CuRvE to explore safety improvements at Cullowhee intersection
CULLOWHEE—Cullowhee Revitalization Endeavor members will explore traffic safety improvements on Old Cullowhee Road near Aztec Drive and Monteith Gap Road in response to concerns raised by several merchants after a recent collision.
At an open meeting held Saturday at the Cullowhee Café, CuRvE members discussed the difficulty drivers have seeing oncoming traffic as they inch out to turn onto Old Cullowhee Road.
"My business (Cullowhee Real Estate) is right across the street from that area, and wrecks there seem like a once a month occurrence," said Rick Bennett, who is working with CuRvE's parks and recreation committee. Bennett raised the traffic issue at the meeting on behalf of Cullowhee merchants who had mentioned their concerns to him.
A group of CuRvE members volunteered to speak with Cullowhee community members and transportation officials about safety improvements that might be possible.
Plans to install landscaping near the intersection in front of The Music Village will be coordinated with that effort. A local landscape designer has offered to assist with the project, and an area Girl Scout troop has volunteered to help with planting, said Christopher Blake, co-chair of CuRvE's steering committee.
In other business:
• CuRvE has adopted the highway on Old Cullowhee Road stretching from Highway 107 to Papa's Pizza. Clean-ups will be scheduled monthly, and CuRvE will invite area groups to join in the effort to pick up litter along the road.
• A needs assessment is under way. Steering committee member Maurice Phipps said letters and needs assessment cards are being prepared to send to Old Cullowhee Road property and business owners. The card will ask community members what kind of assistance they could use, such as help with landscaping or grant writing. Boxes to accept the completed needs assessment cards will be located at Suds Your Duds Laundromat, The China Dragon Restaurant, the Cullowhee Café or Cullowhee Real Estate.
• Bennett said the parks and recreation committee has contacted the Jackson County recreation department and begun the process of having the area included in the county master plan. The committee is following Duke Power's plans to enhance the water access and takeout area above the dam and construct a put-in area below the dam.
• Brian Railsback, WCU liaison for CuRvE and dean of the Honors College at Western, said Honors College students have expressed interest in working with CuRvE projects. Some will research what it would take to incorporate the area and bring the information to the community for consideration.
• Galen May shared a possible design for a sign for the entrance of Cullowhee.
• Jane Nichols, who is leading CuRvE's town planning committee, said interior design and construction management students at WCU could assist Cullowhee business owners with developing renovation plans.
• Erin Tapley, who teaches art education at WCU, said she has students who would be willing to paint murals to beautify the community. Students would work with a business or property owner to agree on a design and then carry out the project. Tapley's students will create signs that say "Cullowhee Revitalization" to highlight some of the improvement work taking place in the community.
• Bennett highlighted several projects including Jack Debnan's construction of riverfront homes, Bob Hooper moving forward with plans to build condominiums and Jed Haley's improvements to the Village Store building by the bridge, including a new roof and siding.
For more information about CuRvE, check out www.gocullowhee.org, send an e-mail to cullowheerevitalization@gmail.com or call co-chairs Mary Jean Herzog at (828) 293-5952 or Christopher Blake at (828) 293-5507.
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