Persistence pays off: Pless champions long-delayed infrastructure project
Workers are almost done installing long metal rods, wire mesh and mortar to stabilize the slope. Cory Vaillancourt photo
After more than four years of setbacks, political wrangling and bureaucratic delays, a small but vital infrastructure project in Haywood County is nearly complete — thanks in large part to the persistence of Rep. Mark Pless (R-Haywood).
The project in question, which began as a constituent concern, centers on a repeatedly failing slope that had slipped into disrepair until February 2021, when the near-vertical grade above Big Branch Road just east of Hyder Mountain Road finally gave way, blocking Big Branch.
“Mark is the one that got us some hope,” said Connie Scanlon, who lives above the slide on Thistle Ridge. “He started checking into it, and some things fell through, some things got better, and it took this long to get to this point, but otherwise we were going to all lose our homes.”
Residents initially approached Pless when he was still serving as a Haywood County commissioner. At the time, he told them there was little he could do. When he was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives in 2020, Pless picked up the issue again.
“When I went to the state and became a member of the House of Representatives, we came down here and looked at it, along with some of my other members. And then we started moving the process forward,” Pless said.
An early funding agreement estimated the project would cost about $1.5 million, to be split three ways: one-third each from the North Carolina Department of Transportation, the House and the Senate. In the end, only two of those entities followed through.
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Pless explained that the landslide was situated in the district of Sen. Ralph Hise (R-Mitchell) but that a separate disaster elsewhere in Hise’s district meant he couldn’t procure the Senate portion of the funding at the time.
“The House was able to acquire $500,000 and DOT picked up the tab for the rest of it,” Pless said. “Finally, we reached an agreement that DOT was going to pick up the lion’s share.”
Pless credited retired North Carolina Department of Transportation District Engineer Wanda Austin with recognizing the project’s importance to the small number of residents on Paradise Circle, just above Big Branch Road.
A contract was awarded in fall 2024, and construction began shortly thereafter.
The prolonged effort illustrates a broader issue in state-level infrastructure politics — projects without strong advocates often fall through the cracks.
A slide on Big Branch Road turned out to be a complex problem for residents of Paradise Circle. Cory Vaillancourt photo
“If there’s no one in Raleigh fighting for it, it doesn’t happen,” Pless said. “Just going down [to Raleigh] with an idea and saying, ‘I would like to do something’ doesn’t mean you’re going to get it. They told me I could do it, but had I not continued the path it would have just fallen by the wayside. It would have been something that never got funded.”
Throughout the process, Pless made repeated visits to then-Speaker of the House Tim Moore’s office and leaned heavily on staffers like Dan Gurley to keep the project top-of-mind during transportation discussions.
Gurley, who served as a senior adviser in the Speaker’s office at the time, worked closely with Austin to ensure the project’s progress continued.
“Dan was always advocating for this on my behalf,” Pless said. “Anytime they were talking about projects in Western North Carolina, he was pushing for this project to get funded.”
Pless’ dogged pursuit of funding and construction serves as a case study in how infrastructure priorities are determined, and how they’re often delayed.
“You know, we have a lot of tools, but we don’t have the tools to fix every situation, so it ends up being a priority,” he said.
In other words, the loudest voice often wins. And in state politics, that voice usually comes from a legislator with the stamina to keep asking — even when the initial answer may be “no.”
“If we had an endless supply money, we could solve everybody’s problems,” Pless said. “But since we don’t, it boils down to if you want it bad enough, and you’re willing to fight for it … you can eventually get what you need. But it doesn’t come easy.”
This particular road project, while not the most expensive or high-profile in the state, was especially important to residents who faced growing safety concerns every time the slope showed signs of slipping. Without legislative advocacy, Pless said, those residents may still be waiting.
The long road to construction illustrates a reality of government that doesn’t always make headlines — policy doesn’t move at the speed of urgency, it moves at the speed of political capital.
“If that part of the hill slides off into the road, not only can nobody get out, but nobody could get in,” said Danny Pleasant, who has a daughter with a disability and like Scanlon lives on Thistle Ridge. “If somebody had a heart attack or an emergency, nobody could help you. And it was a concern about if you ever want to sell your house, not that I want to sell my house, but I’m just saying it would be a concern for somebody coming in too, as well.”
The road project highlights what Pless sees as a basic truth in North Carolina politics: priorities are driven less by need and more by who’s willing to advocate the hardest. In this case, Pless was that person.
Without sustained attention from elected officials and their staffers, projects that don’t fall neatly into FEMA categories or lack political appeal are often left behind.
But for the residents who live on and above Big Branch Road, Pless’s persistence may finally be paying off. And in a state budget environment where every dollar is scrutinized, that persistence might be the most valuable resource of all.
“Even the state workers and everybody, they’ve been really good,” said Scanlon. “So like I said, we’re thankful and can’t wait until it’s all done and we can all move on.”
