By Jessie Burchette
Salisbury Post
A public hearing on the state’s secondary road paving plans drew a lone speaker Monday evening.
Commissioner Jim Sides reflected aloud how far the road paving program has come.
Sides noted when he was first on the board in 1980, paving roads was a big problem. The public hearing produced “all kinds of uproar,” said Sides.
“There’s been a lot of progress in 27 years” said Sides, adding, “I haven’t heard any complaints.”
That was good news for Chris Corriher, district engineer with the N.C. Department of Transportation.
Corriher held up sheets of paper showing the unpaved rural roads and the subdivision roads that are scheduled for paving. The lists have only a dozen or so left after the 2008 paving program is carried out.
Corriher said he could remember when the list of roads to be paved ran several pages.
He added that there are more subdivision roads in the county that are trying to get on the state list but don’t currently meet standards for right of way and other requirements.
Corriher cited overall progress on improving roads throughout the county, primarily through the Moving Ahead program that allocated millions of dollars for widening and other improvements.
Corriher said if the state would reinstitute the Moving Ahead program, all of the county’s roads could be improved within 10 years.
Responding to a question, Corriher said the two roads that draw the most complaints are on opposite ends of the county óUnity Church Road and Fisher Road.
The lone speaker during the hearing wanted to talk about a bridge, not road paving.
Plans call for spending $1.5 million in the current year and $1.5 million next fiscal year to pave a total of just under 7 miles of roads.
Sections of rural roads scheduled for paving in the current year include: Peach Orchard Lane, Redmon Road and Ketner Farm Road. Sections of subdivision roads on the state system scheduled for paving in the current year include: Harris Point Road, 30th Street between Kannapolis and Landis; Erwin Temple Church Road, Patrick Drive, Sunfish Terrace, Planfish Lane, and Erskine Drive.
Sections of rural roads scheduled to be paved in the 2007-08 fiscal year include: McNeely Road and Rowan-Cabarrus Road. Subdivision roads include: Old Wood Lane, Dutch Farm Road, Crump Circle, Cliff Eagle Road, L.M. Overcash Road, Fiber Acre Street and Parkwood Road.
Commissioners took no action since a resolution wasn’t immediately available. The board will act on the list at its next meeting.
Charlie Walker of Barringer Road asked commissioners for help in getting a bridge over the railroad tracks.
He cited safety issues from school buses crossing the tracks, which he described as very rough.
Corriher advised the county to work through the Rowan-Cabarrus Metropolitan Planning Organization to get the bridge on the state transportation improvement plan.
In the meantime, Corriher said his maintenance staff will work to smooth the crossing.
The board also approved the name Bluegrass Drive for a road that runs north off the 2600 block of Lipe Road and the name Kirkley Way for an unnamed road that runs off the 400 block of Emma Road.
Contact Jessie Burchette at 704-797-4254 or jburchette @salisburypost.com.