To: "Ross, Gerald" <gross@dot.ga.gov>
From: Holliday Dental <teeth@mindspring.com>
Subject: Forest Hill Rd., Project STP-3213-00  ...

Dear Mr Ross,
 We are asking you again,
  to please answer the original email from 24 May 2011.  

Thank-you,
- Lindsay Holliday

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Date: Wed, 22 Jun 2011  09:27
To: "Ross, Gerald" <gross@dot.ga.gov>,
From: Holliday Dental <teeth@mindspring.com>
Subject: Fwd: Forest Hill Rd., Project STP-3213-00  ......
Cc: ...


Dear Mr Ross,
Thank you for calling me yesterday morning.

After summarizing our discussion (below), I'm not sure that my original question was answered, so I will restate the question in my last paragraph.

I think I understood you to say that you feel a design change for FHR would necessitate a review of the EA, which might take so much time, that the FHR project would loose its place in the funding queue.   Please correct me if I misunderstood.  

This brings up several questions:
1- If the FHR project is important enough to be done, why would it loose priority funding if it has to be delayed  several months or a year to improve the final product?
2- How many times has this project already been delayed (and yet revived) over the past 17 years?
3- If the project is downsized, and costs less money, would it not be Easier to find the funding?  Isn't it easier to find Less money than to find More money? 
4- If the project is downsized, and its environmental impact is proportionally less, why would the EA need to be redone?  I can certainly understand why an Enlarged  Project which might impact more homes or drainage would need to revisit the EA.  I do not understand why a Smaller Project would  require a lengthy review. 

You raised a fair and critical question:  Are the Macon Citizens ever going to be satisfied with any answer other than The One they want to hear? The answer is yes. And here is the proof:
When we hired Mr Rick Chellman in 2008 to come to Macon and be "our expert" for mediation, he said "Pay me in advance, and I will come and evaluate your project, but don't expect me to agree with your preferred design.  If I think it is wrong for the project, I will tell you so, and that is the testimony I will give".  We emailed him our preferred design concept: 
http://www.macon-bibb.com/FHR/Docs/FHR_Flyer_b.jpg
vs
the GDOT concept:
http://www.macon-bibb.com/FHR/Docs/FHR_Flyer_a.jpg

But when Chellman came down for mediation, and looked at the road, he only agreed with one of our premises - the traffic projections were Way Off (see pdf below this paragraph)
He told us to forget the Roundabouts because even with the lower, more realistic, traffic projections, the counts were still too large for the GDOT policy at that time [the newer Roundabout GDOT Policies cover the traffic] .  He insisted on sidewalks on Both Sides of the road, and he widened the road from 22 to 32 feet.   Chellman was in Macon for only one night.  It took him less than 2 hours to convince us (All 5 of the elected Neighborhood Mediation Team) that his design made a lot more sense than ours.  We agreed.  His ideas are summarized in these documents:
http://www.macon-bibb.com/FHR/Forest_Hill_Road_Observations_Chellman.pdf
http://www.macon-bibb.com/FHR/Forest_Hill_Road__Chellman_4-5-08.pdf
I hope you agree that this proves that we have an open mind about this road project.  We are willing and able to accept changes that make sense.  Chellman convinced us to accept an increase in pavement width from the existing 22 feet to 42 feet (including 2 sidewalks of 5 feet each)  That is a very significant change. 

Does GDOT have an open mind about the fallibility of GDOT's contractor's traffic projections?  Take the case of projections for Houston Road in Macon-Bibb.  The projections by Mr. Evans for GDOT are questioned in a 2005 Macon Telegraph story halfway down this page: 
http://www.macon-bibb.com/FHR/traffic.htm
It looks to many of us outsiders that the Evans projections were used to "game the system", to get unwarranted road funds with overly-inflated projections; and then to shift those projections to another road to "game" the funding for the newer project. 

In Conclusion, the citizens have demonstrated that they are open to reasonable changes.  The traffic projections appear to have HUGE errors (Chellman's evaluation and ours [the vast majority of the Macon Public as evidenced in the most recent TIP comments] and the Macon Telegraph).  Chellman has stated that he can use the existing engineering and survey data to remold the shape of the road in a matter of weeks.  This smaller shaped road should not need a new EA.  Utility poles need not be moved over most of the project which will save the community time, money and the vital summer-time benefit of cooling tree canopy.

We believe that a truly Independent Value Engineering assessment of the traffic projections should prove our position as to the traffic projections.  This new position should allow the project to be right-sized.  This will save taxpayer money, and it will  preserve the tax base of a solid middle class residential area in Macon-Bibb. 

The original (Tue, 24 May 2011) question remains:
If this project is modified to better serve the community,
and the design still meets federal requirements,
and the changes result in savings of both state and federal construction funds,
Would you support the modified project, or would you work to deny funding for the project as redesigned?

Thank-you,
- Lindsay Holliday

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Date: Wed, 08 Jun 2011 18:34
To: "Ross, Gerald" <gross@dot.ga.gov>,
From: Holliday Dental <teeth@mindspring.com>
Subject: Forest Hill Rd., Project STP-3213-00   (003)...BRMLB-3213-00 (005)...P.I.# 351130 redesign-modifications?
Cc:.....


Dear Mr Ross,

Please indicate when we might receive your response. 

We are currently soliciting new public comments about this project here: 
http://www.macon-bibb.com/MATS/TIP-2011.htm

Thank-you,
- Lindsay Holliday

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Date: Tue, 24 May 2011 10:01 
To: "Ross, Gerald" <gross@dot.ga.gov>,
From: Holliday Dental <teeth@mindspring.com>
Subject: Forest Hill Rd., Project STP-3213-00   (003)...BRMLB-3213-00 (005)...P.I.# 351130 redesign-modifications?

 
Dear Mr Ross,
Yesterday evening I was discussing the Forest Hill Road (FHR) project with Macon Mayor, Robert Reichert at City Hall. 

Mayor Reichert identified you as the pivotal person who told him that any design changes to this project would jeopardize the funding. 
Did he understand your position correctly? 

And, more specifically:
If this project is modified to better serve the community,
and the design still meets federal requirements,
and the changes result in savings of both state and federal construction funds,
Would you support the modified project, or would you work to deny funding for the project as redesigned?

Thank-you,
- Lindsay Holliday
and the FHR Mediation Team