Forest Hill Road

    Macon Council - Disrespected by GDOT

Macon, Ga

    Ga DOT staff  ".. do not have to live near it .."  

Posted on Fri, Feb. 17, 2006 p.6A   http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/opinion/13890347.htm

Macon City Council dissed by DOT

The Macon City Council recently requested a meeting with the state Department of Transportation to talk about the Forest Hill Road project. This project has been at the forefront of the Road Improvement Program for more than 10 years. Children have grown up and left for college, Calder Clay, a Bibb County commissioner when the tax passed to help fund the roads program and an early opponent of the original plan for Forest Hill Road, has run for Congress - twice. Forest Hill Road is one of the main reasons CAUTION Macon was created.

The first design concept for the road was the wrong fit for the established neighborhood the road runs through. And its purpose, to be the middle link in a "Northwest Parkway," - I-75 and Northside Drive on one end - Park Street and Log Cabin on the other - was ill-conceived. The idea was to take traffic headed to the western part of the city (the mall) in a more direct route. Traffic count data was presented to justify the project, but where it came from is anyone's guess. It had no basis in reality. Council also wanted to talk about including design concepts, such as roundabouts, at some of the intersections set to be "improved."

The DOT is obviously tired of talking. In a letter to the Public Works and Engineering Committee responding to the request for a meeting, the state urban design engineer said it was too late to change the road's design and there was "no reason to attend this meeting." He said the suggested roundabouts could only be used on streets with lower traffic counts (if you believe the DOT's traffic counts, expect the Easter Bunny to ring your door bell).

That response to an elected body is a classic example of DOT arrogance. Granted, the agency is probably tired of this project, but so are area residents who don't want the friendly road that has meandered through their neighborhood to turn into speedways like Northside Drive and Zebulon Road.

Councilman Stebin Horne hopes this "dissing" of council is not the final word. Whether or not it is seems unimportant. The attitude is what counts and since the engineers who have designed the road don't have to live near it, they can afford to keep a closed mind to the neighborhood's concerns.

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