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Northern Project

Northern Project (I-95 to the Rockingham/Hamlet Area of North Carolina)

Public Hearings and Public Meetings

Public Hearings and Public Meetings are a vital part of the Environmental Impact Statement study process. Public hearings/meetings provide the Project Team with the ability to meet directly with the citizens in the Project Study Area and receive their input on the project at various stages of progress. It also allows interested members of the public to speak directly with members of the Project Team and learn more about how the new interstate may impact their properties and/or communities.

The Project Team conducted two Public Hearings, two Public Information Meetings, and two Public Scoping Meetings for the I-73 North project. A brief summary of these hearings/meetings is included in the following sections.

Public Hearings

The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), in cooperation with the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), conducted two Public Hearings to present the Preferred Alternative alignment and the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). These Public Hearings were held as follows:

August 14, 2007
Marlboro County High School
Bennettsville, South Carolina

Approximately 325 persons attended this Public Hearing. The meeting format included an informal open house from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. Displays were set up in the Commons Area and Project Team members from the SCDOT and the FHWA were able to discuss the project with many interested citizens on an individual basis.

At 6:00 p.m., the formal Public Hearing began in the gymnasium. The formal hearing started with a brief formal presentation on the project purpose and need, schedule, and potential natural and human impacts to the community. Immediately following this presentation, citizens who had signed up to do so, were invited to make formal, verbal comments and questions regarding the proposed project. These comments were recorded by court reporters. 25 persons signed up to make comments.

August 28, 2007
Cole Auditorium at the Richmond Community College
Hamlet, North Carolina

Approximately 135 persons attended this Public Hearing. The meeting format included an informal open house from 4:30 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. Displays were set up in the Banquet Rooms and Project Team members from the SCDOT, the NCDOT, and the FHWA met with many persons on a one to one basis to discuss their comments and questions about the project.

At 7:00 p.m., the formal Public Hearing began in the auditorium. The public received a brief formal presentation on the project purpose and need, schedule, and potential natural and human impacts to the community. Immediately following this presentation, citizens who had signed up to do so, were invited to make formal, verbal comments and questions regarding the proposed project. These comments were recorded by court reporters. Five persons signed up to make comments.

The Public Hearings provide an opportunity for you to meet with members of the project team to ask questions and/or make comments about the project. The location of the Recommended Preferred Alternative may change after we receive this public input and perform field studies this fall, so it will be very important for you to continue to let us know what you think.

Your input is important to us!

Public Information Meetings

The SCDOT and FHWA, in cooperation with the NCDOT for the North Carolina meeting, conducted two Public Information Meetings for the Northern Project. These meetings were held as follows:

Thursday, September 7, 2006
Bennettsville Middle School Gymnasium
Bennettsville, South Carolina
(417 persons attended this meeting.)

Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Cole Auditorium at the Richmond County Community College
Hamlet, North Carolina
(76 persons attended this meeting.)

These Public Information Meetings were conducted for anyone who wished to view maps showing the Potential Alternative Corridors. Interested members of the public were given an opportunity to speak directly with representatives of the Project Team. Comment cards were available at the public information meeting, and attendees were encouraged to provide written comments.

The Public Information Meeting is part of the open process that the SCDOT and FHWA are conducting throughout the Environmental Impact Study for I-73.

The input that the Project Team received following the Public Information Meetings was carefully reviewed.   Where possible, the Project Team made adjustments to the Potential Alternative Corridors to reduce impacts these corridors may have on the human and natural environments.  These adjustments were reflected in the Reasonable Alternative Corridors that were developed for the project.

Public Scoping Meetings

The SCDOT and FHWA, in cooperation with the NCDOT for the North Carolina meeting, conducted two Public Scoping Meetings for the Northern Project. These meetings were held as follows:

Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Marlboro County High School
Bennettsville, South Carolina
(282 persons attended this meeting.)

Monday, November 28, 2005
Cole Auditorium at the Richmond County Community College
Hamlet, North Carolina
(61 persons attended this meeting.)

These meetings provided an opportunity for interested members of the public to voice their opinions and provide the SCDOT, NCDOT, and the FHWA with any issues they felt would be important in the development of the I-73 project. The comments the Project Team received during these meetings were used during the development of Potential Alternative Corridors that were developed and presented to the public during the Public Information Meetings.

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