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City Considering Traffic Woes

Posted on: Monday, 21 November 2005, 21:00 CST

By James Moffat, Times-News, Burlington, N.C.

Nov. 19--A longstanding traffic headache along Huffman Mill Road could soon become a migraine for local businesses.

Burlington city officials said that if state officials can't reroute traffic to alleviate jams on Huffman Mill Road, they plan to build a concrete median along the road, which could cause irreparable harm to the businesses along the Huffman Mill Road and Kirkpatrick Road corridor.

"That could deaden the whole corner," Councilman Mark Jones said of the proposal.

For more than three years, state and local officials have been trying to figure out how to reduce traffic jams along Huffman Mill Road near its intersections with Interstate 85/40 and Kirkpatrick Road.

Traffic backing up from the Interstate 85/40 interchange at Huffman Mill Road can make left turns onto Kirkpatrick Road nearly impossible.

After studying the problem and hiring an engineering firm to come up with solutions, a plan to extend Longpine Road to Whitesell Drive and Huffman Mill Road seemed to be the answer.

The state set aside about $1 million to make the changes, an amount that has proven to be inadequate. The cost to buy property to extend the road equaled the total project allotment.

"Land acquisition prices came in enormously high," City Manager Harold Owen said.

The process of acquiring land, combined with dissent from local businesses, has made the N.C. Department of Transportation rethink its plans. The most likely scenario would be for the state to build a median on Huffman Mill Road from its intersection with the interstate to Kirkpatrick Road.

The construction of the median would mean that people driving south on Huffman Mill Road wouldn't be able to turn left onto Kirkpatrick Road. That scenario, councilmen said, could have a devastating effect on business along Kirkpatrick Road.

But state transportation official Mike Mills said that even if a deal to realign the road can't be made, the construction of the Huffman Mill Road median is still "years away.""We will not come back and put an island in the next day," Mills said. "But I think it's coming." Local businesses have been outspoken in their criticism of any plans to change the intersection. Most don't want any changes to the current road alignment. Many chose to locate in that area because of the ease of access to their businesses from the interstate.

Some businesses, including the International House of Pancakes, have said that the new plans could hurt business so bad that it could cause closures.

But Mills said the new road alignment would actually help property owners and businesses by allowing better traffic flow to their properties, which in turn could help increase property values.

"I understand that people want fair market value for their land, but putting this road in enhances their property," he said.

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Source: Times-News

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