Corridor Graham Co K DSEIS Comment

October 14, 2008 Gregory J. Thorpe, Ph. D. Project Development and Environmental Analysis Branch NC Department of Transportation 1548 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699-3141 Re: Draft Supplemental EIS, US 74 Relocation, Graham County TIP Project A-9 B& C Dear Mr. Thorpe, These comments are submitted on behalf of Ways South, the Western North Carolina Alliance, The Wilderness Society, the Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition (SAFC), WildSouth, and the Southern Environmental Law Center. SAFC also is submitting independent comments. The stated “needs” for this project (inhibited economic development of Graham County, geographic isolation , and safety) and the project’s purposes (improve system linkage, improve economic and social development, improve highway capacity and development) do not support the single-minded focus of the DOT and this Draft Supplemental EIS on building a four-lane highway in Graham County, especially when the DOT’s own data show that there is no genuine transportation need for such a massive highway and when that highway will cost approximately $400 million (roughly $47,000 for each of Graham County’s approximately 8500 current residents) and fragment and otherwise impact one of North Carolina’s most pristine regions, including cutting a swath through a large area of the Nantahala National Forest. To the contrary, it is apparent that these needs and purposes could ...