City seeks voting rights with Super 70 commission

Havelock is asking for voting rights on the Super 70 Corridor Commission, which could decide the matter Thursday at its business meeting in Smithfield.

The highway enhancement group is composed of members from six counties and 16 cities and towns along the U.S. 70 corridor between Clayton and Beaufort. Member counties appoint four delegates to the commission's executive board - three voting members and one ex-officio member who does not vote.

Havelock's requested contribution for membership is $5,000, but cities currently do not receive individual votes. Danny Walsh, a Havelock commissioner who represents Craven County on the Super 70 board, would like to see that change.

"If they're going to charge us, charge the city of Havelock, I feel we should have a vote," Walsh said. "We're trying to do what we can to make sure that the traveling public in Havelock is safe."

Walsh said the city of Kinston, which also contributes money to the group, has asked for an individual vote as well. Each member county pays $25,000 per year for its Super 70 membership and voting rights.

The Super 70 group works with the N.C. Department of Transportation and consultant group Kimley-Horn and Associates to plan a series of gradual changes that will streamline the highway.

The commission has scheduled a business meeting for 2 p.m. Thursday at the Johnston County Agricultural Center in Smithfield. Business meetings are open to the public, but unlike public work sessions, observers are not provided an opportunity to address the board.

Under the Super 70 plan, the 135-mile U.S. 70 corridor from Clayton to Beaufort will gradually be transformed into a limited-access freeway, with bypasses circling the major cities. Havelock commissioners have not endorsed the concept, which could throttle cross-town traffic on the city's main road by removing stoplights and closing crossovers.

Residents harshly critcized parts of the plan during a January public hearing in Havelock.

Walsh, who has been a vocal critic of some NCDOT decisions, stressed that Havelock should work with - not against - the state's traffic engineers.

"In the past, we have had an adversarial relationship with the Department of Transportation," he said. "And we have changed that. We want to work together for a common cause."

For a look at current Super 70 plans and maps, visit www.super70corridor.com.