THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 28, 1994 TAG: 9409280459
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines
Fearful of being marooned, anxious citizens told state Department of Transportation planners Tuesday night that they were more concerned about downtown connector roads than where a planned U.S. 17 bypass of Elizabeth City would be located.
``If Edenton, with a population of 6,000, can have six connectors leading off a U.S. 17 bypass, then Elizabeth City certainly ought to have two or four,'' said L.P. ``Tony'' Hornthal, an attorney who heads one of the city's largest law firms.
Elizabeth City is about twice as large as neighboring Edenton, 25-miles south on U.S. 17.
Hornthal was one of nearly 150 concerned citizens who filled the largest courtroom in the Pasquotank County Courthouse for a public hearing on the planned $40 million U.S. 17 bypass, scheduled to be completed early in 2001.
Len L. Hendricks, public hearing officer for the DOT, turned the floor over to all who wanted to comment on four alternate road plans that would carry U.S. 17 around Elizabeth City to the west. So far, no location has been set for the interchange connecters that would tie the new four-lane express bypass to Elizabeth City's shopping and business centers.
Members of the Elizabeth City council Monday agreed that at least two connectors were needed, and the Pasquotank County commissioners had earlier also asked for ``at least'' the same number of interchanges. The commissioners favored one connector to link Halstead Boulevard to the new bypass and another following Elizabeth street west of the city.
Only one citizen rose to flatly opposed the bypass.
``I'd like to see a show of hands from those who don't want to see this built,'' said Gregory Cotton, owner of two large motels on U.S. 17, where 13 stoplights now regulate frequently heavy traffic.
Many who attended the hearing said they feared that the bypass would permanently alter the comfortable suburban nature of some residential neighborhoods north of Elizabeth City.
Randy Keaton, the county manager of Pasquotank County, said much work had already been done on the best locations for connector roads to the bypass.
But no proposed location for any of the interchanges was shown overlaid on DOT aerial photos that traced out the four alternate bypass locations.
More hearings will be required before the connectors will be finally located, and some of the proposed interchanges would require costly right-of-way purchases in built-up sections of town.
``There will be more hearings before we reach a decision on the final location of the bypass,'' Hendricks said. He was backed up by half a dozen highway designers, engineers and environmental impact experts who are working on the bypass.
R.V. Owens III, the Transportation Board member from the Albemarle, was instrumental in speeding up funding for the bypass.
At the hearing, DOT planners displayed a large map that showed the four proposed routes the U.S. 17 bypass could take west of Elizabeth City:
ROUTE 1 - The longest planned four-lane bypass would leave U.S. 17 near a new state prison now under construction north of the Main Street Extended intersection and travel 9.3 miles across mostly farmland to rejoin U.S. 17 a mile past the Foreman-Bundy Road below Elizabeth City. Cost, including 357 acres of right of way, would be $38,790,000.
ROUTE 2 - Would leave U.S. 17 just above Berea Church north of Elizabeth City and travel 8.6 miles to the point below the Foreman-Bundy Road, where Route 1 would rejoin U.S. 17. Cost: $39,870,000, including 334 acres of right of way.
ROUTE 3 - Would leave U.S. 17 at the same point near the new prison as Route 1 but would swing closer to Elizabeth City, crossing the community wellfield and rejoining U.S. 17 near the Tanglewood Farm grain elevators. Route 3 would be 8 miles long and would need 330 right-of-way acres. Cost: $$37,570,000.
ROUTE 4 - Would turn off existing U.S. 17 north of Berea Church, where Route 2 would leave the highway and would run 6.8 miles along the same right of way as Route 3, rejoining U.S. 17 at the same point as Route 3. Cost: $38,150,000, with 279 acres of right of way.
Nearly all of the right of way required by the four routes involves farmland, much of it owned by Jimmy Winslow and his family. The Winslows operate Tanglewood Farms, one of the largest agribusiness operations in the Albemarle. Jimmy Winslow is a North Carolina Republican leader.
Right-of-way acquisition will begin in 1996, according to the DOT, and the land that will be bought by the state for the bypass is geographically part of the southwestern Dismal Swamp watershed. Two centuries of timber cutting and clearing has turned the vast area into an immensely fertile agricultural area of the Albemarle.
Construction is due to start in 1997, with completion early in 2001, according to the DOT's present schedule.
Members of the Elizabeth City council, meeting Monday night, agreed to press for at least two interchanges linking the bypass to the city's business section. At an earlier meeting this year, Pasquotank County officials also said they hoped for two access roads.
The high cost of the interchanges may lead to future controversy between the DOT and local governments.
``We don't want Elizabeth City to be marooned,'' said County Commissioner William C. ``Bill'' Owens Jr., this week. ``I've heard estimates as high as $15 million for the two interchanges, and that could be a problem.''
KEYWORDS: HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION by CNB