N.C. A&T’s Board of Trustees will meet Friday to either accept or reject the city of Greensboro’s proposal to extend Florida Street through the Aggie Farm.

The city plans to have the extension branch off of the Florida Street entrance to the Gateway University Research Park shared by A&T and UNCG.

The city wants to extend the street to create a north-south route from Lee Street to McConnell Road.

Although the connecting road would interfere with the west side of the Aggie Farm, some city officials say it would be a positive improvement to Greensboro’s infrastructure and promote growth for the community.

“It’s a major intersection,” Mayor Robbie Perkins said, referring to the Florida and Lee Street connection.

“To make it have three legs instead of four would be a long-term mistake.”

Currently, the Lee and Florida Street intersection is perpendicular, with Lee Street extending from east to west and Florida Street extending south.

Perkins said the extension would cost $3 million.

City Councilman and District 2 representative Jim Kee, a 1981 A&T alumna, is opposed to the plan.

“It does not do anything as far as economic development for either the city or the university,” he said.

He believes the $3 million can be used elsewhere.

“I would like to take that funding to add to the $1.5 million we have for the War Memorial Stadium renovation and then give [the stadium] to A&T.”

The majority of the City Council does not support the street extension, Kee said.

Although A&T is in District 2, the Aggie Farm lies within District 1 of Greensboro, which is represented in the City Council by T. Dianne Bellamy-Small. She is in favor of the proposal.

Calls to Bellamy-Small went unanswered.

A&T’s Board of Trustees must first approve the proposal before any final decisions are made. If the board approves the extension, the City Council could still elect to veto the proposal.

“It’s been on the city’s long-term plan…but the city isn’t going to do anything the school doesn’t want to do,” Perkins said.

The half-mile long extension could provide an easier commute for Greensboro residents, however to some, that is irrelevant.

Civil rights activist Lewis Brandon, a 1961 A&T graduate and former university employee, began a petition for those who oppose the extension. He plans to present it at the Board of Trustees meeting.

“It is not a logical proposition,” Brandon said. “The road doesn’t serve any purpose for the university.”

So far, he has “several hundred” signatures.

The meeting will begin at 2 p.m. in the Alumni Foundation Center and is open to the public.

–Email Karmen at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @KayRob_

• Karmen Robinson, managing editor