PRESS RELEASE
CONTACT INFORMATION:
ROGER TURNER
JACKSON CO. SMART ROADS ALLIANCE
TEL: 828 586 6968
SMART ROADS ALLIANCE INVOKES NC PUBLIC RECORDS ACT FOR SOUTHERN LOOP DOCUMENTATION
The
Jackson Co. Smart Roads Alliance is using the N.C. Public Records Law
in a request to Division 14 NC DOT for all documentation pertaining to
the Southern Loop Bypass, currently defined as a “multi-lane freeway”
from US 441 south of Dillsboro to US 23/74 east of Sylva.
The
request covers a four year period, beginning with the creation of the
Jackson Co. Transportation Task Force (in November, 2003) to the
present when the Southern Loop appeared on a regional transportation
list for prioritized projects.
According to Jeanette
Evans, Smart Roads alternate representative to the Jackson Co. Task
Force, “…We are the only community based organization on the Task
Force, and felt it was appropriate for the public to be fully informed
about the business of our state government. In this case how exactly
did the Southern Loop become a “priority” on a regional planning list
within a state-wide transportation planning process without public
knowledge or input?”
In passing the open records law, the
N.C. legislator’s goal was to enable the people to be informed about
government agencies and what they are doing. The public records and
information compiled by the agencies of North Carolina are the property
of the people.
The written request, prepared by the
Southern Environmental Law Center, has been sent to Conrad Burrell,
Division 14 NC DOT representative; Joel Setzer, Division 14 Chief
Engineer; and Elisabeth Reddic, NC DOT Planner working with the Jackson
Co. Task Force.
Public records can include “all types of
electronic communication regardless of whether a printed hard copy of
that communication exists…and all notes [letters, maps and memos],
documents, and other records, including drafts, which may still be in
the possession of NC DOT staff, or which may otherwise exist, but which
have not been made part of the agency’s files.”
Susan
Leveille, representative to the Jackson Co. Task Force, said “…It’s
time the Task Force and its members were taken seriously by NC DOT.
Smart Roads believes DOT is following its own agenda without consulting
our community. Therefore we are advocating for the use of an
independent traffic consultant as the county develops its own
comprehensive transportation plan. The Task Force was meant to focus on
fixing Hwy. 107, not to function as a rubber stamp to advance the
Southern Loop.”
The Southern Loop in Jackson County and
Corridor K in Graham and Cherokee Counties are the most costly
transportation projects on the regional priority list. Corridor K will
eventually connect Chatanooga, Tennessee, to Robbinsville, North
Carolina. The current (2007) cost of the southern loop is estimated to
be over $400 Million, and Corridor K’s last segment (beginning at
Andrews, N.C.) was estimated at $700 Million in 2003, including the
longest tunnel east of the Mississippi.
The Smart Roads
Alliance has been advocating for “alternatives” to the Southern Loop
since 2000, when it held its first public presentation on “access
management” for improving traffic flow on 107. Other presentations have
included Dan Burden, a national expert on designing “walkable
communities,” and the transportation decision making process with Janet
D’Ignazio, a forer NC DOT Planner.
The Alliance is planning a public meeting in January. For further information and updates: go to www.smartroads.org
Smart Roads Alliance website