New federal funding will move forward a Graham County highway project – originally promised almost 60 years ago. Construction is underway on a 12-mile stretch of the Appalachian Development Highway System, dubbed “Corridor K.” However, the project’s mission to make travel and commerce more accessible in the region still hasn’t been realized.
“My stance is this: We're going to get it done,” Graham County Commissioner Connie Orr, chair of the Graham County Travel and Tourism Board, said. “I really believe I'll see it done in my lifetime. I thought that in 1965.”
Orr, 77, remembered when the project started – originally planned as part of the Appalachian Development Highway System, a network of road corridors funded by Congress in 1965. The idea behind the highways was to provide better transportation in rural areas of Appalachia.
Overall, 127 miles of highway extends in the corridor, from Interstate 75 in Cleveland, Tenn., to Dillsboro in Jackson County. The Graham County section is among the last of the Appalachian Development Highway System's corridors to be completed.
Current plans include:
- Improving road alignments of U.S. 129, N.C. 143 and N.C. 28
- Wider shoulders, with 12-foot lanes on N.C. 143 and N.C. 28
- Adding passing and climbing lanes
- Construction of a land bridge across N.C. 143 at Stecoah Gap.The Appalachian Trail will realign across the bridge and provide safe passage for wildlife and hikers using the trail.
“Very few of us in the region remember a time in which that road was not discussed," Josh Carpenter, from Graham County, director of the Mountain West Partnership, an economic development group for the six westernmost counties, said.
"The Appalachian corridors that are in place have taken a long time to get where they are. You know, to traverse these mountains is not easy, east to west,” he said.
Carpenter said the improved road will provide a crucial connection for the local economy and allow better access for visitors.
There are three roads in and out of the county, Orr said.
“At one time in this county, we had heavy rainfall and we had all but one of those roads completely closed off by rock and landslides. So we're not setting on that particular problem right now, but the roads that we do have are narrow steep curved two-lane roads,” Orr said.
The total project is estimated to cost $681 million, according to NC DOT. Before 2015, it felt like the road might never be built - just like the Road to Nowhere in Swain County.
“That was a long-standing joke prior to this newest piece of construction. Nobody ever thought that was gonna happen. So, I mean it's happening now,” Carpenter said.
The project has changed a lot since its inception.
“We went into it 15 years ago thinking we were going to try to build a four-lane. And rightfully so, have paired that down to be what fits for the community and fits the overall aspects of what people wanted and then what the state was able to afford,” Carpenter said.
The project was restarted in 2015 after being paused. The DOT estimates that $2.5 million was spent on planning between 2015 and 2020. The 2020 plan was estimated to cost about $130 million.
Orr was a county commissioner when the project was restarted in 2015.
“We met with all the stakeholders who would meet with us along with the DOT and once again starting to put a fire under this project and pull everybody together to get focused in the same direction, which would lead to the completion of this highway system,” Orr said.
Land acquisitions began in 2021 and the construction started in 2022.
In 2022, the contract for the first section — from the intersection of U.S. 129 Five Point Road to the intersection of N.C. 143 and Beech Creek Road — was awarded to Watson Contracting in Franklin for $46.6 million. Another contract for a second section from Beech Creek Road to Stecoah Gap was awarded to Charles Blalock & Sons Inc. for $116.4 million.
One of the biggest changes to the project was the addition of a land bridge so animals and hikers can safely cross the highway. Orr said he hopes that the land bridge will become a tourist destination. He said it is the first in the state.
“It will actually relocate a small section of the Appalachian Trail and serve as a migratory route for animals, including bear, deer, elk and other wildlife,” Orr said.
Improvements to the 12-mile corridor between Robbinsville and Stecoah will also include constructing a multi-use path in Stecoah as well as sidewalks near Robbinsville High School.
“They're essentially creating a little loop right there in Stecoah with some bike lanes and things which I think are going to be awesome. It's just going to add to the betterment of Stecoah Valley and give some credence to the fact that people do live there. They recreate there and it's not just a two- lane road that traverses through there,” Carpenter said.
These expansions are also a matter of safety and community health, Orr explained. This is particularly true because there is no hospital in Graham County. So anyone with a medical issues needs to be taken more than an hour away to the nearest hospital if a helicopter isn’t available.
Right now because there aren’t passing lanes, emergency vehicles aren’t easily able to move around tractor-trailers or other cars to get community members to the car that they need.
“If, in fact, they cannot get around the traffic in front of them, it could be a life or death situation,” said Orr. “The safe and efficient highway is a critical thing to our citizens here and our visitors as well. Our visitors also represent our only sustainable industry in this county, and that is our travel and tourism.”
Currently, the project does not have enough money to be completed but elected officials and the state hope to change that.
In May, U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards announced that $20 million in federal funding has been allocated to the project.
“The $20 million funding for Graham County’s construction of Corridor K is great news for WNC. The Appalachian Mountains make up the vast majority of our beautiful district, and I’m grateful that the U.S. DOT agreed with me about the merit in funding to build this highway and give the region the necessary resources to boost economic development in an underserved area of the district,” Edwards said in a press release.
The funding is expected to go through later this year but NCDOT says that there is still $25 million needed to finish this part of the project.
“NCDOT welcomes the financial assistance to help develop the unfunded portion of Corridor K in Graham County,” said Division 14 Engineer Wanda Payne in an email. “This grant shows how people, organizations and partnerships can work together to improve the lives of our citizens and visitors in western North Carolina.”
The department said it remains hopeful to close the gap as “construction savings are realized from sections A-0009CA, CB, and CC, future ADHS funds and grants are awarded to the state.”
“I think for the most part we've probably got a good shot at getting things finished. The next section though is the most difficult from Robbinsville to Andrews,” Carpenter said.
The original project also included improvements between Andrews and Robbinsville but that part is still “unfunded.”
“I can tell you that nothing is set in stone to my knowledge on a direct route for that leg of the highway that is still under consideration. We are still looking at different plans,” Orr said.
Ultimately Orr and Carpenter both believe that Corridor K will be completed. Orr says she thinks the funding is there from federal and state sources.
“I think it's very doable. Not only from ARC (Appalachian Regional Commission). I think we have good support from all of our legislators in this area,” Orr said. “I'm not saying that they've committed additional moneys, but I do believe that we have support over and above what we have seen so far.”
The NC DOT says that a construction schedule for the next section would be established once funding is secured.
“The plans are prepared and ready to get to construction within 3 months of funding authorization for the A-0009CD section,” Division 14 Engineer Wanda Payne said in an email.
