The

Tyrone Town Council rejected a proposal last week

to place nearly $39,000 worth of curbs and

gutters on Swanson Road when the road is rebuilt.

The

rejection angered several residents who claimed

the curbs and gutters are needed to keep a

semblance of a subdivision road, and not a major

road that residents and visitors will use as

shortcuts.

Town

manager Barry Amos told the council that the town

has been working with the Department of

Transportation since 1996 to improve the road

that divides two sections of the Pendleton

subdivision.

With

work getting ready to start on the road, Amos

said several residents had asked that stop signs

be placed at two intersections and that curbs and

gutters be built. Residents also opposed widening

the road to the standard DOT width of 24 feet.

"They

feel that a 24-foot road would subdivide the

subdivision and remove the neighborhood

feel," he said.

Resident

Steve Sampson echoed Amos' comments.

"There's

children that play there. We need to preserve

what we can," he said.

Sampson

and other residents pointed out that Pendleton is

one of the largest taxpayers in the town and said

the town should go ahead and spend the funds to

provide curbs and gutters.

Amos

told the council that there are currently not

enough funds left in the town's road improvements

budget to cover the costs, and the council would

have to look at other alternatives to pay for the

2,700 feet of curbs and two catch basins needed

to improve the road.

Councilman

Ronnie Cannon said the council had been spending

nearly three years fighting to get this road done

and he would support straightening and widening

the road, along with adding stop signs, but could

not support adding the curbs and gutters.

For

Councilman Paul Letourneau, the decision boiled

down to funding.

"I'd

hate to be caught short at a later date," he

said.

Former

councilman Bill Stone also said the road needed

to be fixed.

"This

is the most dangerous paved road in the county.

It looks worse than a plot of land in Vietnam

after Agent Orange," he said.

The

council voted to widen the road and add the stop

signs to try and keep the speed down on the road.