Goin’ Down the Road Feelin’ Mad
Lack of 421 detour, sidewalks for Old East King irks council

By Frank Ruggiero

The Boone Town Council took the U.S. 421 widening plan for a test drive at last Friday’s special meeting with the N.C. Department of Transportation (DOT).

Among the topics raised were those of right of way acquisitions, detour provisions and sidewalks for the 1.1-mile project, spanning from Hardin Street to N.C. 194.

Seated at the table, from left, Boone Town Council member Stephen Phillips, NCDOT Division 11 traffic engineer Dean Ledbetter, division engineer Mike Pettyjohn, division construction engineer Trent Beaver and district engineer Michael Poe discuss traffic and road improvement matters at a May 2 meeting. Photo by Frank Ruggiero

Along with council members and DOT officials were N.C. Rep. Cullie Tarleton, Larry Turnbow representing N.C. Sen. Steve Goss, Appalachian State University officials and members of the business community.

Marvin Weant, member of Grace Lutheran Church, which is located in the project area, expressed dismay, saying the DOT’s project plans have repeatedly changed.

“Every time I get a set of plans, your right of way is getting closer to the church,” he said, adding that until the DOT offers final construction plans set in stone, the church council will reject any offers made on the church’s right of way.

“We don’t want to impede [the project], and that’s the reason we offered the easement to start with, because there’s no way you can start the construction without the easement because of overhead utilities.”

Mayor pro tem Lynne Mason asked if all utilities would be buried by the project’s completion, anticipated for 2011-12, and DOT Division 11 engineer Mike Pettyjohn said the plan is for them to remain overhead. To do so would require discussions with the concerned utility companies and financial assistance from the town.

Back on the topic of right of way acquisition, Pettyjohn said the DOT has been working on the matter for several months, with appraisals being completed by a Greensboro firm.

“Appraisals are starting to come in, and we anticipate we’ll start negotiations with property owners [this] week,” he said, adding that displaced property owners and tenants will then be told when to vacate the property. “And from our standpoint, depending on what part of the project, some may get more time for one area than the other.”

Trent Beaver, division construction engineer, said he’s met with several business owners, and there is leeway in terms of time, and most should be able to remain where they are through the end of 2008. Since the DOT plans to award the project bid by April 2009, properties must be vacated by April 1, he said.

“The town is also going to be real clear when people lose property, in terms of making sure they have accurate information on if they have to meet any additional standards with the town…” Mason said.

Pettyjohn said the DOT tries to help with relocations, to help displaced owners find comparable places to relocate. Mason said the hardship for tenants renting property can be more difficult, because they’re not compensated for losing their location. Pettyjohn agreed that such cases are difficult.

Dan Meyer, president of the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce, said a concern raised in the chamber’s last transportation committee meeting is the lack of an official detour. “There is a detour, though, and that’s going to be Bamboo, Wilson Ridge Road, and back to Deerfield,” he said. “Everybody coming from the southeast part of the county is going to take that route, because they’re not going to go to 105.”

People heading in the other direction will take that route, as well, Meyer said, and traffic already bottlenecks at the intersection of Wilson Ridge and Bamboo and Deerfield roads. With this in mind, Meyer asked if the DOT could provide any type of provision to ease the high volume in that particular area.

Dean Ledbetter, division traffic engineer, said that since the project bid will be awarded in April, “There’s no way we’ll be able to get a project designed, funded and implemented by the time [the 421] project starts.”

He said the DOT will try to lighten the burden for high school traffic, but that will not be a detour for the project.

“I’m not calling it a detour,” Meyer said. “It is the route people will take.”

Council member Stephen Phillips suggested adding a turn lane, and Weant said there should be traffic lights at Bamboo and Deerfield, where they intersect Wilson Ridge. Phillips asked how long it could take to have an intersection signalized, and Ledbetter said there is typically a 60-day minimum. If funding is in hand, it could move as quickly as 30 days, but rights of way and utilities must be taken into consideration.

Mason said those roads will undoubtedly experience an increase in traffic, especially with the Blue Ridge Parkway detour from repairs to the Goshen Creek Bridge. “That area has become the detour for the Parkway project and will become, even if it’s not an official detour, one for the [421] project,” she said.

The Parkway anticipates the bridge project to be completed by the end of the year.

“A signal does not solve every problem, I’ll be the first to tell you that,” Pettyjohn said. “In a lot of cases, it creates other issues.”

Ledbetter said that the possibility of obtaining rights of way and funding the project during the available amount of time is not feasible. “I agree that it will help alleviate congestion, but it won’t be feasible for this time period,” he said.

Another matter that troubled council members is the lack of sidewalks to be included in the old East King Street improvements for traffic to the new high school. Mason said many students will access the high school on foot, and that sidewalks are purely a safety matter.

Pettyjohn said the DOT has predominantly been working with the county on this part of the project, and two designs have been drafted – one with sidewalks and bicycle lanes, and one with neither. He said there is currently no mechanism to purchase the rights of way necessary for sidewalks and bike lanes, and that the county was informed that rights of way would have to be purchased on the county dollar, were the DOT to build the features.

Pettyjohn said the rights of way necessary to include those features amount to $300,000. “Working with the county, they asked that right of way be held to as much minimum as they could, because of impact on their budget, and the design we went with is one without sidewalks or bike lanes,” he said.

Council member Liz Aycock was not satisfied.

“How many kids have to die on the way to school to fund a $300,000 right of way?” she asked, also saying the notion of no sidewalks or bicycle lanes leading to and from what will be the county’s only high school infuriates her. “There has to be another solution to this, because this is not acceptable.”

Blake Brown, director of Boone Public Works, had maps on hand to illustrate some points. He said on this particular side of road, the rights of way vary from 30 to 60 feet, with 60 feet in the section in question. Brown said this equates to 20,000 square feet of right of way needed from four property owners.

A road shift might be necessary to accommodate sidewalks near existing structures, and Brown estimated cost of the shift, curb and gutter, and sidewalks would come to about $180,000.

Considering cut-and-fill lines along the way, Brown estimated a total cost of between $200,000 and $225,000.
Phillips asked if the four property owners had been approached, and Pettyjohn said they haven’t. Mason observed that when permits for the new high school were issued, the sidewalk issue was discussed at length.
“It looks like we’ll have to go back … to make sure the sidewalk issue is resolved,” she said. “The town is willing to work with the county on this. When this enhancement of old East King Street occurs, it’s important we have a plan in place, but not make it to the point where you can’t put sidewalks in.”