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Macon, Ga

SOS forest

    Letters to the Telegraph supporting FHR Neighborhood .   






GDOT commissioner’s words don’t match agency’s actions

Published: October 22, 2013 


http://www.macon.com/2013/10/22/2731774/gdot-commissioners-words-dont.html


By LEE MARTIN — Special to The Telegraph

Georgia Department of Transportation Commissioner Keith Golden’s “Your Say” column in The Telegraph in which he tried to defend GDOT’s actions at a recent Bibb County Commission committee meeting was arbitrary and disingenuous. To use GDOT’s inclusion of Forest Hill Road at the meeting to justify their position on Jeffersonville Road was typical of GDOT’s sledgehammer tactics.

In Bibb County, GDOT has never been known to engage in a serious public participation process; instead we have been given pro forma meetings which ostensibly meet the letter of the law, but their modus operandi of “Design and Defend” leaves the public wondering whatever happened to their concerned comments and suggestions.

Commissioner Golden says that part of his job is “to be a responsible steward of the taxpayer money entrusted to us.” I sincerely hope Commissioner Golden takes a look at the recently released GDOT “Connect Central Georgia” study which states that “the I-16/I-75 project will cost 11 times the benefits it provides to Georgians.”

The interchange needs improvement, but 14 lanes at a cost sure to approach astronomical in tomorrow’s construction dollars? Not very responsible. Another local example of GDOT’s mismanagement is the Forest Hill Road Project, which flies in the face of modern urban, context sensitive design and has been controversial since its inception.

At great personal expense, a local citizen has filed a lawsuit against GDOT to protect the FHR neighborhood from GDOT’s highway mentality. Both of these are typical “Design and Defend” GDOT projects.

Commissioner Golden’s statement that “GDOT has professional, positive working relationships with virtually all of the state’s hundreds of communities” is perplexing. Perhaps Commissioner Golden should read an article from the Oct. 7, Atlanta Journal-Constitution/Atlanta Forward: “GDOT’s next project: Build Public Trust” which was written by Jay Shaw, the newly elected chairman of the Georgia Transportation Board.

Chairman Shaw states the following, “The TIA vote last summer opened our eyes to a deep disconnect between the department and its constituents. We learned the transportation board and the department must convince legislators, local elected officials and the public that we are good partners, trustworthy stewards of their money, and that they really would get something worthwhile in return for any new transportation investment ... We first must prove to our many audiences that every decision we make and every dollar we spend is in their collective best interest. Do that and everything else will take care of itself. That’s why keeping Georgia DOT consumer-friendly is my job one.”

Commissioner Golden’s statements remind me once again just how capricious are GDOT’s actions and how far out of touch they are with their constituency and the taxpayers who pay their salaries.

Lee Martin is a resident of Macon and a long-time opponent to the Forest Hill Road project








...

GDOT demands quid pro quo to complete Jeffersonville Road project

Published: October 6, 2013
http://www.macon.com/2013/10/06/2704118/gdot-demands-quid-pro-quo-to-complete.html


“The decision not to take this internally is primarily related to the ongoing litigation on a recent local road transportation improvement, the potential impacts related to this local community and limitations with our own resource availability.” -- GDOT Commissioner Keith Golden


The commissioner was informing Bibb County that it, rather than the state, would have to pony up millions of dollars to buy rights-of-way for widening and improving Jeffersonville Road. GDOT has taken that stance, not because of anything to do with Jeffersonville Road, but because of the ongoing litigation over Forest Hill Road some 11 miles away. The statement by the commissioner should erase all doubt that the Georgia Department of Transportation believes it is the most powerful agency in the state.

This isn't a new posture for GDOT. For decades it has wielded a blunt ax over the heads of local officials. If an area needed or wanted a new road or have one improved, it had to play by GDOT’s over-bloated, contractor friendly rules.

GDOT knows Bibb County can't easily come up with $10 million, according to state estimates, for the widening, meaning the project, in the eyes of GDOT, is dead. There are several words to describe what GDOT is doing. Extortion would be the most accurate. Demanding a quid pro quo is the most charitable.

