Do you have something to say about highway projects in Cherokee County and the rest of North Carolina? The N.C. Department of Transportation wants to hear from you.
The DOT is identifying projects for its long-range capital plan and wants citizens to participate in the process.
Public drop-in sessions are taking place in the 14 highway divisions across the state over the coming weeks.
The session for far-western North Carolina – including Cherokee, Clay and Graham counties – is set for 4-6 p.m. Wednesday, July 10, at Southwestern Community College’s Burrell Building on College Drive in Sylva.
These will be informal gatherings in which citizens can share their interests in transportation projects and ask questions of local DOT staff. Locations and times for all meetings can be found at ncdot.gov/initiatives-policies/Transportation/stip/development/Pages/public-involvement.aspx.
People can also offer their comments via the website or through an interactive online map during the public comment period, which runs through July 17. The interactive map is at live.metroquestsurvey.com/?u=oq8i8y#!/?p=web&pm=dynamic&popup=IntroPopup.
The map highlights the projects the DOT seeks public input on. Clicking on a highlighted project results in a popup window summarizing the project and asking the viewer to vote whether the project is a priority or not and allowing comments.
In Cherokee County, those projects are:
- N.C. 294 roadway modernization between U.S. 64/74 and Oakgrove Road.
- U.S. 19/64/74/129 highway upgrade between Murphy and Ranger. Project would extend turn lanes and shoulders, and improve sight lines.
- Construct a sidewalk along one side of Texana Road.
- Modernize Joe Brown Highway to include standard lane widths and paved shoulders.
- U.S. 19/74/129 from the Hiwassee River to Regal Road to modernize roadway.
- N.C. 141 (Slow Creek Road) in Peachtree to modernize roadway and bring to standards with paved shoulders, and bike and pedestrian facilities.
- U.S. 64 from Peachtree to Hayesville, widening from two to four lanes.
- U.S. 74 from Andrews to Topton, widen highway from two lanes to multi-lanes and add paved shoulders.
Two controversial traffic circle projects – one in downtown Murphy and the other on the four lane – are not included in the survey. The downtown traffic circle is expected to be completed over the summer, whereas the four-lane traffic circle is on pause and under evaluation.
“Public input is a key component in developing the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP), which identifies construction and funding schedules for state transportation projects over a 10-year period. The STIP in development will cover 2026-35,” the DOT announced in a release.
Projects included in the STIP are funded in three categories, cascading from Statewide Mobility to Regional Impact to Division Needs. The Statewide Mobility tier selection process is 100 percent data based.
Planning organizations and the DOT’s 14 Highway Divisions assign local input points that account for 30 percent of the project scores in the Regional Impact tier and 50 percent of the Division Needs project scores.
The DOT released the Statewide Mobility scores and funded projects list on May 24. The Regional Impact funded projects list is expected to be released in late summer/early fall, after the upcoming public comment period.
A comment period for the Division Needs phase will be held in the fall and a draft of the 2026-35 STIP is expected to be released in early 2025.
Details: Visit ncdot.gov.