US-64 Road Widening

Description

The North Carolina Department of Transportation has scheduled widening and improvements to US 64 from Blythe Street to White Pine Drive in Henderson County. This project began in the fall of 2016, when the public first raised awareness of the poor condition of the road. The main objective of this project is to reduce congestion, increase traffic carrying capacity and improve pedestrian and cyclist mobility.

After the initial meeting in November of 2016, two alternatives were presented from the NCDOT: Alternative One, which consisted of a 3-land road equipped with bike lanes, green spaces, and sidewalks; or Alternative Two, which consisted of a 2-land road with roundabouts at Blythe Street, Laurel Park Village Shopping Center, and Daniel Drive with sidewalks, bike lanes, and green spaces as well. After further debate, a third and final design of a 2-lane road with roundabouts at White Pine Drive, Daniel Drive, Pisgah Drive, and Glasgow Lane, with sidewalks and bike lanes was chosen.

While this project may improve safety for the surrounding parks, it does not provide comfort to the surrounding businesses and homeowners. The town of Laurel Park declared they will “strongly encourage” the support of local businesses, but there is no safety in that. After years of preparation and planning, it is important that the impacts to business and property owners along the route be fully considered and compensated. The Laurel Park community is growing rapidly, evidenced by the need for road widening, but that doesn’t mean it should grow independent of its members, especially those located along White Pine Drive, Daniel Drive, Pisgah Drive, and Glasgow Lane, who stand to lose property to the project.