Most respondents to a countywide survey on the safety of roads were from Fairfield Glade, indicating a high level of concern about hazards of driving in the community.
Survey results show that 49% of the participants live in county District 9, which consists of most of Fairfield Glade. In addition, 8% live in District 6 and 7% in District 4, both of which include smaller portions of Fairfield Glade.
John Wedgworth, chairperson of Cumberland County Regional Planning Commission, shared the results at a meeting of the Fairfield Glade Community Club Board of Directors on March 26. He also is a member of a county commission roads safety subcommittee.
Wedgworth had alerted the community to the survey at the board’s February meeting and urged his fellow Glade residents to be a part of it.
“And, oh my goodness, were you,” he told the audience at The Center.
Wedgworth said 63% of the participants were at least age 65.
“I guess that’s the Fairfield Glade influence there,” he said to chuckles from the crowd at The Center.
He said half of the respondents have lived in Cumberland County for at least 10 years.
The top 10 road safety concerns expressed by participants, as presented by Wedgworth:
• Add or widen shoulders on roads.
• Remove roadside vegetation.
• Add warning signs, pavement markings and enhanced asphalt pavement treatments at curves.
• Install turn lanes at intersections.
• Widen travel lanes.
• Add guard rails.
• Reconfigure intersections.
• Add roadway improvements for pedestrians.
• Add roadway improvements for cyclists.
• Reduce speed limits.
One member of the audience said there should be more of a focus on road resurfacing. Wedgworth said the survey did not involve paving concerns.
Commissioner Joe Sherrill, 6th District, who formed the roads safety subcommittee, explained there are two programs for roads, one for maintenance and one for replacements. He said the road department has about $5 million annually for maintenance but will receive only $250,000 from the state next year for replacement projects.
“It’s pretty simple,” he said. “It just takes money, and if there’s no money then there’s less replacement.”
He noted, however, the community club helps the county by doing some road work in Fairfield Glade.
Board President Greg Jones said community club leaders were still working on a “fact sheet” that will explain processes the club needs to follow for road work. He said they met a week earlier with county planning commission members and county commissioners on that matter.
That information project began after a community club member last year asked the board how and when it is determined which roads get repaved and with what material, either entirely asphalt or what is called chip and seal, a combination of sprayed asphalt and stones.
“The first big thing, and it’s already started,” Jones said, “is getting all the non-accepted roads in Fairfield Glade to the county for acceptance. Now, it’s going to take a while, but we are working on that right now.”
He said there will be a presentation to the membership when the document is completed.