Stokes becomes 8th member of PART

County moved quickly to OK joining regional transportation authority

By Jim Sparks
WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL

Stokes County has joined the Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation.

PART's board unanimously approved adding Stokes County as a member yesterday. The Stokes County Board of Commissioners approved joining Monday night.

Stokes County became the eighth member of the regional group that was created by the General Assembly in 1997 to find solutions for highway congestion and other traffic problems in the Piedmont Triad.

The county board's decision came after a presentation by PART officials about why adding Stokes would be good for both the group and the county.

The move was slightly surprising because PART had just started asking the county to become a member, said Brent McKinney, PART's executive director.

McKinney said he wasn't expecting such a quick decision by the Stokes board.

However, lobbying efforts by PART board members Gloria Whisenhunt and Paul Johnson had already helped encourage Stokes commissioners to join. Whisenhunt, the chairwoman of the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners, and Johnson, the chairman of the Surry County Board of Commissioners, both have contacts on the Stokes board.