Opponents of a proposed highway extension in Raleigh lost by the slimmest of margins what may have been their final chance to block the new road.
By a 4-3 vote, the Wake County Board of Commissioners voted July 16 to support the Duraleigh Connector, which will link Interstates 40 and 70 in North Raleigh. The vote practically assures that the road will be built, much to the dismay of its opponents.
As a result of this vote, the board's representative to the Transportation Advisory Committee, a panel of representatives from Wake County and several of its major towns, cast the county's 13 votes in favor of the road, which was approved 30-23 in its July 20 meeting. Raleigh, which has 22 votes, joined Wake Forest, which has one vote, in opposing the measure. The remaining votes in favor of the measure came from other Wake County towns.
The connecting route currently favored by the North Carolina Department of Transportation will skirt William B. Umstead State Park and Schenck Forest, which is used for research by North Carolina State University.
Opponents of the road say it will pose a serious threat to the quality of the park and forest. "This road is currently the biggest threat to the integrity and value of Umstead State Park and Schenck Forest," said Jean Spooner, chair of the Umstead Coalition, a group which opposes the road.
Supporters of the road, however, say that it is essential to reduce traffic congestion in northern Raleigh.
"Anyone who travels I-40 to I-70 knows we need a crossover. It doesn't take a rocket scientist," said Stewart Adcock, vice chair of the board of commissioners.
Traffic in the area currently backs up for more than a mile, said Sen. J. K. Sherron, D-Raleigh. But others say that the connector will create environmental hazards that outweigh any benefits in reduced congestion.
"It's particularly important that we be sensitive to environmental concerns," said Wake Commissioner Betty Lou Ward. "If we don't protect the park, who's to say that in 10 to 15 years people will decide to whittle away a little more?"
The Raleigh City Council, which voted unanimously to oppose the road on May 16, instead favors the construction of the Edwards Mill Extension, a similar connector that passes by Schenck Forest but does not pass by Umstead State Park.
The Umstead Coalition also favors the Edwards Mill Extension, Spooner said, because it provides a "buffer zone" of space between the road and Schenck Forest. The Duraleigh Connector has no such buffer zone, she said.
The state Department of Transportation already has plans to build the Edwards Mill Extension to alleviate anticipated traffic congestion, said Frank Vick, branch manager of the NC-DOT planning and environmental department. The Duraleigh Connector is needed now, he said.
Despite the decision to proceed with the road, the Umstead Coalition still plans to fight construction, Spooner said. Construction of the road would violate the Federal Transportation Act of 1966 by taking away park land, she said.
"We're prepared to take action," Spooner said.
But Vick said that the act only protects park land from federally funded construction projects. Since the Duraleigh Connector will receive only state funding, it does not have to comply with the law, he said.
The Department of Transportation must now conduct an environmental impact study on all of the suggested alternatives for the Duraleigh Connector. Officials will try to find alternatives that do not affect Umstead State Park, Vick said.
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