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| Construction on King Street
causes delays |
by Leslie
Rasimas
Staff Writer |
The
need for resurfacing King Street is more important than the
inconvenience it poses, local residents and businesses said.
“The existing pavement of King Street has aged out and
we are working to resurface as quick as possible,” said
Mike Pettyjohn, division maintenance engineer for the North
Carolina Department of Transportation. “It’s a night
job so it shouldn’t pose too many problems.”
King Street, one of the main roads in the small town of Boone,
was in terrible condition and great need of resurfacing. Traffic
lines had faded over time and large delivery trucks and heavy
traffic damaged the road over time.
Maymead Construction, which is responsible for the resurfacing,
closed parking spaces each night on King Street from 6 p.m.
to 7 a.m. to work while traffic was light.
Appalachian Carmike Cinema, 559 King St., opens at 7 p.m.
Polly Hayes, theater manager, worried the roadwork would affect
revenue.
“I was afraid [construction] would kill our business,”
Hayes said, “but students from campus walk here and don’t
worry about parking. I’m glad they’re fixing the
street because the potholes were terrible and I would drive
all around it to get to work.”
Signs were posted along King Street asking drivers not to
park on the road during construction hours or else cars would
be towed. Despite the warning, vehicles lined the street each
night.
Maymead Construction told Hayes they would tow cars parked
on the street after 7 p.m. Hayes stopped movies to let customers
know their cars would be towed if they were parked in the
street.
“We stopped a movie or two to let people know they had
to move their cars if they drove here,” she said.
Parking lots off the main roads are scarce in Boone and the
lack of parking on King Street was a problem for many visitors.
“I have to park on [King Street] because I have nowhere
else to park,” Kathy Tanner of Charlotte said Friday.
“I’m only going to dinner, so we’ll see if
they can tow all of these other cars and get to me before
I get out of the restaurant.”
Residents at the Daniel Boone Condominiums, located across
from the Appalachian Carmike Cinema on King Street, see construction
vehicles set up in the late afternoon, a time when people
sit down to dinner, watch television and relax after a long
day.
“Waking up at night and seeing blinking lights can be
rather aggravating,” said Kathryn K. Duncan, a junior
accounting major and resident of Daniel Boone Condominiums.
“However the potholes were much worse so I guess it will
be better in the end. But the noise in the early evening is
distracting.”
With construction on King Street ending, construction on other
roads in Boone will commence.
“We have a $217,000 budget, including King Street, for
urban areas in Boone,” Pettyjohn said. “Deerfield
Road and others near the [Watauga] hospital will also be fixed.” |
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