IN THEIR MEETING ON WEDENESDAY COMMISSIONERS HEARD MORE
Residents are continuing to express their opposition to n a plan to widen a road in Mills River.
The plan calls for expanding a four-and-a-half-mile section of Highway 191, also known as Haywood Road, to four lanes.
On Wednesday, residents brought their concerns to the commissioners meeting, claiming the Department of Transportation is simply not listening to their concerns.
Those residents are also upset at the Board of Commissioners who, they say, has closed their minds to the concerns of residents.
The residents claim the NCDOT and the Henderson County Board of Commissioners has ignored their research which they claim shows a three-lane widening would better fit the proposed corridor between Mountain Road and state road 280.
The Department of Transportation plans to turn the corridor into a four-lane roadway, including a 10-foot multi-use path between Ruby Middle School and West Henderson High School.
The NCDOT has said traffic is too high on the current corridor and the crash rate is about 35-percent higher than the state average on similar roads.
The plan was altered to affect fewer properties along the corridor in the spring of 2018.
Property acquisition is expected to begin later this year at a cost of $7.5 million.
Construction is expected to begin in 2021
