Leaders, Citizens Discuss Proposed TSPLOST Projects

Mixed views about five road projects proposed in Oconee County collided Thursday in a public meeting among county leaders, transportation planners and citizens.

At the , those who hope to pass a one-cent sales tax referendum next summer trumpeted the economic growth benefits of widened roads and improved traffic flow. The tax would run for 10 years. Critics, however, struggled to see the congested traffic problems, and worry that road expansion would eliminate the rural community appeal.

“Just the facts in this case would be enough to irritate people,” said Kelly Huff, a Mars Hill Road resident. “They’re being inflexible.”

The Northeast Georgia Regional Transportation Roundtable has spent nearly a year compiling road improvement projects in a 12-county region. The Oconee County projects are on Mars Hill/Experiment Station Road, the Oconee Connector, Daniells Bridge Road, Simonton Bridge Road and Jimmy Daniell Road. The projects are part of the Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax referendum, or TSPLOST.

If voters approve the tax next summer, the state would distribute proceeds in 2013. Seventy-five percent of the money dedicated to regional projects would be decided on by the Roundtable, and 25 percent would go to local governments to use at their discretion.

“I don’t think anyone likes the idea of an extra penny sales tax,” said Joe Walter, the mayor of Watkinsville. “But the state now, and in the foreseeable future, they don’t have any funding. So regional planning is kind of like preparing your garden for next year. Nothing’s going to happen immediately, but anything you can do to make our region better, the roads safer, is going to be a little more attractive to business and industry.”

Simonton Bridge resident Sylvia Dawe and her husband moved to the area in 1996 because of the pastoral setting and proximity to downtown Watkinsville. Dawe said she had questions Thursday about increased traffic, higher speed limits and a widened road.

“There are other ways to go from Athens to Watkinsville,” she said. “I say preserve the residential corridor and our pastoral setting. Putting in a turn lane and widening the road would really hurt us, and it’s unnecessary because there are no new developments out there.”

The Mars Hill project is estimated to cost $66.5 million and be completed in three phases. The Oconee Connector interchange with State Route 316 would cost $25 million, Jimmy Daniell would be $10.6 million, Daniells Bridge $9.1 million, and Simonton Bridge Road is proposed to be a $1 million project.

State attended the meeting in a dual role as resident and legislator. Williams said he came to hear feedback from the public.

“A lot of these projects are sort of a blend of dealing in a reactionary basis with traffic volume, and traffic issues that are already there,” Williams said. “Some of them probably better fall into the category of looking ahead and saying, ‘Where does our transportation network need to be 10, 20, 30 years from now?’ … If growth is coming, it’s coming whether your transportation infrastructure is ready for it or not.”

Walter and other community leaders and Roundtable members, such as Hunter Bicknell, the group's chairman, said they would continue to explain the benefits and ramifications of passing or not passing the referendum.

Bicknell said the federal government is expected to cut 30 percent from transportation budgets in the coming years. He also said Georgia has lagged behind in transportation investment in the last decade, ranking nearly last in the country.

“Without some kind of new funding, we’re just going to fall further and further behind, and our region and state is going to become less competitive from an economic development standpoint,” Bicknell said.

Huff said there has not been clear communication between county and state officials. The road widening definitions between projects is not consistent, he said.

“On Daniells Bridge, they’re talking about adding two feet on either side,” Huff said. “That’s what people see as a road widening. Mars Hill is not a road widening, it’s a road devastation. It’s just horrible.”

A median inserted on Mars Hill would allow Huff to only turn right out of his driveway. But Huff said a county official who visited his house suggested he make a U-turn to proceed left.

“Somebody suggested it’s a safety issue,” Huff said. “If it’s a safety issue, why are U-turns illegal? Even Barney Fife pulled Gomer over for that.”

Huff, who has lived on Mars Hill nearly 10 years, added that the project hasn’t been fully researched, and said he’s irritated that sidewalks would be added that are unnecessary. Huff said he’s been offered the value of one-fifth of his property, but is not aware of a deadline to complete the transaction. He’s also upset that several mature trees, such as oaks and dogwoods, in his front yard, would be lost in the project.

“I don’t think there’s any concern for the citizens,” he said. 

The next public meeting with members of the Northeast Georgia Regional Transportation Roundtable is scheduled for Sept. 13 at the Crawford Depot in Oglethorpe County. A final meeting will be held at Georgia Perimeter College on Sept. 22.  Both meetings will run from 6-8 p.m.

The full Roundtable for each region in Georgia will have until October 15, 2011 to approve or amend their lists, according to an open letter to local governments from Todd Long, Georgia Department of Transportation's director of planning.