SPENCER — A mile long access road off Long Ferry Road took a step towards fruition during the Spencer Board of Aldermen meeting on Tuesday night at town hall.

Officially, the Spencer Board of Aldermen approved a resolution to proceed with road construction and intersection realignment, and as a part of that effort request that the Cabarrus-Rowan Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) take actions as needed to initiate revisions to the MPO’s Comprehensive Transportation Plan Map to show the road addition and intersection realignment.

Mayor Jonathan Williams called it a step in the right direction towards getting funding. 

Spencer Planning and Zoning Administrator Steve Blount said approximately 300 acres of land would be opened up with construction of the access road. That acreage included land north of Long Ferry Road, west of I-85 and east of the railroad and included the existing Innospec plant, the old N.C. Finishing Company site and what has been identified as the Fisher Lamb site.

Blount described the property as “prime real estate for commercial and industrial development,” adding that construction of the access road was “an important issue for economic development in Spencer and northern Rowan County.”

“The reason we need that road is when the state started closing railroad crossings they closed the Hackett Street actress on the west end and then when they relocated I-85, they closed the connection to Willow Creek (Drive) on the east end (cutting off) access to that 300 acres,” Blount said. 

All in all, the access road will be approximately one mile.

“I was taught that a mile of two lane road was $1 million a mile, so when we first started this project, we were looking for $1 million to make that work,” Blount said. 

That estimate went up after the N.C. Department of Transportation told Spencer officials that they would need turn lanes and signals on Long Ferry Road. 

“The estimated cost has gone from $1 million to a million and a half, $2 million, (maybe even) $3 million,” Blount said. “We are not exactly sure but it is certainly more than the original million-dollar request. That is why we are having to pursue various grants to pay for this along with the developer helping out.”

During the meeting, Blount also indicated that Innospec had communicated to planners that its corporate board had approved somewhere between $50 million and $75 million for capital improvements to that site and they need a better road for truck access.

Blount also said that the recently commissioned Long Ferry Corridor Study showed a “dramatic increase” in traffic along that roadway due to development pressures. 

Alderman Steve Miller made the motion to approve the resolution, which was seconded by Alderman Pat Sledge before being passed unanimously.