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Some jobs are bound to carry a certain amount of negativity. For example, few people want to see a police officer approaching them. Used car salesmen have been the center of jokes since Henry Ford rolled out the first Model T. And journalists are fighting off politicians, apparently to see who can earn the lowest approval rating.
Since everyone likes driving, you’d think working with the N.C. Department of Transportation would be an easy ride. But you would be wrong. Few things get drivers more amped to open a can of road rage than when highway construction is going on, even when it’s badly needed.
Trouble is, you can make a good argument that some of our most expensive projects aren’t particularly needed at this time.
The most expensive planned project is also one of the biggest in years, the widening and straightening of U.S. 19/129 from the Georgia line in Bellview to U.S. 64/74 in Ranger. Residential right of way purchasing has begun, although the process hasn’t been nearly as smooth on the commercial side, as some negotiations are going before an arbitrator. Construction is finally scheduled to begin in 2024.
When this project was first discussed, it involved four-laning U.S. 19/129 from Ranger all the way to Blairsville, Ga., which seemed logical since traffic headed to Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino & Hotel has significantly increased the number of vehicles using that road over the last seven years. Yet, while the latest drawings show there’s enough room, it’s only a three-lane highway on most of the North Carolina side.
Just buying the homes needed to straighten and widen the new highway will cost a fortune. We should be getting something a lot better, and longer lasting, for this amount of cost to taxpayers and disruption to local residents’ lives.
The ongoing improving and widening of U.S. 19/64/74/129 from near Carpet Mart to Hiwassee Street, which began in 2020 and won’t be completed until 2024, is another expensive project that has drawn many an eye-roll. To be going through all this daily hassle just to essentially widen the lanes – when we all know downtown Atlanta has traffic lanes so close together that pickup truck mirrors practically touch at stoplights – is a hard tax pill to swallow.
A sampling of comments from the Cherokee Scout’s Facebook pages shows how some folks feel about it:
- “I hope they’re better than the mess they’ve made on U.S. 64 West! They’ve made traffic worse instead of better.”
- “I’m curious why the same sections of U.S. 64 needed repaving three times in the past five years.”
- “Leave that bridge alone and move on to other things.”
- “If it’s the same people in charge of the traffic disaster at the McDonald’s intersection, I’d say most residents would say, ‘We’re good for a while, go make a disaster in some other county.’ ”
The price tag of the new U.S. 64 East was criticized when it was built, yet most locals wouldn’t want to give it back today, so hopefully when all the asphalt has been laid we’ll be able to look back and say it was worth it. Until then, the DOT getting a compliment is kinda like the long-awaited, much-anticipated Corridor K – we’ll believe it when we see it.
David Brown is publisher of the Cherokee Scout. Call him at 837-5122 or email dbrown@cherokeescout.com.