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Thursday, 05 April 2007 |
Boone road widening: good idea, bad timing
Over Appalachian State University’s Spring Break, the North Carolina Department of Transportation presented maps and proposals to widen U.S. 421 from the Dan’l Boone Inn past N.C. 194.
The planned expansion will widen U.S. 421 from Dan’l Boone Inn to N.C. 105 Ext. to four lanes. From the N.C. 105 Ext. past N.C. 194, the road would be widened to six lanes.
While The Appalachian is happy construction is planned, we are disappointed the widening of U.S. 421 was not done many years ago.
It seems the DOT and the Town of Boone should have known that with a
growing university located in the town limits, over time the town would
need to expand its roads to accommodate traffic.
This would have helped businesses and homeowners be prepared by looking
for other locations instead of building on the side of the highway.
Instead, the homes and business are now at the command of the DOT and many will likely be destroyed.
The DOT will purchase the houses and businesses in the path of the widening of the road.
DOT representative Ed Lewis said 66 houses and 27 businesses would be purchased for demolition for
the highway.
If planning were done years in advance, the numbers of businesses being
relocated would be lower based on the fact that owners could find
better places for their property.
Nonetheless, the road widening will be for the betterment of Boone,
though it will adversely affect some businesses and residents.
One such business is High Country Cleaners, which has been family owned for three decades.
The owner of High Country Cleaners said when the doors close, they are closed for good.
It will be a sad day when businesses such as these will be forced to close their doors because of poor planning in the past.
Another downfall is that this project may only alleviate traffic for a short-term.
As the town and university continue to grow, plans should already be
underway on what the town will do next to help ease future traffic
congestion on the highway.
This should especially be taken into account since the new Watauga High
School’s scheduled opening in 2010 will coincide with the construction
project, and the high school has access to 421.
Future Appalachian students and Boone residents must be ready for
congestion caused from traffic, but in time, it will be a smoother ride.
For this to have a long-term effect though, the town needs to already
have plans in place to help traffic problems in the not-so-distant
future.
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