‘Is this a done deal?’ Yes, it is.
Murphy – The N.C. Department of Transportation invited the community to First Baptist Church on Thursday night for what was meant to be a public discussion about two roundabouts scheduled for construction.
Local residents and business owners were invited to learn more about the long-proposed roundabout in the middle of downtown, as well as one being built on U.S. 64 West East at the new side road being built next to The Local Market across from Monte Alban Plaza.
The church’s fellowship hall housed 25 DOT engineers, with about the same number of locals filling seats for the 6 p.m. presentation. The DOT’s agenda was to provide information on the roundabouts, an issue that has galvanized the community in Facebook forums.
The structure of the meeting gave 30 minutes or so to the DOT to present their information, then an open mic question-and-answer session for 30 minutes. The engineers originally planned to repeat the presentation at 7 p.m., but two things waylaid their good intentions.
One, the two DOT presenters took nearly 30 minutes each, leaving no time for the promised Q&A at the end of the first session. And, two, only one person arrived for the 7 p.m. meeting. As the first group had just begun asking questions, she agreed to forgo the presentation, saying she came for the Q&A anyway.
Justin Bansen – a principal engineer with Kittelson & Associates, the company contracted by the DOT to help design the roundabouts – opened the program by offering a restless audience a 28-minute PowerPoint presentation discussing the safety features and theories behind roundabouts.
Immediately following his presentation, the DOT’s Mike Reese, congestion management regional engineer, proceeded with his PowerPoint talk on reduced conflict intersections, or RCI. The audience began to vocalize dissatisfaction as time ticked closer to the end of the meeting and the DOC was still presenting.
“What’s this got to with our roundabouts?” somebody called out from the audience while Reese presented slides on different types of RCI constructions.
At one point, Reese showed an RCI in Kansas, which drew a collective sigh and somebody saying, “We’re not in Kansas.” Nobody laughed.
Jeannette White, the DOT’s design construction engineer and a resident of Haywood County, attempted to navigate the Q&A. White offered the microphone to the first questioner, Cherokee County Commissioner Ben Adams, who waved it away during an emphatic discourse about the futility of the U.S. 64 roundabout.
“You keep saying it’s an intersection,” he said. “It’s not an intersection. Everybody wants to know, could this have been solved with a community meeting?”
Several community members agreed by shouting, “Yes,” to which Wanda Austin, division engineer and highest-ranking DOT employee present, took over in an attempt to both educate and assuage the community.
“Sometimes we use public involvement,” Austin said in response to the frustration many residents felt about the project moving forward without community discussion or input. “But sometimes we don’t. We often make changes and people don’t know until they are implemented, and there is a sign. This is no different.”
Commissioner Cal Stiles introduced another grievance concerning how taxpayer money was being spent.
“How much is the roundabout project costing?” he asked the now four members who stood at the front, prepared to field questions. White responded, “We have no estimate at this time but we can get the numbers to you.”
A communal groan filled the church’s fellowship hall as Commissioner Jan Griggs overlapped the speaker, asking, “This is what everybody in this room wants to know. Is this a done deal or are we in this room to negotiate?”
White responded, “It’s coming; it will be installed,” to which the crowd erupted into sidebar conversations expressing frustration. White was able to wrestle back order when she responded to a question about Class A license and if trucks would be able to traverse the roundabouts.
“Great question,” the always polite White responded, handing the mic to Reese, who assured the group that the roundabouts were designed to handle WB67 trucks.
With the room quieted, White briefly discussed the U.S. 64 roundabout and how it will reduce fatalities.
“But we don’t have fatalities,” several people shouted, “not in that area.”
Jim Nagle, a community galvanizer against the roundabouts, spoke at length about his informal survey of 32 business owners.
“There were 13 agin’ it, and 19 for it,” Nagle said. He conceded that downtown development director Laura Lachance changed his mind on the subject.
“Have you seen the designs?” he asked the group, who answered, “No.” Nagle continued. “It can make sense. It’s going to add parking, not take away from it.” He then turned toward the DOT and added. “But we would have known all this if you had taken time to present this to us and given us a chance to learn about it.”
Realtor Frank Schuler repeated Griggs’ question, which was never fully discussed.
“Do we have a say [in the construction] or does this meeting mean nothing?” he asked.
The hall was silent for the first time since the Q&A opened as White gently answered, “Yes, sir,” indicating the meeting would not influence the outcome of the roundabout construction, which is meant to commence in January and be completed by May 2024.
The hall remained silent as White’s meaning sunk in. After a second or two, 20 of the 26 residents stood up and walked out, proclaiming their annoyance at having to sit through “a safety speech for no reason at all.”
Ben Jones, one of the few locals still seated, said, “We hate to be dictated to. That’s the problem. That’s the end of it. Sorry, but we never had a chance to be heard.”
Austin ended the meeting with a brief discussion on the DOT’s policy on public involvement, reminding the remainders of an email that went out before the project was officially approved. She said, “We listen all the way through.”