Robbinsville – The N.C. Department of Transportation plans to begin acquiring land for Corridor K in Graham County, starting in late summer.
County Manager Jason Marino identified three segments of the proposed road at the Board of Commissioners meeting May 18, the first of which runs from Five Points Road to Beech Creek Road.
He said the department planned to begin land acquisitions on the segment starting in August.
“I’m sure it’ll be repetitive after that on the other sections,” Marino said.
The two other sections run from Beech Creek to the Appalachian Trail and from the trail to a little before Wolf Creek Road. The three sections will be contracted separately.
Once completed, Corridor K will run between Chattanooga and Asheville.
Courthouse update
Marino also spoke about the county’s ongoing justice center project, which has seen an increase in price due to the skyrocketing cost of materials.
“We are pushing as far forward as we can,” Marino said.
He said he anticipated having a contract for the facility in 2023, and that the price tag was up to approximately $24 million.
“A lot of those numbers were before a lot of what we’re seeing now,” Marino said.
He said the next step on the justice center would be to get quotes for architectural and engineering, a process he said would begin by the end of the month.
However – due to the complexity of the building and the concerns of building a jail – he said he expected the design phase to last at least a year.
“There’s a lot more construction than there would normally be if there wasn’t a jail there,” Marino said.
The proposed building would house the county’s jail, sheriff’s office, clerk of court, district attorney, magistrate, superior court, probation officers and other similar services.