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Letter to Ga DOT from the Forest Hill Mediation Team  9-27-2010
Asking for a new, full, open, public review of the Environmental Assessment (EA)





    
Date: Mon, 27 Sep 2010 06:22

To: "Hilliard, Bobby" <bhilliard@dot.ga.gov>,
 "Buchan, Ben" <bbuchan@dot.ga.gov>,
 "Rountree, Bill" <brountree@dot.ga.gov>,
 "Ford, Clinton" <cford@dot.ga.gov>,

From: Holliday Dental <teeth@mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: Forest Hill Road - Traffic Counts - AADTs are mixed in with "Actual Counts"

Cc: "Millen, David" <dmillen@dot.ga.gov>,
<Sabrina.David@dot.gov>,
 <andrew.edwards@dot.gov>,
<Katy.Allen@dot.gov>,
<ann-marie.day@dot.gov>,
 "Bowman, Glenn" <gbowman@dot.ga.gov>,
"Cox, Jonathan" <jocox@dot.ga.gov>,
 "Stucka, Mike - Macon" <mstucka@macon.com>,
pramati@macon.com,
 "MATS-CAC Jaime Webb" <jhw@mylink.net>,
 Senator Browns office - Doug Bennett <doug169@bellsouth.net>,
 Ga Representative Epps <bubberepps@gmail.com>,
 State Transportation Board  - Executive Secretary - Elizabeth Osmon <eosmon@dot.ga.gov>,
 "Senator Brown" <doug169@bellsouth.net>,
 Troy Windham <troy.windham@mail.house.gov>,
 Tim Nelson CPA <tim.nelson@mail.house.gov>,
 "Calder Pinkston" <calderpinkston@cox.net>,

    



Bobby Hilliard, P.E.
bhilliard@dot.ga.gov,
GDOT State Program Delivery Engineer
600 West Peachtree Street
25th Floor
Atlanta, GA  30308

office (404) 631-1122
fax 631-1588
cell 308-4954 
www.dot.ga.gov

 
Dear GDOT Officials:
 
Subsequent to revelations by Mr Clint Ford in his (31 Aug 2010) email (below),
 the Forest Hill Road - Mediation Team (FHR-MT) is hereby asking for a new, full, open, public review of the Environmental Assessment (EA).

Mr Ford admits that the (Annualized Average Daily Traffic) AADTs were adulterated by the super-addition of tube counts.  This tainted data was then used to incorrectly project traffic volumes used to (mis) justify the use of federal monies for the super-sized redesign of this road project.

Federal officials at the GAO and the FHWA should be made aware that the aberration of adulterated traffic counts for the FHR project is not a unique situation.  Federal funds were used in another controversial Macon-Bibb RIP project - Houston Road - whose traffic projections were later exposed as erroneous in a Macon Telegraph article: Sun, Jun. 12, 2005 page 8A  (re-copied online here -- http://www.macon-bibb.com/FHR/traffic.htm)

AADTs for FHR have been flat for the past 10 years.  GDOT policy mandates that any traffic projections must be most heavily weighted with the recent 5 year history.  GDOT has failed to follow its own policies in this regard.   And nowhere in GDOT policies is there any mention of adulterating 9 years old AADTs to justify construction. 

Numerous other problems with the EA have already been documented by the FHR MT, including inaccurate stream/wetlands classifications and erroneous accident data along this road. 

The FHR MT is calling for an immediate, full, open, public review of this EA.  We further call on federal officials to review other federally funded GDOT projects that may have similarly botched Environmental Assessments.

Sincerely,
FHR-MT

Lindsay Holliday <teeth@mindspring.com>
  Carol Lystlund <clyst@att.net>,
  Alice Boyd <dmbx1@cox.net>,
  Daniel P. Fischer <FISCHER_DP@mercer.edu>,
  Susan Hanberry Martin <shanberry@stratford.org>,
   Mrs Lee Martin <mermaidlover@bellsouth.net>,





From: "Ford, Clinton" <cford@dot.ga.gov>
To: "'teeth@mindspring.com'" <teeth@mindspring.com>
CC: "Hilliard, Bobby" <bhilliard@dot.ga.gov>
Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2010 11:44:27 -0400
Subject: FW: Forest Hill Road - Traffic Counts - AADTs are mixed in with
  "Actual Counts"

 
Mr. Holiday,
 
Below is the response that was sent to your inquiry.
 
 
 
The traffic counts shown in the attached "KEEPLER7.JPG" are estimated traffic counts taken from GDOT's 2000 annual publication of "Traffic Counts Macon-Bibb County". These counts were presented in the EA of 2001. Due to the public concerns regarding the accuracy of the projected traffic volumes, actual tube counts were taken in December of 2001 (see table 2 of the attached document). The "revised counts" were developed by averaging the estimated counts for 2000 and the actual counts taken in December of 2001. The updated traffic counts are shown in the attached "KEEPLER2.JPG" for the year 2000.
 
