IN A FULL "COMMONS ROOM" AT MILLS RIVER TOWN HALL WEDNESDAY MORNING
About 40 residents and property owners along Highway 191 in Mills River joined Mills River Town County Wednesday morning in getting a first glimpse at how NC DOT will likely widen Highway 191 from Mountain Road to the intersection with Highway 280 in the next several years.
NC DOT engineer Brian Burch said funding for widening that stretch of Highway 191 has been approved, the project is just now entering the early design stage, public hearings will start in about a year, right of way acquisition will start in 2019, and construction should start in 2021.
Another DOT engineer, Mike Reese, showed and explained what’s called a “superstreet”…which is a four-lane highway with a grassy media, bike and pedestrian lanes, and improved access for businesses and residents…as one design possibility.
Mills River Town Council has expressed the desire for a four-lane highway with a center turn-lane to provide good access for businesses and residents.
The engineers said traffic studies and numbers clearly showed the need for the widening, and also pointed out that four-laneways with center turn lanes are not as safe as those with median down the middle…and the engineers said the recently widening Upward Road is a good example of how adequate access can be provided without a center turn-lane.
District Engineer Steve Cannon pointed out that adding a third lane is already underway between West High and Rugby Middle Schools…and engineer Brian Burch pointed out that ultimately the hole 191 widening will tie into a much larger project which is the proposed “Balfour Parkway” that will route just north and east and west of Hendersonville.
Residents and property owners Wednesday morning expressed concerns about the widening. Some did not see the need for it. Others, like Sandra Goode, said the widening would likely take her horse pasture.
Again, public hearing on the Highway 191 widening will be in about a year.
By Larry Freeman
