The widening of N.C. 28 in Franklin, from Riverview Street in the downtown area to Sanderstown Road on the north side of the county, was the subject of a recent Department of Transportation hearing.
The degree of improvement - whether turning lanes, grading, banking and work on curves are needed - was discussed.

“Most supported the improvement,” says Joel Setser, of the Department of Transportation. “But we do look at the do-nothing alternative.”

The project is not definite yet and is still in the planning stages. According to County Commissioner Janet Greene, decisions on roadwork are made by the DOT Commissioners can make requests, but have no power over the DOT decisions that are made.

Whether or not curves will be straightened, which Setser says will improve the visibility of headlights on curves and hills, is still being debated.

“If we just widen the road and don’t improve the vertical alignment, are we leaving a safety problem? But do we need the expense and disruption of vertical alignment?” he asks.

The widening would take place in two phases. The first part would go from the Depot Street to Riverview Street and extend to The Village Trader. This phase is slated to begin in five fiscal years if approved. The part of N.C. 28 that reaches from the Village Trader to Sanderstown Road may be widened in seven fiscal years.

The first phase of the widening will take about 12 to 18 months.

“We don’t know exactly because the improvements haven’t been decided on yet,” Setser says. Widening to Sanderstown Road could take six months. If vertical alignment is decided on, the project may last over two years.

Sanderstown Road will not be widened, and Setser says that if the proposed portion of N.C. 28 is widened it does not necessarily mean the rest of the road will later be widened.

The widening of N.C. 28 has been proposed by DOT before.

“It’s the same project that has always been on the books, the limits have just been reduced,” Setser says.

Franklin Town Administrator Mike Decker says the widening will help reroute trucks. He describes the current path that trucks must take through Franklin, through curves, left turns, stop lights and hills. If N.C. 28 is widened, Decker says, trucks can travel from the newly extended Depot Street, onto the widened Riverview Street and N.C. 28. However, Decker concedes that the trucks that go through downtown often do so because they must make local deliveries, and those going on to Cherokee or Bryson City could already take the four lane through Dillsboro.

Decker cannot be sure whether increased traffic on N.C. 28 would cause an increase in growth in that part of the county.

“There are more logical places for development than along the 28 corridor, but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen.”

Decker, like Setser, supports the widening. “The road is narrow by today’s standards.”

However, not everyone believes widening the road will be an improvement.

“Roads are engineered with an interest in safety, but people do go faster on larger roads and that just makes accidents worse,” says Brownie Newman of the Western North Carolina Alliance.

“The DOT needs to see that the standards for roads in other parts of the state don’t match the mountains and they need to be sensitive to the lay of the land here,” Newman says.

Mark Cantrell of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says there are environmental concerns associated with the widening because many tributaries of the Little Tennessee pass through the area.

“One of our possible concerns is for the direct impacts of route construction to wetlands and streams. Problems can come from erosion and sedimentation during construction, storm water runoff and erosion following construction,” he said.

And an even greater worry is indirect damage.

“The widening could potentially change traffic patterns and driving distances and lead to uncontrolled commercial and residential growth north of Franklin, making it look like 441 South,” Cantrell said.

Aside from environmental problems, Cantrell says there are cultural resource concerns, such as the impact widening would have on the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians cultural heritage resources.

Wary of having quality of life in the area destroyed, Marti Donaldson, owner of the River Ridge Bed and Biscuit on N.C. 28, who will lose land when the road is widened says, “I’m not happy about it. The amount of 18-wheelers is already overwhelming. Widening will just give them more access and more speed, which is not the answer,” she said.

“It ruins the [rural character] every time we add more asphalt and it ruins the reason people come here,” said Donaldson.

Comments in support or opposition to this project can be made by writing the project engineer, Edwin Peters, 1548 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, N.C., 27699-1548.

 

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