Mobile
Road To Nowhere
Mountain families clash with environmentalists in a conflict without villains — except the federal government
Page 4 of 4
Such estimates get gasps and guffaws of disbelief from Hogue and Monteith —and knowing nods from Snyder.
"It wouldn't be near what they say it would cost," Hogue told me. "Most of it would be on level terrain near the lake, and a lot would be on the old existing roadbeds."
What does everyone else in the west end of North Carolina think about the road? Kyle Dixon, publisher of Bryson City's newspaper, the Smoky Mountain Times, laughed and said he hasn't voiced an editorial position "out of a sense of survival."
The paper did an informal call-in survey on attitudes about the road. "It was close, but there were more for [the road] than against," Dixon said. "Then suddenly, 2,000 people voted for the road. We knew something was up, and we pulled it." Monteith had a slightly different spin: "The Smoky Mountain Times didn't like the results, so they didn't publish them until we raised hell."
Monteith claimed all but one of 287 businesses he contacted in Swain County favor the road, and citizen support is at 71 percent (based on the newspaper poll). As I said at the beginning, obsession skews descriptions. I visited about 10 businesses in Bryson City and another half dozen on the road to Fontana Dam. Three proprietors said they'd support a road. The rest shrugged. One bed and breakfast operator sighed: "I don't want trouble with David [Monteith]. His folks are red hot for the road. Most of us are just tired of hearing about it."
One of Monteith's foot soldiers, Earl Kirkland, commented during the boat ride to the North Shore that "the government and the environmentalists are just waiting for people here who care about our history to die out. And it's happening."
« previous 1 2 3 4
Latest in Cover
Calendar
-
Queen Charlotte Fair @ Route 29 Pavilion
- Through April 22, 4-11 p.m.
-
-
NEW WINDOW GALLERY-Pat Rhea-ACRYLIC PAINTINGS-April 05-30 2024 VALDESE, NC 28690 @ New Window Gallery/Play It Again Records
- Through April 30, 12 p.m.
-
TheDiscountCodes
- Mondays-Sundays. Continues through Dec. 31
-
-
Wine & Paint @ Blackfinn Ameripub- Ballantyne
- Thu., April 18, 6-9 p.m.
-
-
Face to Face Foundation Gala @ The Revelry North End
- Fri., April 19, 6-10 p.m.
-
