Smith and the other opponents don't dispute that the traffic projections show a need for widening N.C. 16 as it approaches the Jefferson Landing golf-course development and the town of Jefferson. In fact, they agree that the road could use four additional feet of pavement. There's no industrial development. Lou Zeller has tested the state's commitment to making the highway safer. He received a reply from Wade Hoke, the division engineer, saying that the traffic volume and accident history at the intersection don't warrant a caution light.
Residents are divided The project receives mixed reviews from residents.
Some say that a better highway can only improve tourism and help attract more industry to Ashe County, which lost 589 jobs in 1996 when Sara Lee Corp. closed a T-shirt plant. But the road project's opponents say that the widening will disrupt tourism in Glendale Springs for the two years that construction will last, and it will mar one of the county's chief destinations for visitors. The issue has divided local residents so much that Wanda Barnes, the owner of the wooden-floored Glendale General Store, said she won't discuss the project and the state's plans to take her store because she has customers on both sides of the issue. The road's opponents have enlisted the help of state Rep. Rex Baker, a Republican from King who is one of Ashe's three representatives in the N.C. House. It gives you a road to nowhere,'' he said.