Residents again giving their two cents on Business 40 upgrades
BY LAYLA FARMER
rW CHROWCLB
Three years ago, when the
North Carolina Department of
Transportation announced that it
would launch a project to improve
the safety of a 1.1 mile section of
Business 40. the Winston-Salem
community spoke out.
Neighborhood Solutions, a pub
lic involvement firm specializing in
environmental justice, was hired to
act as a liaison between NCDOT
and the community More than 80
workers hired by the company -
polled city residents to gauge their
thoughts on the Business 40
Improvement Project.
"This is a critical project,"
remarked DOT Engineer Pat lvey.
"Business 40 is very compact, but
this project, this road, impacts a lot
of people."
Through a variety of communi
ty meetings, surveys and in person
interviews, a record number of city
residents weighed in on whether
they preferred that the improve
ments be done by completely clos
ing the section of Business 40,
which is between the Highway 52
interchange and the Hawthorne
Curve, for two years or keeping it
partially open, which would stretch
the construction time window to
roughlv six years. Sixty eight per
Phoiofc by Lay la K*rmer
Barbara Isom listens to Business 40 Improvement Project worker.
cent of them said they preferred to
have it closed; and the DOT has
pledged to honor their wishes.
This week, the DOT and
Neighborhood Solutions are giving
residents a chance to actually view
some of the options available to
improve the stretch of Business 40,
a project not slated to begin until
2018. During three meetings, resi
dents were invited to explore the
project overview, view various
roadway design ideas and voice
concerns or suggestions about the
progression of the project and the
way it will be carried out.
"More than 40 percent of the
residents along Business 40 along
this area have responded to the (ini
tial) interviews. That is unheard
of," Jumetta Posey, CEO of
Neighborhood Solutions said.
"We're trying to keep up that
opportunity and access for those
people throughout the process."
Charles Reynolds was among
those who came out to the first
Corridor-wide meeting at WSSU's
Anderson Center Tuesday night.
Reynolds, who lives off Liberty
Street, still has concerns about the
Highway being completely shut
J _ . ...
uown ior iwo
years. Making
it to the hospi
tal from East
Winston in the
event of an
emergency,
for instance,
will be a
much slower
process if
Business 40 is
inaccessible,
he noted.
Reynolds
"People have got to get to their
jobs and get to the hospital." he
declared. "They need a straight
access road to get there."
Though he concedes that the
more than 50 year-old infrastruc
ture along the freeway is in need of
an upfit. Reynolds, who retired
from RJR after more than three
decades, said that the people who
will someday use the new roadway
should always come first in the
process.
"The bridges got to be fixed; it's
got to be done, but they've got to
do it the right way," he said.
"You've gotta think about the peo
ple."
NAACP Chapter President
Jimmy Boyd said he was concerned
about how the project might affect
the city's minority populations.
"It's a great idea, but I want to
see what impact it has on our com
munity," he commented.
"Historically, when you bring proj
ects and stuff in the community, we
(minorities) are the ones that had to
be displaced, so those are my con
cerns."
Attendance at the WSSU meet
ing was light - a concern for many
involved with the project. Though
project leaders are encouraging
community involvement, time is of
the essence, Posey said.
"If they want a voice in this
project, they've got to start partici
pating." she said of city residents
and business owners. "Once these
decision are made, because of the
kind of outreach we've had, they're
not going to have any recourse."
The final Corridor-wide meet
ing will lake place today ( Thursday,
Oct. 14) from II a.m. to 2 p.m. in
the ballroom of the Millennium
Center. 101 West 5th St. For more
information about the Business 40
project, call 336-724-2 1 30 or visit
www.business40nc .com .
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