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Sylva ranks 16th statewide in car crashes
By Carey King
Sylva didn’t quite make the N.C. Department of Transportation’s car-crash top 10, but it came close.
The town ranked 16th in the state among towns with populations of 10,000 and under for its number of auto accidents in 2003.
The data was collected by N.C. DOT’s Traffic Safety Systems Management Unit, with results reported at the April 7 town board meeting by Police Chief Jeff Jamison.
“We do have a large amount of car crashes – each and every day, we do,” he said.
Four hundred and seventy-one small towns made the list, with Whiteville coming in first, and Bethel last.
Cullowhee ranked 466th.
Listings are based on the number of crashes per capita, Jamison said. In 2003, a total of 583 accidents were reported in Sylva, a figure that’s more than a fifth of the town’s near-2,500 population.
The town ranked 13th in 2002, and 22nd in 2001.
The majority of accidents occur on N.C. 107, the second most-frequently traveled road in N.C. DOT’s Division 14 – a region that includes Jackson, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Macon, Polk, Swain and Transylvania counties.
The division’s busiest road is Russ Avenue in Waynesville, Jamison said.
N.C. 107’s narrow lanes, numerous curb cuts, high amount of traffic and commercial nature are partly to blame for the accidents, he said. Officers find one of the worst spots is at Kentucky Fried Chicken, where traffic backs up because of the stoplight.
“Folks are trying to be good Samaritans there and let (others) turn, but there’s an accident there daily,” Jamison said.
Speeding and following too closely are the most common cause of wrecks, he said.
A large portion of the traffic comes into town from other parts of the county, Jamison said, and that’s another part of the problem.
“Sylva’s the county seat. The only other place you can even buy groceries is Cashiers,” he said.
Board members asked Jamison to pinpoint trouble-spots, and he said officers have stepped up efforts to deter speeding on West Main Street near Mark Watson Park, the site of two fatalities in the past two years.
“We started targeting that area to try to enforce the speed limit, and we haven’t had any more wrecks,” he said.
Still, Sylva’s accident rate remains higher than its neighbors in other counties, town leaders noted.
“But they don’t have a university,” board member Eldridge Painter said.
In other business April 7:
• Voluntary annexation: Board members unanimously approved a request by Heryati Lang to annex Lang’s three-quarter acres on Plum Street, located off N.C. 107 in the Lovesfield area. Lang’s goal is to open a restaurant, town Manager Richard McHargue said.
• FEMA funding: McHargue reported that the town has received $16,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency as reimbursement for repairs made to Love Avenue following the September hurricanes.
The town will soon receive $41,000 for repairs made to Allen Street, he said.
• Fisher Creek cleanup: Though not yet finished, the town’s public works department has made progress in cleaning up the abandoned water treatment plant on Fisher Creek, Planning Administrator Jim Aust reported.
Board members voted in January to demolish much of the facility, saying its open reservoirs and old tanks could pose a hazard to wandering children or other passers-by.
Workers from the state’s Department of Corrections have helped with much of the labor, and the majority of the debris has been transported to the transfer station, Aust said.
• Business news: Aust also reported on several new businesses coming to town, including a Bogart’s restaurant and bar that will fill the building formerly occupied by Grandma’s Pancake Barn. One such restaurant already exists in Waynesville, and the same owners, Tim Hall and Marty Lowe, will operate the Bogart’s here, Aust said. It is expected to open in mid-May.
Though Sav-Mor representatives have not yet completed the business-permit process, Aust said, the Ingles-owned grocery chain is expected to fill the old A&P building in Sylva Plaza. Developer Mike Ward of Asheville has told The Herald the store may open in the next six to eight weeks.
Scoops ’n’ Shakes on Main Street has changed hands, Aust said, and will now be operated by Mary Derks and Jaime Dellinger under the name Sundae Afternoon.
• Street policy: The town’s street committee, made up of board members Ray Lewis and Maurice Moody, will meet today (Thursday) at 9 a.m. to discuss the development of a policy for how the town should handle the process for taking over private streets.
• Budget work session: Board members scheduled a work session to discuss the upcoming year’s budget for 10 a.m. Monday, April 18.
• Road closing: A public hearing on the matter of closing an undeveloped road that would have run parallel to N.C. 107 behind Sonic Drive-In and Andy Shaw Ford will be held during the board’s second monthly meeting, set for 10 a.m. Thursday, April 21.
The unnamed road, which exists only on planning maps, would run through property owned by Ed and June Stephens of Hillcrest Street. The Stephens want to close the road in light of the fact they are attempting to sell the land, McHargue said.
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