Transportation Projects Get Positive Nod
Governor Deal gave us a preview of an independent transportation study on 11 major projects planned for completion in the next decade and the results are good. The complete study by Cambridge Systematics, a nationally recognized firm, is due for release later this month.
“These results are a testament to the positive impact this investment will have on Georgians in the near future and in the long-term. This report confirms what we’ve been saying all along—that these projects will move the needle when it comes to driver and freight mobility,” said Deal. “As Georgia’s economy and population continues to grow, we will now boast a transportation system that keeps pace.”
The Governor also provided some political cover for those legislators who voted for HB 170 and are seeking re-election to the Senate and the House.
“Members of the General Assembly demonstrated courage and foresight in addressing this critical need with passage of the Transportation Funding Act of 2015. Their action, along with the expertise and efforts of Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) Commissioner Russell McMurry and GDOT Planning Director Jay Roberts, will improve the quality of life for all Georgians”
The complete project list and preliminary fact sheet are found here.
About Author
IrishPat
Patrick Malone is a Business Advisor and Leadership Mentor headquartered in Blairsville, Georgia. He co-hosts Mountain Daybreak and Mountain Mornings, weekday news programs, and hosts This Week in Blairsville a weekend program on WJUL/WJRB. He is a mentor in Union County High School, serves on his church council and writes a monthly column on leadership in the animal healthcare industry.
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If the objective of HB 170 (roads everywhere bill) was to move vehicles quicker then I guess that objective will be met. At the same time the bill also encourages folks to continue commuting via personal vehicles which will result in more vehicles on the road. The whole process sounds somewhat like an infinite loop. And what happened to the Murray County truck/rail project?
Meanwhile we have Atlanta asking for more federal money to expand the streetcar. Any further streetcar expansion should be funded with local funds, not federal funds.
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/morning_call/2016/04/city-seeks-500-million-grant-to-expand-atlanta.html?ana=e_atl_rdup&s=newsletter&ed=2016-04-21&u=jG6E4YjWaInuldsPN1cGkFF5Wth&t=1461241922&j=72548422
You can consider them local funds. We send lots of money to the feds, and this is how we get some of it back.
Wouldn’t it be better to cash those chits on something that should be found in the dictionary as one of the definitions of boondoggle.
If we are to continue to use “federal transportation funds” in Georgia use those funds for intercity or inter county transit (MARTA) and not a streetcar that will only travel a few miles with few passengers within the city. Atlanta can use their proposed half penny transportation tax to fund the streetcar.
Atlanta probably sends more tax money to the feds than the whole rest of the state. Be careful what you wish for.
Dear Cherokee Co,
You have grown in population 75% since 2000 and we know you are concerned over thousands of new homes planned and in process along the 140 corridor. As we have done for two decades we will continue to solicit your input on what to do about the two lane roads. As you can clearly read from recent DOT plans we will continue to feel you pain. Please feel free to check back with us in 10 years.
Brandon Beach
Your Fulton Co. Friend (sic)
Never afraid to be Bold
Isn’t a reasonable person moving into Cherokee Co. complaining about traffic on SR 140,
the same as someone deciding to move next to an airport and complaining about all that airplane noise?
Yep, and that is the same person move into Cherokee Co that bought into some of those new developments and now complaining about developers building more.
R&R,
We disagree, I think development requires improved roads.
Up to a point. Interesting story about cities removing highways:
http://gizmodo.com/6-freeway-removals-that-changed-their-cities-forever-1548314937
And I think improved infrastructure should be incumbent on all developments and not just inside the development itself. School, water, and roads prorated against the size and impact of the development. The modus operandi in Gwinnett for 30+ years was to pay a small percentage of this impact directly to the commissioners and inspectors. Then here a SPLOST there a SPLOST thereafter.
Chicken and egg argument Salty but when do we tell everyone that the border is closed. I believe I told the last person who wanted to stop development that we waited too late and we should have sealed the border just before they got here. BTW if those evil Developers didn’t have willing buyers they wouldn’t be here.
This is not about closing a border, it is about widening a wagon trail.
The State has long collected the revenue in Cherokee to do a lot more than they have. Rambler, your remarks suggest you should not be insulting anyones intelligence.
Always good to hear from one of those subdivision dwellers who got theirs then joined the fight to prevent others from experiencing the same.
Long time property owners in Cherokee County have been paying taxes for decades. When any of them decide to sell, newcomers living in subdivisions on small plots coalesce to obstruct re-zoning thus preventing the sale of property at a reasonable price (aka Nimbys). Is it the property owners fault that roads have not been built in anticipation of growth? No, they paid and they tried to elect open minded officials against a majority of subdivision dwellers who have a huge advantage in electing anti-property rights officials like those who generally dominate the Cherokee BOC.
Not to worry. 75% more folks here since 2000, property taxes up about 30%, sales taxes up and one of the problems, the same basic roads. No one around here even looking at a land use plan, don’t think anyone is better off.
Should development in 1 county result in another county being required to widen a state route through their own residential area?
I think intelligent people should be able to realize that when you buy a bigger house on a bigger piece of property on a nice pretty cul-de-sac in Cherokee, Forsyth or Dawson County, the consequence is a longer commute.
And that the price you paid for that house reflected that consequence.