Town pushes 105

safety changes
By Frank Ruggiero
ruggiero@wataugademocrat.com

The Boone Town Council took action to make sure drivers stay alive on 105.

At the council’s regular meeting Dec. 20, council member Lynne Mason pushed for a resolution that would see the mayor urge the N.C. Department of Transportation to increase safety on the often perilous N.C. 105.

Mason referenced an auto accident that occurred Thanksgiving, which claimed the life of one and hospitalized three. The Newell family, returning to Boone from vacation, was attempting to turn left onto Poplar Hill Road from N.C. 105, when a drunk driver collided into the rear of their vehicle.

That particular portion of N.C. 105 lacks a turning lane.

“I know that both myself and many others in the community are frustrated by the lack of response from DOT to safety issues on our DOT-maintained roadways,” Mason said. “It is important for the citizens of Boone to know that safety issues on 421, 321 and 105 have been repeatedly brought to the attention of DOT.”

Mason told how the council had requested that the DOT drop the speed limit on N.C. 105 from 45 to 35 miles per hour, but the request was denied. She said traffic volume on the highway has increased steadily, as have the number of businesses.

“One-oh-five should be treated no differently than 321 or Blowing Rock Road,” she said, noting that, in April 2006, Mayor Loretta Clawson sent a letter to the DOT, addressing numerous safety concerns, including crosswalk improvements, which have not been addressed.

Mason then presented some startling statistics. Having consulted Boone Police Chief Bill Post, Mason compiled a list of accidents and collisions involving vehicles, pedestrians and property on the four-lane portion of 105, compared to those on the five-lane portion.

The total number of accidents on the four-lane portion reflect an increase of between 15 to 55 percent, while accidents involving personal injury in that same section increased between 43 and 167 percent, varying from year to year, “but it says a lot,” she said.

In four years, there has been a 250 percent increase in accidents, she said, “and I’m just at the point where I think we need to go back to DOT and request that they make our roadways – the safety of them – a priority, and that the needed funding be appropriated.

“We cannot wait any longer for needed safety measures to be implemented.”

She said 105 could be made safer by adding turn lanes, adjusting the speed limits and adding traffic signals.
“Biking and walking should be viable transportation options in our community and can be part of our traffic situation, but the needed infrastructure to ensure safety must be addressed,” she said. “We are talking about something as basic as bike lanes, sidewalks and crosswalks.”

Mason moved that council adopt a resolution for the mayor to send a letter to DOT, requesting immediate reduction of the speed limit on N.C. 105 from 45 to 35 mph between the 105 Bypass and Poplar Hill Road; that left turn lanes be added at intersections on the four-lane portion; that a traffic light be added for safe access to and from Poplar Hill Drive and coordinated with the county’s resolution for a traffic light at Poplar Grove Road; and that crosswalks be added and maintained at all major state-maintained intersections, including U.S. 421 and N.C. 194, U.S. 421 and New Market Boulevard, and U.S. 421 and N.C. 105.

“I would also like the town to request that the county, ASU and the Council of Governments send a similar request to DOT, and hopefully some serious action will be taken, and for citizens of the town to write letters to DOT, as well.”

In addition, the town must also take measures to further reduce drunk driving. At an interest meeting for MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), Mason said she learned Watauga County is one of the top 16 counties for drunk driving arrests in the state and that only one out of 200 drunk drivers is caught.

“I want Boone to be known as a town that has zero tolerance for drunk and/or impaired driving, and that drunk or impaired drivers will be prosecuted to the fullest extent allowed by the law.”

Council member Rennie Brantz and Stephen Phillips both raced to second the motion, and council member Janet Pepin suggested a friendly amendment, in that all state-maintained roads be taken into consideration. Mason welcomed the amendment, and the motion carried unanimously.