Swain surrenders its right to road

Resolution to controversial 'road to nowhere' nets county $52 million

By Jason King
Assistant Communications Director

The controversy over the North Shore Road agreement between Swain County and the United States Government has raged since the pact was signed in 1943. The two sides were among the signees of a contract Feb. 6 that releases the federal government from its responsibility to build the road, but there will likely never be an end to the hard feelings caused when families were forced to leave their homes during the construction of Fontana Dam and the flooding of its lake.

U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler (at table, left) and Swain County Board of Commissioners Chairman Glenn Jones sign off on a contract to pay the county $52 million by Dec. 31, 2020, to settle the 67-year-old North Shore Road Agreement. Looking on (from left to right) are Swain County Commissioners David Monteith, Phil Carson and Genevieve Lindsay, and Citizens for the Economic Future of Swain County members Claude Douthit and Leonard Winchester. Monteith, who wore a black ribbon, was the lone commissioner to vote against the agreement. (Photo courtesy Aaron Morgan/Smoky Mountain Times)

The hydroelectric energy created by the dam was deemed essential to produce the aluminum needed during World War II, but flooding the land for the lake displaced families and buried most of state Highway 288 – the construction of which was paid for with road bonds assumed by Swain County. In 1943, the county and the National Park Service agreed the federal government would build a road along the north shore of the lake.

Construction began and ended in the early 1970s. Seven miles of the proposed 30-mile road were completed (hence "the road to nowhere") before cost concerns and worries about the environmental impact of the road, which would cut through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, caused construction to stop.

In 2007, following the completion of an environmental impact assessment of the road proposal, the National Park Service deemed construction of the road "unacceptable" and endorsed a monetary settlement, which was also supported by the Board of Commissioners.

With no direct and immediate access to family cemeteries, residents who believe that the road is their birthright will likely never be reconciled by the agreement, but the $52 million the county will receive over the next 11 years will be a financial windfall. The county has a 2009-10 budget of less than $11 million.

The agreement immediately provided $4 million to the Swain County Settlement Trust Fund, a special fund established by legislation in 2008 that will be managed by the Office of the State Treasurer. An additional $8.8 million will be deposited into the fund by early June. The remaining $39.2 million will be paid by 2020 as annually appropriated by U.S. Congress.

The county will receive interest and investment income earned by the fund and can only tap into the principal balance of the fund if authorized by a two-thirds vote of citizens.

Commissioners voted 4-1 on Feb. 5 to accept the settlement. David Monteith – a longtime proponent of the road's construction – cast the dissenting vote.

"We can start the healing process now after years of disagreements," Board Chairman Glenn Jones said following the vote.

"It has been evident for years that the North Shore Road would never be constructed," said Rep. Heath Shuler, who worked to secure the settlement funds in Congress. "The interest on these funds alone will greatly increase Swain's annual budget and will help the commissioners in their efforts to create jobs, invest in Swain County schools, and improve the county's infrastructure."