Peachtree – Against opposition, including a county board of commissioners that formally opposed any roundabouts in Murphy, the N.C. Department of Transportation is moving forward with a $4.7 million roundabout on U.S. 64 West.
A largely passive group of people turned out to a DOT information meeting at Tri-County Community College for the planned two-lane roundabout. The DOT sent representatives – along with a roundabout specialist and a public relations representative – to explain plans and seek ideas, but who also made it clear that the decision to build the roundabout has been made.
Construction is expected to begin in spring 2024. DOT spokesman David Uchiyama said the goal of the project is to improve safety.
Several dozen people turned out to the public meeting. Numerous people expressed concerns about the project, but DOT officials made it clear they were there for input to improve the project, not cancel it.
The DOT has been building roundabouts – along with other traffic features including “reduced conflict intersections” – throughout the state. The state has informational brochures touting their benefits and providing tips for using roundabouts.
DOT marketing information say roundabouts reduce congestion, ease traffic flow and boost safety by reducing deaths and injuries by 79 percent. However, the roundabout planned for Murphy’s four-lane highway is at an intersection that didn’t really exist just a few years ago.
During a project to reconfigure that section of highway, the DOT built a connector road to Old Ranger Road. During the upcoming roadwork, the DOT will reconfigure two private roads, Marks Drive and Smith Hollow, on the south side of the intersection, resulting in a four-way intersection with the roundabout.
Work at this intersection had its roots with a new Emergency Medical Services station that the county planned to build just south of the new intersection. A traffic signal was part of the plan.
The county moved the EMS station to a different location off Peachtree Street, but work continued. The intersection morphed from a four-way intersection, with a traffic signal, to a four-way intersection with a two-lane roundabout.
County commissioners say they were led to believe the Oct. 10 meeting would serve as one last opportunity to change the DOT’s collective mind. They were disappointed when they learned the true purpose of the meeting.
“Once again, we were lied to by the DOT,” Cherokee County Commissioner Ben Adams said at a board meeting earlier this month.
The DOT has already started land acquisition and site development. Representatives at the Oct. 10 meeting were focused on touting the benefits of the project, but were open to suggestions.
Residents complained about increased traffic at the intersection of Cardinal Road and Old Ranger Road. Old Ranger has seen an uptick in traffic since the project began and is expected to carry even more once the project is completed.
DOT officials agreed about impaired sight lines and fast drivers on Old Ranger Road. They will trim plants and move dirt, and maybe even put a three-way stop sign where the connector road intersects with Old Ranger.
As for the roundabout itself, DOT representatives heard numerous concerns and suggestions, but stuck to the message that safety was the goal and the roundabout would improve safety. The intersection carries about 20,000 cars per day, and the roundabout can accommodate up to twice that, officials said.
Uchiyama said the DOT has lots of experience building roundabouts and observing the resulting traffic patterns. Drivers in Cherokee County will adapt.
Citizens were also curious about plans to build a one-lane roundabout in the middle of downtown Murphy. That project will follow a separate town project to replace old water lines. It will resurface and reconfigure Peachtree Street, Tennessee Street, Hiwassee Street and Valley River Avenue from four lanes with diagonal parking, to two lanes with a center turn lane, diagonal parking and widened sidewalks.
Early plans for the downtown roundabout preserves but reconfigures four small corner parks, and could even include an outdoor stage. The town sought to include a roundabout as part of its downtown revitalization project.
Cherokee County already has one roundabout – on Casino Parkway leading to Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino & Hotel just east of Murphy.