A major road is in the planning stages, and neighbors and others in the community feel like it’s more of a runaway train that will help developers, encourage sprawl, and subsequently change their future forever rather than a consensus-building project to provide taxpaying citizens with an answer to their transportation woes.

The benefits to private development of the Siler Road project in Macon County figured prominently in early planning documents and meetings, but were later toned down. Here’s a time line.

The N.C. Department of Transportation is mulling four options for a new road in Macon County that would facilitate future development, but some members of the community wonder why a fifth option — simply improving the existing road — isn’t on the list.

There’s one fundamental reason the Southern Loop needs more discussion before it is considered a done deal — the simple fact that the citizens whose tax dollars pay for roads should, ultimately, decide the transportation future of the community in which they live. So far, the Southern Loop has not officially been endorsed by the leaders who act as the voice for Jackson County’s citizens. It’s that simple.

Jackson County residents opposed to the construction of the Southern Loop — a new major highway that would bisect Jackson County — are gearing up for a fight with the N.C. Department of Transportation to halt the slow but steady gears toward eventual construction.

Jackson County leaders might be lending their tacit endorsement, albeit unintentionally, to the proposed Southern Loop, a controversial highway that would bisect Jackson County.

By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer

Construction is slated to begin immediately on a structurally deficient bridge in downtown Canton, a project the Department of Transportation says will take months and force them to re-route a major thoroughfare.

The bridge is on Bridge Street toward the outskirts of the downtown area. It extends approximately 155 feet from the Old Lamp Factory warehouse to the north entrance of Blue Ridge Paper Products and is used frequently by mill workers and residents.

After a two-year lull, debate over a controversial expressway through Jackson County known as the Southern Loop could soon re-emerge.

A $1.66 million plan to build middle turn lanes on Plott Creek Road from Hazelwood Elementary School to Sulphur Springs Road in the Hazelwood district of Waynesville drew strong opposition from residents at a public hearing last week.