile stretch of N.C. 107 south of Western Carolina University currently has no bike lane and no shoulder to speak of, earning it the nickname of “The Gauntlet” among students and faculty that ride it.

“The name should tell you what we think about that stretch of road,” said Chris Cooper, a political science professor who spoke up for the bike lane at a county commissioner meeting last month.

The narrow, winding section is slated for an overhaul by the N.C. Department of Transportation, including wider lanes, shoulders and straightening of curves. The roadwork will span a four-mile stretch of N.C. 107 from the intersection of Old Cullowhee Road to N.C. 281.

The plans call for a four-foot paved shoulder and four-foot grass shoulder. The bike contingency wants to scale back on the grass swath and up the paved shoulder to six feet.

“People get out of the lane a good bit,” Cooper said. “A six foot lane would provide a lot more wiggle room.”

Jackson commissioners took little convincing to support the cause.

“This is something I definitely support,” said Commissioner William Shelton. “Anything we can do to make the county more friendly to bicyclists.”

The road work could pave the way for the speed limit to be upped from 45 miles per hour to 55, even more reason for a wider designated bike lane, said Jeanette Evans, a business owner in Cullowhee and biker. The N.C. 107 corridor sees heavy construction traffic going to and from Cashiers as well, which is scary to bikers, she said.

The bikers also spoke against any plans for a rumble strip.

Commissioner Chairman Brian McMahan gave the bikers kudos for riding their bikes all the way to the county meeting in Sylva. “You got my support if nothing else for that,” McMahan said.

The county commissioners drafted a formal resolution calling for six-foot bike lanes to send to the DOT.

— By Becky Johnson