Beltway betrayal (Editorial in Winston Salem Journal)
Gov. Bev Perdue and the N.C. Department of Transportation slapped Winston-Salem and Forsyth County hard last week when it put the long-delayed eastern leg of the Northern Beltway at the bottom of a list of 21 urban loop projects statewide, according to a draft list obtained by the Journal. That ranking means the local loop, which would have been completed by now if it weren’t for two lawsuits, was not recommended for land-buying or construction during the next 10 years. Placing Forsyth last is unacceptable because it means that Business 40 and U.S. 52 will be dangerously overcrowded for years to come, making traveling those highways unsafe and stunting economic development.
Our local leaders have played nice long enough, only to have our area treated like a red-haired stepchild. That despite the fact that our county is a foundation for the state’s biotech industry, and for the state’s economy in general, as was evidenced once more last week when Winston-Salem and Forsyth County landed the Caterpillar plant.
Perdue might argue that her new system of prioritizing loop projects, meant to remove politics from the process, prevents her from interceding in this case. But this is not a matter of politics. If it was, surely Perdue would pay more attention to her friends in Winston-Salem who want this loop, Mayor Allen Joines, Sen. Linda Garrou and Ralph Womble, the area’s representative on the state Board of Transportation. This is about basic fairness. Perdue could consider the history of this project, make an exception in this case, and give a full accounting to the public of all the good reasons for doing so.
As Joines says, the process is flawed because it divides benefits by the total cost of the project to come up with a ranking. That calculation puts Forsyth County at the bottom because no portion of the beltway has been built, he said. The rankings give preference to those projects that are under way. Other regions have segments of their loops already constructed. Also, the DOT did not give proper weight to the fact that two lawsuits had stalled the project for more than 10 years. If Forsyth had gone ahead with its project when it was first approved, in 1989, it would be done, at a cost far less than the approximately $840 million it will cost now.
Gayle Anderson of the Greater Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce said in an e-mail that the DOT dropped the ball, and so did Perdue “because she is not honoring the promises that all previous administrations made, beginning with Gov. Hunt’s administration, that once the lawsuits were settled the state would restore our beltway funding … She was in Winston-Salem a few months ago and promised our business and political leaders in a private meeting that the state would honor its commitment and fund at least part of the project. She also said that the local community would have to find some funding, and we are working on how to do that.”
Chrissy Pearson, a spokeswoman for the governor, did not comment on that alleged promise in response to a question, saying instead in an e-mail that Perdue “has made it very clear to
Joines said in an e-mail that Perdue told him she “sympathizes with the fact that WS is being penalized by the formula and is willing to work with us on ways to get the beltway started.” Many landowners in the path of the beltway have been left in a state of limbo. State Sen. Pete Brunstetter of Forsyth County said a new plan of action should concentrate on getting them money for their land and continuing to make the case to the governor for a better spot on the list.
Anderson said that the only alternative may be “some type of legal action against the state that challenges the process, and try to hold up all loop construction until we can be heard. That’s not an official Chamber position at the moment, but something we are considering.”
But first, local officials should try one last time to persuade Perdue and the DOT why the ranking formula is flawed. Womble and Joines noted that it’s part of a draft list which will undergo a year of public comment and review before it’s approved. Pearson said that “community input is vitally important to the process. The governor is listening.”
This provides some glimmer of hope, but the community should speak out firmly with a well-argued case that finally moves the DOT and Perdue. If that requires bringing legal action, so be it. The stakes are too high not to do all we can to secure the future of the region. And that’s what we’re talking about. We need a modern highway network around our community for two critical reasons: public safety and economic development. These are linchpins. Joines indicated that it may be necessary to consider local funding and local bond issues to get the eastern extension started, but the lion’s share of the money obviously must come from the state. There’s only so much local money that can be pulled together in this economy.
The time for the community to stand up together and demand fairness for Winston-Salem and Forsyth County is now. Maybe we haven’t always done that in the past, and we’ve suffered for it. We cannot accept being at the bottom of the list.
JOURNAL EDITORIAL STAFF
Published: August 1, 2010
