To the Editor:

Smart Roads is a local nonprofit formed in 2002 in response to the proposed Sylva bypass. Our organization had a seat on the Jackson County Transportation Task Force that worked on the Comprehensive Transportation Plan for the county. Smart Roads supports most of the recommendations for Jackson County in the CTP.

However, our organization is concerned that the Task Force was unable to take the time to discuss or evaluate the potential environmental and economic impacts a bypass would have on our community. It is this inadequate evaluation of consequences that causes Smart Roads to believe that it is not in our community’s best interest to support a bypass at this time. This bypass would divert 10,000 to 12,000 vehicles a day from our commercial districts, use $135 million in taxpayer funds, relocate approximately 50 residences and consume a quarter-mile swath of private property, five miles long.

A new bypass has enormous potential to drastically change our community’s traffic patterns, economy and landscape. Conversely, all the other projects located in the CTP are designed to improve and/or expand existing roads, thus improving current traffic patterns and preserving our landscape. DOT’s own modeling showed that the 107 Connector would not solve the congestion on N.C. 107 or at the intersection of Asheville Highway. It is primarily these congestion areas that are cited as reasons for building the 107 Connector.

However, as DOT’s Pam Cook has stated, traffic on N.C. 107 is driven by land use. Land use means Wal-Mart, Ingles, SCC, Lowe’s and Smoky Mountain High School as well as the high traffic at commercial locations on East Main Street, Sylva. It is the high volume daily traffic to and from these locations that causes congestion.

To address this congestion, the CTP includes many proposals aimed directly at improving N.C. 107, East Main Street and the intersection of Asheville Highway. Only when these solutions are implemented and traffic begins to flow more efficiently can we properly begin to evaluate the need for a bypass.

One of the arguments for building a bypass is the assumption that it will be needed to accommodate Western Carolina University’s projected growth. Given the history of enrollment at WCU there is considerable uncertainty about how this will actually unfold. Distance learning will be a major element in this growth. (Distance learning students enroll in online and off campus courses and seldom come to Cullowhee.)

Another potential impact of the bypass not evaluated by the Task Force is the interchange it would require at the intersection of N.C. 107. In a private conversation with NCDOT’s Pam Cook, she stated, “There will be a separate grade interchange that includes clover leafs and/or ramps.” This sounds like an overpass.

Lastly, the Task Force was not allowed to explore transit and rail options when solving for traffic problems in our community. This is because DOT’s traffic model cannot model for transit and rail options in rural areas like ours. This seems a bit out of touch with even today’s concerns, to say nothing of concerns of 2035, the year for the model.

These are just a few of the reasons why Smart Roads believes that the 107 Connector should be omitted from the CTP. Other reasons include the dislocation of residents and communities, the destruction of farmland and open spaces, environmental degradation, negative impacts on air quality and human health, and a continued reliance on foreign oil. Further explanation of these factors can be read at our blog at www.smartroads.org.

A decision will be made soon, with NCDOT weighing heavily the vote of the incorporated towns and the county commissioners. Please contact all your town and county leaders and let them know how you feel about the proposed 107 Connector.

To learn more you can visit www.regiona.org and click on Economic Development then Transportation Planning to view the Jackson CTP in its entirety. Or please visit www.ncdot.gov and select Jackson County. The 107 Connector is project number is R-4745. Select more info and then click on the image for a detailed draft map of the 107 Connector.

Jeannette Evans

Cullowhee