SILER CITY — The Siler City Board of Commissioners decided on Monday night to seek out the assistance of a engineer who specializes in traffic flow and design to assist in assessing Mountaire Farms request to permanently close a portion of East Third Street in front of its facility.
In October 2018, Mountaire Farms — the Delaware-based poultry processing company which built and operates a plant on East Third — requested the town consider closing the road to “increase safety” around the property, according to a letter sent to the town by Rose Law Firm, which represents Mountaire in the matter. Since that time, town staff has been working with Mountaire and the N.C. Dept. of Transportation to address concerns in the proposal before the board considers whether to issue a resolution declaring the town’s intent to close the road.
Mountaire is proposing to close the road and redirect traffic to North Avenue to Eleventh Avenue through a new access it would construct. Mountaire noted previously that 50 percent of its truck traffic would also be using North Avenue.
Most recent comments from board members involved the closures impact on area businesses, the N.C. Dept. of Transportation’s intention to create a “super street” on Eleventh Street and the impact on North Avenue.
After a presentation to the board by Siler City Planning Director Jack Meadows, the board was still apprehensive about the proposal. Responding to a question from Mayor Pro-Tem Larry Cheek, Meadows noted that he had been approached by several “transportation” firms willing to review the plans on the town’s behalf at a cost of between $2,900 and $3,500. Commissioner Bill Haiges said that the road closure would be “such a huge change” for the town and felt that hiring an outside firm was “probably prudent.”
“I’m not a traffic engineer,” he said.
The board directed Meadows to seek out more information from the firms to consider who to engage in the process.
Reporter Casey Mann can be reached at CaseyMann@Chathamnr.com.