The N.C. Department of Transportation proposes to construct a bypass around the towns of Cameron and Vass. Moore residents should turn out for the hearing and support the project, which would make U.S. 1 safer and benefit the local economy.
The hearing will specifically concern DOT’s application to the Division of Water Quality for a permit to proceed with the project. Such a permit is needed because a portion of the new road would affect 41.5 acres of wetlands and 4,800 feet of streams. DOT proposes to compensate for adverse affects on wetlands and streams by restoring and strengthening the protection of other wetlands and streams.
Destruction of wetlands and streams is certainly a reason for concern, but the restoration and protection measures proposed by DOT are adequate compensation for those environmental effects.
The bypass would have four lanes and a 46-foot median. That would make for greater traffic safety and convenience to motorists traveling through Moore. It would be highly beneficial to Moore’s tourist economy. And since FirstHealth now is in charge of neighboring Lee County’s emergency medical service, the project would make for safer and more rapid ambulance transportation of patients en route from Lee to FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital in Pinehurst.
If the Division of Water Quality grants the permit, DOT should not build this project on the cheap. In addition to implementing the proposed environmental protections, DOT should make the roadway aesthetically pleasing — in part to preserve Moore’s attractiveness to tourists — by dramatically limiting access to the road.
Moore County government also has a vital responsibility concerning the U.S. 1 bypass. The county’s planning staff, planning board and commissioners should enact and strictly enforce zoning along the bypass route that keeps the area environmentally, aesthetically and economically secure.
The hearing will begin at 7 p.m., and anyone wishing to express an opinion will be permitted to speak for three minutes. Written comments may be submitted either before or after the hearing. The comments should be mailed to the N.C. Division of Water Quality, 401/Wetlands Unit, 1650 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, N.C. 27699-1650, Attention Cynthia Van Der Wiele. Comments must be received by the Division of Water Quality no later than 5 p.m. on Oct. 29.
Moore County residents should turn out in force for the Sept. 25 hearing and let state officials know that the U.S. 1 bypass is vital to Moore County’s economic progress.
Judges Should Be Appointed
Gov. Mike Easley last week signed into a law a bill that makes the election of District Court judges nonpartisan. That’s a step in the right direction, but it doesn’t go far enough. Judges in North Carolina, at both the trial and appellate levels, should not be elected at all but appointed by the governor and confirmed by the General Assembly, following the federal model.
Taking any authority away from the voters should not be taken lightly. But the election of judges is an open invitation to impropriety and creates the appearance of impropriety. When judges run for office, they are forced to kowtow for campaign contributions. Often, those contributions come from lawyers. And often, those lawyers appear in court before the judges they’ve given money to. Such practices doesn’t inspire confidence in our system of justice.
Several years ago, the Medlin Commission proposed a comprehensive series of reforms to the state’s court system. A centerpiece recommendation was making judicial offices appointive rather than elective. The vice chairman of the commission was our own Joe Doster of Seven Lakes, former publisher of The Winston-Salem Journal. The Medlin report has been ignored by legislators.
Now is the time for lawmakers to begin addressing the recommendations, starting with a constitutional amendment providing for the appointment of judges. Public confidence in our court system is at stake.