 
The count station locations are as follows:
 
Station 445 - Forest Hill Road between Overlook Ave and Wimbish Road.
Station 447 - Forest Hill Road between Forest Hill Terrace and Lokchapee Dr
Station 449 - Forest Hill Road between Lokchapee Dr and Northside Dr 
 
 
 
 
From: Holliday Dental [ mailto:teeth@mindspring.com]
Sent: Monday, January 25, 2010 6:57 PM
To: Rountree, Bill
Subject: Forest Hill Road - Traffic Counts - AADTs are mixed in with "Actual Counts"
 
 Bill Rountree, P..E.
District 3 Preconstruction Engineer
Work: 706-646-6987
 
Dear Mr Rountree,
 
Per our conversation this evening about Traffic Counts for the Forest Hill Rd project in Macon-Bibb:
There are 3 examples where I can show that Moreland's Company, MAAI, has mixed GDOT's AADTs with something Moreland is calling "Actual Counts".  These "Actual Counts" are inflated over the AADTs that were available to Moreland if they had chosen to use a consistent framework.  The result of this [impropriety] is a much steeper Traffic Projection.
Of the 3 examples,
I am only sending you the 1st example from 2001.  It consists of 5 .jpg scans:
keepler1.jpg
KEEPLER2.jpg
KEEPLER3.jpg
Keepler7.jpg
Keepler10.jpg
Of these scans, KEEPLER2.jpg shows a table with a heading "Actual Recorded Traffic" with (4) columns for the years 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000.   AADTs were used in the 1st three columns.  But the Traffic Counts in the last column (2000) is not AADTs according to the table on Keepler7.jpg
Keepler7.jpg shows the 2000 AADTs to be:
13,080 instead of Moreland's 14,500, and
8,570 instead of Moreland's  9,150, and
10,760 instead of Moreland's 11,600.. 
Moreland's propensity to inflate numbers in (only) the last column tends to give an observer the mistaken impression of higher future traffic projections.
This same Modus Operandi was used in the last EA with the 2007 "Actual Counts" - resulting with the same misdirection.
Please let me know is you need me to scan and email the other examples.
Thank-you,
- Lindsay D Holliday
MATS-CAC vice chair






references:

Annualized Average Daily Traffic
http://www.dot.state.ga.us/statistics/trafficdata/pages/trafficcounts.aspx

TND Engineering Analysis of FHR Traffic Projections showing:
"...huge differences and plainly  ..SIGNIFICANT errors in the future traffic volume projections.." 
http://www.macon-bibb.com/FHR/Forest_Hill_Road_Observations_Chellman.pdf

Meta analysis of FHR Traffic:
http://www.macon-bibb.com/FHR/traffic.htm

Meeting with GDOT and Senator Brown - Thursday, June 17th, 2010  at St Francis Church
http://www.macon-bibb.com/FHR/Meeting_20100617.htm

Dr Scholl's analysis using (GDOT's own unadulterated) AADTs in 2009 exposes decreasing traffic counts:
http://www.macon-bibb.com/FHR/FHR-EA-Traffic-Scholl5.pdf

Forest Hill Road citizens website
http://www.macon-bibb.com/FHR
 
http://www.macon-bibb.com/FHR/Talking-Points-2008.htm
 
http://www.macon-bibb.com/FHR/Forest_Hill_Road__Chellman_4-5-08.pdf
 
http://www.macon-bibb.com/FHR/Forest_Hill_Road_Bishop-to-Chellman.pdf

http://www.macon-bibb.com/FHR/Mediation_Chronology_Chellman-MATS_Experts.htm






 

Macon, Ga

  SOS forest




 

 - The Forest Hill Rd Neighborhood Mediation Team:
 
- Carol Lystlund <clyst@att.net>
730 Forest Hill Rd.
Macon 31210

 - Lindsay Holliday <teeth@mindspring.com>
744 Forest Hill Rd.
Macon 31210

- Susan Hanberry Martin <shanberry@stratford.org>
4831 Guerry Drive
Macon 31210

 - Dan Fischer <FISCHER_DP@Mercer.edu>
489 Ashville Drive
Macon 31210

- Alice Boyd <dmbx1@cox.net>
540 Forest Hill Rd
Macon 31210

 
 
 
   - Meeting  notes - Thursday, June 17th, 2010  at St Francis Church - 
http://www.macon-bibb.com/FHR/FHR_Meeting20100607ds2.jpg



 

- CAUTION Macon -

Forest Hill Road