NCDOT CUTS EIGHT MAJOR ROAD PROJECTS IN BUNCOMBE HAYWOOD & HENDERSON COUNTIES
In its ten-year road and highway budget plan, North Carolina's Department of Transportation (NCDOT) has eliminated eight major road projects in Buncombe, Haywood and Henderson Counties.
One project is the long-discussed Sweeten Creek Road lane expansion.
"It's been delayed more than once, as you know," said Marie Hadley, who lives near Sweeten Creek. "All the development with all the apartment houses, there's a lot of traffic. It's disappointing. When we moved here, they had just made Hendersonville Road four lanes."
Tristan Walker, the director of the French Broad Planning Organization, said several projects are essentially being defunded, including lane additions on the future I-26 from Broadway near the UNCA campus to Weaverville.
"It's very disappointing," Walker said. "As a growing part of the state, having our infrastructure accommodate the growth we're experiencing, it's very important."
Other projects removed from the ten-year budget include widening Sand Hill at Sardis Road and improvements on Swannanoa River road between Biltmore Avenue and South Tunnel.
In Hendersonville, the NCDOT has removed funding plans for improvements at Four Seasons Boulevard at I-26, according to Walker.
In Haywood County, he said three projects off the list are improvements to South Main Street and at US276 and Crymes Cove Road. The NCDOT has also removed a Russ Avenue project that is the second section north of 2374.
"Those are projects we expected to happen in the next ten years," Walker said.
The issue is NCDOT's budget set by the legislature, as the escalating costs have meant many projects have doubled or tripled in price.
"Cost estimates for all these projects continue to rise exponentially," said David Uchiyama, NCDOT spokesman. "With the budget not increasing at the same rate."
