75 residents attend meeting Tuesday

TRYON — The state’s plans for Highway 108 between Columbus and Tryon may no longer be to build four lanes, but residents discovered this week that the project will still have major impacts.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation held an informational meeting Tuesday about the estimated $19.4 million project, which includes  $3.1 million in right of way acquisitions and $16.3 million for  construction.

The project originally started as a conception to make Highway 108 between Hospital Drive in Columbus and U.S. 176 in Tryon four lanes. The project has now been scaled back to two 11-foot lanes and 4-foot paved shoulders to accommodate bicycles. Several areas are proposed to have turning lanes and a couple sections are slated for the road to move and bridges replaced.

NCDOT officials showed maps of the initial design and answered questions during the meeting at the Tryon Depot. There were 75 residents who attended, most expressing concerns over the proposed rights of way.

There are currently six businesses and four residences that will have to be relocated, said David Uchiyama, communications officer for the western Mountains Area of the NCDOT.

Uchiyama urged residents to give the NCDOT their opinions on the project.

“This is far from the final plan,” Uchiyama said Wednesday morning. “A lot of revisions still need to be made. Public comment is critical. We go through every single comment/question that is submitted and we reply to each one. This period that we are about to go through is critical to the development of this project.”

Uchiyama said it will take a couple of weeks to go through the public’s comments. Hopefully, NCDOT officials will see some trends and possibly ideas that have not been previously considered, he said.

Uchiyama said the new plan includes great improvements, especially for the safety of cyclists. He said the NCDOT has taken many things into consideration for the initial conceptual plan, including existing structures and their condition, such as old bridges, environmental conditions, such as low-lying areas, and historic structures.

“This plan includes great improvements, especially for the safety of cyclists,” Uchiyama said. “A 4-foot paved shoulder is much safer than what is there now.”

The current design includes turn lanes at:

• McFarland Road

• Harmon Field Road

• Howard Gap Road

• Clarence Rhodes Road

• Old Howard Gap Road/Story Road

• Capps Road

• Skyuka Road

• Rippy Road

• Fairlane Road

• Old U.S. 19

• Holland Drive (Little Wings Lane)

• Isothermal Community College

NCDOT officials said Highway 108 served 7,400 to 10,700 vehicles per day, according to 2017 Average Annual Daily Traffic.

Projections are that, by 2040, Highway 108 between Columbus and Tryon will have 9,800 to 14,100 vehicles per day.

“In the 2008 Polk County Comprehensive Transportation Plan, all sections of North Carolina 108 from U.S. 176 to Columbus were at capacity or approaching capacity, meaning that the road will not be able to carry future increases in traffic volumes,” stated materials from the NCDOT given at Tuesday’s meeting.

There were 57 accidents along that section of Highway 108 between 2012 and 2017, according to a NCDOT traffic accident report. The majority of those accident were “rear-end, slow, stop” or “fixed object” type crashes.

A Facebook group called “Save Hwy. 108 And Lynn” was recently created to oppose the project.

Project timeline

Beginning now, spring 2018, environmental documentation of the proposed project is being done.

Right of way acquisition is expected to begin in the summer 2020, with construction beginning in the summer 2021.

The next steps are public comments, which NCDOT officials say, along with technical analysis, will guide the development of the design.

Planning and environmental studies will also be conducted to comply with the state Environmental Policy Act by evaluating the design and assessing the project’s impact on the human and natural environment.

Property owners affected by the project will go through a right of way process, where Uchiyama said the state will make those property owners whole in the end.

Public participation

Residents can make their voices heard until May 8 for this initial design of the project. Residents who attended the meeting were given forms to fill out and turn in on Tuesday.

Residents can also submit comments to Gail Kogut, managing engineer with MA Engineering Consultants Inc., 598 E. Chatham St. Suite 137, Cary, NC 27511-6956, or by calling Kogut at 919-297-0220, ext. 122, or by emailing comments to gkogut@maec.com.

Maps of the new design can be found at the links below or on the NCDOT’s website at https://www.ncdot.gov//projects/publicmeetings. Enter R-5838 in the search box.

Map 1 of 2

Map 2 of 2

Please note: The maps are very detailed. Once opening the links, zoom in to see detail.