News

Opponents step up campaign to kill Balfour Parkway

By Bill Moss, Published: March 27, 2018

Opponents of the Balfour Parkway are ramping up their opposition to the proposed $160 million Hendersonville bypass with plans for a protest at the Historic Courthouse and studies that challenge the NCDOT's traffic assumptions.

The organization hoping to kill or reroute the bypass, Stop the Balfour Parkway, received a permit to protest prior to the regular meeting of the Board of County Commissioners on Monday. The intent of the protest is show the community support that is building in opposition to the NC DOT proposed Balfour Parkway.
Cindy Lemon initiated the grassroots campaign at an organizational meeting on March 17.

“This protest is a chance for the community to let the commissioners know that we're against the Balfour Parkway," she said in a news release.  "The Parkway will destroy homes and neighborhoods needlessly with an extraordinarily expensive solution to a problem that just doesn't exist.”

Bill Burchill, a retired engineer and a resident of Carriage Park, prepared a detailed traffic analysis he says disproves the need for the parkway and its effectiveness in relieving east-west traffic congestions. Grimesdale resident Bill Erickson has proposed an alternative corridor further west running from Fletcher to Mills River with a new I-26 interchange between the Fletcher-Mountain Home and airport exits. That option traverses farmland and would only endanger one home, Erickson says.
The Stop the Balfour Campaign said it hopes to unite Henderson County communities against creation of an expressway that would destroy homes, businesses, churches and impact quality of life for residents near and within the path of the proposed Balfour Parkway. The peaceful protest is planned for 4 p.m. Monday before the commissioners' meeting at 5:30. For more information visit www.stopthebalfour.com.