GDOT has decided to extract retribution from the citizens of Bibb County because Lindsay “Doc” Holliday -- using his own bank account -- sued GDOT over its plans for Forest Hill Road. GDOT is more accustomed to capitulation than lawsuits. Holliday’s lawyers are surely adding this episode to his lawsuit that will be heard starting Oct. 21.

There is an option. Bibb County could issue bonds to cover the land acquisition and soft costs and make GDOT spend money already slated for the Jeffersonville Road project. East Macon residents have been waiting for 20 years on Jeffersonville Road improvements. They should not be made to wait another minute because of agency tactics more suited for ancient Rome than the great state of Georgia.

 - Telegraph Editorial Board

http://www.macon-bibb.com/FHR/Telegraph-quid-pro-quo_20131006.pdf
scanned into a PDF printable file 




Planning faux pas factors relevant in FHR lawsuit

Published: October 6, 2013

http://www.macon.com/2013/10/06/2704075/planning-faux-pas-factors-relevant.html


By LEE BALLARD ­ Special to The Telegraph

Lindsay (Doc) Holliday is in a pitched battle with Georgia Department of Transportation well-paid lawyers having a goal to create an example of what happens to someone who has the unmitigated gall to question the actions of the department.

Holliday’s well-intentioned quest for fairness for all who reside along Forest Hill Road is likely to lead to personal financial hardship.

Holliday’s next court date is later this month. However, the local transportation planning process that drives citizens like Holliday to take drastic action shares a great deal of responsibility for producing the conditions wherein projects such as Forest Hill Road find their way into the Transportation Improvement Program.

The Forest Hill Road project made its appearance during the 1994 Bibb County Road Improvement Program as part of the now defunct Northwest Corridor project.

The FHR portion was divided into two segments: Segment 1, Wimbish Avenue to Northside Drive and Segment 2, Wimbish Avenue to Vineville Avenue.

Through official foot-dragging, by 2012 the estimated cost for Segment 1 had risen from $3.9 million to over $8 million; Segment 2, from $2.4 million to $7.5 million.

To the consternation of its chairperson and the GDOT representative, the Policy Committee recently voted to remove Segment 2 from the Transportation Improvement Program.. Why the committee earlier did not do likewise with Segment 1 is puzzling, to say the very least.

The Northwest Corridor, an upgraded route from north Macon to Macon Mall, rationale disappeared along with the elimination of its constituent parts, Park Street and Hollingsworth Drive.

Then there’s the project study issue. The Federal Highway Administration’s planning guidance states, “Transportation planning includes identifying current and projected future transportation problems and needs and analyzing, through detailed planning studies, various transportation improvement strategies to address those needs.”

The guidance in the Long Range Transportation Plan is similar emphasizing getting the most “benefit possible from our transportation dollars” by evaluating “a potential project to determine the viability and the desirability ... Many issues cannot be clearly or definitely answered without a very thorough study.”

Nevertheless, despite its moniker, the Macon Area Transportation Study does not do studies nor does it contract for studies. The MATS recently discontinued the perennial listing of requisite studies in its Long Range Transportation Plan.

The plan simply is an unstudied, financially constrained project dream list. Project selection is based primarily on decisions issued by the MATS Policy Committee, a body presently composed of both elected and unelected voting members. The dream list often turns into a nightmare.

An MPO spokesman told me via email that, “It is important to remember that the project list adopted in the LRTP is a list of concepts that have been identified by the Policy Committee as worthy of pursuing. Virtually all projects on the list will require further study before they reach project stage.”

Nevertheless, the record shows that when projects transfer from the long- to the short-range Transportation Improvement Program for funding they still lack a “detailed planning study” and a benefit versus cost analysis. Forest Hill Road is a relevant example, so is Jeffersonville Road.

Furthermore, a GDOT voting member is assigned to the Policy Committee contrary to FHWA guidance: “In metropolitan areas, the MPO is responsible for actively seeking the participation of all relevant agencies and stakeholders in the planning process; similarly, the state DOT is responsible for activities outside metropolitan areas.”

