Local roads move forward in TIP
By COBY LaRUE
Staff
U.S. 21 and the Sparta Western Loop both will move forward, according
to information in the North Carolina Department of Transportation's
Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP).
The two roadways are top priorities for both Alleghany County and the
Town of Sparta, with the county ranking U.S. 21 first and the Sparta
Western Loop (U.S. 21 bypass) second and the town ranking the two in
reverse order.
The plan, which lays out highway funding statewide between 2008 and
2015, includes funding for construction of the Sparta Western Loop
for the first time. In previous years, the project was in a sort of
limbo, being listed as unfunded.
At the meeting Monday, Adams reminded the commissioners that a public
hearing on the TIP plan would be held Jan. 22 in Dobson. The meeting
will be held at Surry Community College's Reeves "A" Building
Teaching Auditorium at 630 South Main St. from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m.
with registration held one hour prior to the meeting.
As for the Sparta Western Loop, the exact route of the roadway
remains unclear, but since the cost has been reduced, County Manager
Don Adams suggested to the commissioners on Monday that the DOT may
have moved away from an earlier plan that would have required
building a large bridge over Little River that would cross just south
of the existing bridge.
Two other alternatives for routes to complete the roadway, which
serves as a truck bypass around the Town of Sparta and is officially
named the Sparta Parkway, would have the road re-entering U.S. 21
either beside KFC/Taco Bell at Ballpark Road or connecting closer to
Trojan Village.
The DOT has yet to officially announce the specific route for the
roadway. However, county officials may learn the exact route when
they meet with state highway officials during an upcoming public
hearing.
While it was heralded as a positive that the roadway is funded for
the first time on the TIP, the schedule shows that future right of
way acquisition was delayed from 2011 to 2012. Under the new plan,
construction for the new roadway is funded as of 2014. The new road
would be about .8 mile long, the TIP plan shows.
The total project cost for that project is estimated at $9,190,000.
"For many years, the Western Loop has been in the unfunded
category," Adams pointed out. While the U.S. 21 bypass road being
listed as funded in the TIP is a good sign, Adams pointed out that
construction work on U.S. 21, which has been listed as funded for
many years, has been repeatedly pushed back in the past. He said the
U.S. 21 project has been on the TIP since he came to the county in
the mid 1990s.
Chair Ken Richardson said that one earlier plan for the western loop
road would have extended Blue Ridge Street all the way to N.C. 18.
As for U.S. 21, that project remains on the earlier-released
scheduled and is expected to be in the right-of-way and mitigation
Crouse Park plans show upgraded parking, restrooms, new shelters and
underground utilities for vendors at various festivals and events.
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