Plan for series of connecting roads sounds sensible

Last week Sylva elected and appointed officials heard a proposal for eliminating some of the traffic congestion on N.C. 107. The plan sounds eminently sensible: Build a series of two-lane roads to join residential communities.

Initiated by town zoning administrator Jim Aust, the plan is based on the idea that most of the traffic currently on the busy four-lane is local, and that the main reason so many vehicles travel that highway is that it provides the only access to destinations like Wal-Mart, Smoky Mountain High and Fairview Elementary School.

Aust told the assembled crowd that most of the county's population centers are within a 5-mile radius of Wal-Mart, and that's the area he studied. He contends that connecting those areas with new two-lane roads and improving existing roads can provide more than one way in and out of each community and offer residents options in addition to N.C. 107.

We agree with him.

Aust's plan is the first we've heard to address diverting some of the local traffic off the road that connects Sylva and Cullowhee.

While the plan would involve some new road construction, its impact on existing homes would be minimal, and the two-lane connectors he proposes should increase property values by providing rural access roads to currently undeveloped areas. And the new construction proposed under Aust's plan is significantly less than would be required by the N.C. Department of Transportation's proposed Southern Loop.

Aust's plan, as near as he can tell, threatens no existing homes or businesses; the Southern Loop's northern alternate would take 124 homes and 17 businesses, and its southern alternate would take about 94 residences and five businesses.

We realize more information is needed, but Aust's ideas certainly seem to be a starting point as DOT officials embark on further study on the best ways to solve Jackson County's burgeoning traffic woes.

We commend Aust and the town of Sylva for their willingness to look at all the possibilities and propose what sounds like a good first step on the road to improving the condition of N.C. 107.