Opponents of the project also saw an irony in Hunt's presence at the ceremony making the New an American Heritage River four weeks ago even as his transportation department was planning a road project that they say could endanger the river. All of the runoff from the road and road construction will go directly into the river. It's a much more level road. . . . N.C. 163 also crosses the New River but goes straight over and probably wouldn't require 7,000 feet of retaining wall along a mountainside, as the N.C. 16 project would, Baker said. Tolson said he doesn't know yet how much it would cost to widen N.C. 163.
People are too smart to be satisfied with window dressing and promises.