Crooked Creek Committee Report June 27, 2022

Lonnie Bewernitz, the chairman of the Crooked Creek Precinct, and his Resolutions Committee are addressing dangerous crosswalks in the Town of Old Fort and the City of Marion

The crosswalk on Catawba Avenue in Old Fort at Water Street was deemed one of the more dangerous in the county. Good news! This crosswalk is a part of a larger streetscape project planned for the Town of Old Fort by the Tourism Development Authority. It addresses safety concerns in a big way and puts this portion of crosswalk safety on the done list, pending completion by the powers that be.

The Old Fort crosswalk has been the most obvious crosswalk safety issue, however, there may be others. In speaking with the NCDOT representative about this project I learned that it is the financial responsibility of the City or Town to provide the lights, lighting, street markings, etc. for new crosswalk safety. I was not given a true estimate, but he did suggest that it was 10s of $1000s of dollars for even a most simple solution with the pedestrian push button and flashing lights. The Catawba Avenue crosswalk was not eligible since right now it is 4 lanes. However, the new TDA plan cuts the lanes to 2 and factors in pedestrian safety as the first priority.

View the plan here. It is quite a good thing for the Town of Old Fort: https://mcdowellnews.com/news/local/old-fort-lands-900-000-grant-to-upgrade-downtown-corridor/article_cf52c6c8-edd1-11ec-9465-db305fe1407a.html

Respectfully submitted,

Susan Elliott

McDowell Co. Democratic Party