It’s a common refrain in Highlands and Cashiers, especially in the spring and fall as town paving crews get to work paving and resurfacing many of the streets within the limits of the Town of Highlands.
“When is my road going to be paved?”
It’s a question that depends on a number of factors, and as Highlands Mayor Patrick Taylor pointed out during his monthly “Coffee with the Mayor” presentation on Friday, no easy answer.
The town is currently paving Big Bear Pen, which was previously gravel. There are two additional paving projects in the pipeline for the fall of 2024 on town streets.
But town streets, meaning within town limits, are all the town crews are allowed to work on. County roads (many of the rural roads outside town limits) are county jurisdiction, and state roads are of course the responsibility of the state.
Which brings up a problem for outlying residents and those folks living in and around Cashiers. To quote Taylor, “the NCDOT is broke.” Taylor, who serves as the head of the transportation committee within the regional planning organization, noted that several projects in Macon and Jackson counties have been shelved, or shuttered completely in the past two years due to lack of funds and/or prioritization points.
Taylor noted that the crossroads of NC107 and US64 in Cashiers, which has experienced record traffic levels over the past several years and is only getting busier as development happens near the intersection, is scheduled to be “looked at” by the NCDOT in 2029. That doesn’t mean any work done or traffic pattern changes made, just studied.
“I’m afraid by then it’s going to be too late to do anything meaningful there and I’ve told the planning folks that,” Taylor said.
Widening of NC106 between Highlands and Dillard, Georgia, to add passing lanes and expanded shoulders is still in the works, but as Taylor noted “several years away at best.”
So for now, the Town of Highlands will keep taking care of the streets it can, but the outlying areas will suffer. That’s not the answer anyone wants to hear to a frequently asked question.