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Project History
July 9, 2016
7:50 PM Forest Hill Road project faces another setbackForest Hill project completion date pushed back to NovemberLandscaping to continue until 2018 Conceptual phase of second portion underway Read more here: http://www.macon.com/news/local/article88707317.html#storylink=cpy |
by Stanley Dunlap sdunlap@macon.com The construction project along Forest Hill Road has hit another road bump that’s pushing the timeline back several months. The Georgia Department of Transportation’s $8.4 million project is now scheduled to finish in November instead of the original July target date. The project connecting Northside Drive with Vineville Avenue more than 20 years in the making still has questions coming from Forest Hill residents who are concerned about the progress. One of them is Anne Mullendore, who says she’s irritated that she hasn’t been able to learn a finish date from the DOT. It’s been easy to see for a while that construction would not be finished in July, she said. The number of empty houses around Forest Hill has increased since last year, she said, and some rights of way continue to have overgrown grass. “They’ve not had the courtesy to meet with anyone that lives on this road to say why it’s not finished and when it will be finished,” she said. In September, DOT officials said the relocation of sewer lines caused some delays, but the project was still on target to finish in July. Asked again in recent days what had caused a four-month delay, the DOT again said it was due to sewer line relocation. DOT spokeswoman Kimberly Larson did not respond to several attempts by The Telegraph to get follow-up questions answered. While construction is expected to be finished by the first week in November, landscaping will take another two years. The Forest Hill widening involves a two-mile stretch from Northside Drive to Wimbish Road and adding a center turn lane to a portion of the road. Five-foot-wide sidewalks are part of the project, as is realigning Normandy Road and Glen Hill Court, along with South Forest Lake Drive and Newport Road. Crews have completed the storm draining system, patching and water line. About half of the asphalt paving has been finished, and about 85 percent of the retaining walls have been put up. Also, about 40 percent of curb and gutter work as been completed, and the sidewalks are scheduled to be put in by the end of August. Another section of the project involves the realignment of Old Lundy Road with Lokchapee Drive. “Relocation of Old Lundy Road has not been open to travel, but is scheduled to be open around the end of July 2016,” Larson said. Future plans for Forest HillWhile work continues on Forest Hill Road, efforts to expand another section of the road remain in the early stages.Macon-Bibb recently agreed to pay Stantec $120,600 to put together a conceptual plan that, when completed, would be presented to the DOT for approval, Macon-Bibb spokesman Chris Floore said. The original idea for the second phase involved widening the section from Wimbish Road to Vineville Avenue to four lanes. That, however, would be too expansive, said Ben Wells, a priest at St. Francis Episcopal Church located at 432 Forest Hill Road. Wells said one addition that could help alleviate traffic is a left turn lane at Ridge Avenue. “We support (the project) to increase the safety and upgrade (Forest Hill), but at its present form, we can’t support that project,” Wells said. Floore said he understands some of the frustration residents feel with the project. Anytime there’s a road construction project the scale of Forest Hill, there’s a chance that, despite planning, the unexpected happens, such as storm sewer issues uncovered when the work began, he said. “In order to improve the safety of the road and driveability and walkability, we have to go through that process,” Floore said. Funding for Forest Hill improvements date back to the early 1990s, with a special purpose sales tax referendum. The 1994 SPLOST included about $1.8 million for design, right-of-way acquisition as well as other work. The DOT also spent about $911,000 on those parts of the project, according to Macon-Bibb. The project has faced several setbacks throughout the years. Several years ago, a citizens advocacy group had the DOT revisit the design after pointing out issues in the state’s traffic counts used to rationalize the widening. One of the staunchest opponents of how the project was designed has been Macon resident Lindsay “Doc” Holliday. He filed a lawsuit against the DOT in 2013, citing environmental concerns, and saying he believed the design would make Forest Hill more dangerous than another design he preferred. He lost the case and did not file an appeal by the deadline. Holliday also has recently spoken out against the types of retaining walls being put up, questioning why some of the walls are textured while others are smooth. He continues to monitor the progress of Forest Hill and the future phase. He also questions why it’s been difficult for some government officials and the DOT to give straightforward answers to some of the concerns that residents have about the project. “It would be nice if all the walls look nice,” Holliday said. “The bigger issue is the behavior of the officials to the citizens.” Stanley Dunlap: 478-744-4623, @stan_telegraph Read more here: http://www.macon.com/news/local/article88707317.html#storylink=cpy ... |
5 Comments Richard Scherer · Works at Retired Don't forget everyone that we will all be able to someday drive to our useless mall faster as we proudly pass 5 miles of once beautifully natural landscaped land. But ugly now. A poorly thought out boondoggle with no sensitive to the local concerns of the community. A waste of so much money. Unlike · Reply · 4 · Jul 10, 2016 10:11pm ---Carolyn Kennedy Dominy Is that useless mall still open? The last time I was there must have been about 2009. Like · Reply · Jul 11, 2016 8:57am Patricia Weiss · Air Command and Staff College Excuse me, "on target to finish in July." July of what year. The intersection of Old Lundy Rd., Forest Hill Road and Lokchapee Drive has been a disaster of do-overs and wash-aways. If it is finished by November of 2017, it would take a miracle. Plans and promises made to the family at the intersection of Old Lundy and Forest Hill Road have been broken and the problem not resolved. Dr. Lindsay D Holliday spent his own money to bring in one of the top road/city designers in the WORLD to show the problems with the design, but egos got in the way. In the meantime we eat the dust, listen to the noise and take detours. Is anyone listening? Unlike · Reply · 5 · Jul 10, 2016 3:54pm · Edited . Dave Horton · Goose High School, Goose Bay, Labrador, Canada Did everyone know that there would not be a turn lane the entire distance? Where it's still two lanes it appears that they could have just put in real sidewalks and a 3 foot bike lane. Now it looks like a parking lane. . Rann T. Wayne It has been proven that road projects like this, to ease the congestion of traffic, only leads to more traffic and further congestion. It's a case of if the disease doesn't kill you, the cure will. . Lindsay D Holliday · Owner at Holliday Dental Associates I am not "against the types of retaining walls". I specifically requested that GDOT make All the walls uniformly more attractive. They can easily do this by using the same uniformly-stone-textured molds when pouring the concrete into the wall-forms. See my notes about this here: http://www.macon-bibb.com/.../Concrete_Retaining_Walls... Thank-you. Like · Reply · 6 · Jul 10, 2016 9:10am · Edited . |
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