Corridor "K" needed for economy of area Strategic plan outlined at meeting
By Dwight Otwell Editor

Corridor "K", a road that has been in the developmental stage since 1965, is still in the minds and eyes of local, federal and state authorities.

A meeting was held Monday at Tri-County Community College to take a strong look and document the purpose and need of the road and to look at it from an economic standpoint.

North Carolina Department of Transportation representative Joel Setzer said the alignment of the road from Robbinsville to Andrews has not been determined. But the road from Andrews into Tennessee will travel the route of U.S. 74 and U.S. 64. However, funding for the road is still in he future and it will probably be seven years before most of the work is done, Setzer said.

The Appalachian Regional Commission established Corridor "K" in 1965 as an important economic development corridor. Currently, the winding, Highway 64, which runs through the Ocoee Gorge beside the Ocoee River is the only east-west transportation corridor between southeast Tennessee and southwest North Carolina.

Melissa Ziegler, with Wilbur Smith Associates, which was retained by the Southeast Industrial Development Association, presented the results of an Economic Development Strategic Plan for the Corridor "K" region.

Ziegler said this region is competing with the entire world now and many businesses and industries sell or trade outside this region. The Corridor "K" region has a population of 1.4 million people and the average per capita income is substantially below the rest of the United States. Cherokee County has a per capita income of $21,726, she said.

Lack of a good road going east to west has limited job growth, she said.

Some of the region's greatest weaknesses for businesses are the following:

• Work force availability and skills

• Lack of an east-west connector

• Travel time to major markets

• Poor access to ports

• Entry level employees not job ready

Lack of the east-west road results in higher transportation and supply costs, higher operating costs and wear and tear on equipment.

The narrow, two-lane road through the Ocoee Gorge exceeds the statewide average injury crash rate at many locations and many trucking companies and motorists avoid the corridor and travel either to Atlanta or to I-40 rather than navigate the existing road.

"Transportation has a far greater impact on our region than it did five or 10 years ago," Ziegler said.

Ziegler said that Corridor "K" won't necessarily be a primarily four-lane or five-lane highway. That is still to be determined. There is no relationship between Corridor "K" and the proposed I-3 from Savanna to Knoxville, which has drawn strong opposition.

The Economic Development Strategic Plan states that the road should increase per capita incomes. The plan is committed to expanding the use of technologies in our communities.

"We want quality growth and quality communities in our region and need to develop standards and controls to insure that outcome," the plan states.

The plan discusses reusing existing vacant buildings, preserving housing options that are affordable to people who work and live in the region and continue to promote the preservation of historic structures.

"Increasing per capita income and creating new jobs and private investment is absolutely necessary to eliminate poverty within the region," the plan states. "Tourism is an important component of the region's future economy, particularly in more rural communities."

The plan states that the idea is to work together to develop a Corridor "K" region tourism strategy that will increase tourism revenues throughout the region.

Ziegler said her company will develop a Green plan to ensure an environmentally sensitive east-west highway. The challenge is to effectively balance a strong and diverse regional economy with the quality of the natural environment, she said.

Ziegler said about 85 percent of the corridors identified by the Appalachian Regional Commission have been completed in the 13 Appalachian states. Corridor "K" is in the 15 percent that hasn't been done, partially because of the environmental sensitivity of the area through which the road will be constructed and therefore its complexity. Exactly where the road will be built and what type of road will be built has not been decided.

Federal funds from the Appalachian Regional Commission have been earmarked for Corridor "K" and will pay 80 percent of the cost with the states of Tennessee and North Carolina paying the remaining 20 percent.