Update on October 22 Stakeholders’ Meeting

In response to Save64.org’s May/June petition drive (over 2,600 signatures delivered to NCDOT) and the resulting July community meeting held at Green Hope High School, NCDOT held an additional US64 Stakeholders Meeting on October 22, 2009.

In an all-day format, twenty-two NCDOT-selected community stakeholders met with NCDOT and affiliated organizations to review the revised short and long term plans for US64. During the meeting, several changes to both the short and long term plans were announced, including but not limited to the following:

==> There is no longer any elevated highway included in the long-term plans for US64 in Cary (this was confirmed by David Wasserman of NCDOT [dswasserman@ncdot.gov] and Ed Johnson of Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization [CAMPO, http://www.campo-nc.us/])

==> All intersections along the US64 corridor in Apex and Cary (from Edinburgh Drive to Laura Duncan Road) are still being targeted for conversion to superstreet-style interchanges, in both the short and long term plans

==> Elevated interchanges are still being considered as solutions for the intersections in Apex (Lake Pine and Laura Duncan)

Further, there seems to be little consideration of the citizen-based proposal to bypass the established Apex/Cary community along the US64 corridor, even though NC540 is fully funded and under construction, with completion slated for 2012.

The questions still stand…why have other towns (like Pittsboro, Zebulon, etc.) been bypassed? Why not grant Apex/Cary the same opportunity to preserve their community as well, by utilizing the natural bypass of US1 and NC540?

For more information
The US64 Corridor Study Website has been updated with the presentations and handouts provided at the October 22 workshop. To learn more about the current short and long term plans for US64 in Apex and Cary, please visit the Community Involvement section of the NCDOT website (http://www.ncdot.org/doh/preconstruct/tpb/SHC/studies/US64/).

Path forward
Continuing to represent the Apex/Cary community, Save64.org and community stakeholders have three goals:
==> Formal recognition and signage of the natural bypass around Cary/Apex, via US1 and NC540, with official renaming of same to “US64″
==> Renaming of existing US64 to “Tryon Boulevard,” from Kildaire Farm Road to NC540
==> Preserving our Apex/Cary communities by creating the bypass, not by creating the superstreet

What can you do?
==> Contact your elected representatives to let them know your stance on this issue
==> Forward this email to your contact list
==> Visit our website ( www.save64.org ) and join the email newsletter list…then invite your friends and neighbors to do the same
==> Volunteer with Save64.org. Write workon64@aol.com to let us know that you’d like to help, and what you’d like to do

Save64.org remains engaged with the DOT and other organizations to develop balanced transportation solutions for US64 and to ensure that our Apex/Cary community needs, resources and futures are protected.

Thank you for your continuing attention to this important community matter.