“Road to Nowhere” Provokes Over 70,000 Comments

The Citizen-Times reports that the public comment for the proposed “Road to Nowhere” near Bryson City in the GSMN brought over 70,000 comments, the majority of them against continued construction.

The 70,000 comments represented the largest number of comments EVER on any issue within the GSMNP. Environmental concerns had halted the building of the road since 1972.

A draft environmental impact statement issued by the park in January identified five possible alternatives for resolving the long-running debate. They range from doing no additional work on the road to extending it all 35 miles.

Wel’ll keep you posted on it. One of the folks quoted in the article says that the internet makes it easier for people to let their voices be heard, and I think that that is going to be an increasingly common phenomenon.

About JW Randolph

Raised on the banks of the Tennessee River, JW's work to create progress in his home state and throughout Appalachia has been featured on the Rachel Maddow Show, The Daily Kos and Grist. He served first as Appalachian Voices’ Legislative Associate and then Tennessee director until leaving to pursue a career in medicine in 2012.