Jack Rollins (left) of Rollins Auto Sales points to an area of the map near where the proposed new Sparta Parkway (U.S. 21 bypass) extension would intersect with U.S. 21. Standing to Rollins' left is road designer Jim Speer of the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

DOT offers information on U.S. 21 bypass extension

Officials with the North Carolina Department of Transportation presented three alternatives for a proposed "Sparta Western Loop" at a public information meeting held on July 26.

The western loop, also known as the Sparta Parkway or the U.S. 21 bypass, is the Town of Sparta's No. 1 priority for road projects and is Alleghany County's No. 2 priority. The county's top priority is widening U.S. 21 from Sparta to Roaring Gap, which ranks No. 2 for the town.

Information provided by the DOT said that the planning and environmental studies for the project are in progress. The environmental assessment is scheduled for completion in January 2009. After the completion of the assessment, the alternatives will be presented to the public at a public hearing. Following that hearing, a preferred alternative would be selected for the roadway, followed by a final environmental document, the Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). After that document is released, the final steps would be the final engineering design planning, right-of-way acquisition and construction of the road.

According to the information, the first alternative would involve building a roadway measuring about 1.4 miles long, beginning at Grandview Drive, passing through the N.C. DOT's maintenance yard and by the edge of an abandoned landfill, crossing Bledsoe Creek with a box culvert and then crossing both Southside Drive and Little River to reach U.S. 21. Several structures likely would be affected by this alternative, including a log cabin, used as the location for Riverside Log Homes, the former location of the Little River Grill and two properties owned by Rose Estep and Rose and Alice Estep. The intersection of the first alternative would be almost directly across from Rollins Auto Sales.

The intersection of the new road and U.S. 21 would be just south of the town limits.

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