A GDOT Policy Committee member is not mandatory. The GDOT representative voted against removing the FHR Segment 2 project from the Transportation Improvement Program. The GDOT role should be confined to an advisory capacity. There’s ample opportunity for GDOT interference following LRTP and TIP updates.

Taxpayers and the voting public are partially responsible for allowing such political and bureaucratic shenanigans to exist. However, officialdom could be better transportation revenue stewards.

The 2014 change in government presents an excellent opportunity -- perhaps too late to help Holliday -- to evaluate the planning process and to make changes that force the Policy Committee to be more responsive to the voters who elected them -- ending the bureaucrat and GDOT vote is top priority.

The judge presiding over the FHR lawsuit ought to take the planning faux pas factors into consideration.

Lee Ballard is a Macon resident.

http://www.macon-bibb.com/FHR/Telegraph-Lee_Ballard_20131006L.pdf
scanned into PDF file

 

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9-29-2013
http://www.macon-bibb.com/FHR/LTE-Arthur-Brook-20130929_0001.pdf
scanned PDF

GDOT not listening

Forest Hill Road is not a “Bed of Procrustes (Demastes)” for GDOT and Moreland Altobelli. And FHR should not be subjected to one standard of thought or action by arbitrary methods. Current transportation needs along the FHR corridor clearly confirm that there was poor long-term planning by the road designers and GDOT. This is a fact, not speculation.

GDOT and Moreland Altobelli have gone through the so-called mandatory process of obtaining community input through the various meetings and sessions held over the years.

Many citizens believe GDOT actions -- total disregard of comments and suggestions by interested people who travel and will travel on the road in the future, those who live on or near FHR -- indicate the possible insincerity of two entities evidently joined at the hip as relates to FHR. Residents of Macon will remain to ride on FHR while GDOT and Moreland Altobelli soon go elsewhere.

GDOT and Moreland Altobelli claim to have listened to citizen suggestions and complaints only to continue down the original design path, apparently considering opponents of their FHR design as activist obstructionists. GDOT has gone to the extent of taking bids on the north section of the road while not having completed the design of the even more invasive south section between Vineville Avenue and Wimbish Road prior to the bidding.

One question keeps arising regarding GDOT and Moreland Altobelli, and that is the relationship between GDOT and Moreland Altobelli ownership/management/staffing which appears to raise a red flag of possible conflict of influence and/or interest. It apparently goes unchallenged because of all of the politics involved and the politicians involved.

Disclaimer: I do not live on or have any financial or personal interest on property fronting Forest Hill Road, although I utilize FHR and Riverside Drive for north-south travel.

I have lived in Macon for 49 years. I am a retired professional engineer (50+ years), served on state and local non-paying boards and served as a P&Z commissioner.
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-- Arthur D. Brook.
Macon
http://www.macon.com/2013/09/29/2691218/this-ios-viewpoints-for-sunday.html








No delays

I've never understood why Forest Hill Road needed to be widened. Sidewalks are OK. I've traveled this road for 40 years at different times of day and night and I've never seen a line of cars backed up. Only two traffic lights from Forest Hill and Wimbish and Northside and driving is straight through with no delays.

-- R.C. Turner

Macon

http://www.macon.com/2013/08/18/2613885/this-is-viewpoints-for-sunday.html










BALLARD: The I-16/I-75 interchange project: A ‘provincial’ perspective

Published: August 16, 2013

http://www.macon.com/2013/08/16/2610681/ballard-the-i-16i-75-interchange.html


By LEE BALLARD ­ Special to The Telegraph

The Georgia DOT’s profile for the Interstate-16 stretch through Macon predicts traffic volume to increase from about 53,000 today to 62,000 vehicles per day by 2040. The increase is mainly based on what road warriors say will be the inevitable consequence of the pending Savannah Port expansion.

Presently, ignoring its profile numbers, the GDOT outrageously insists the traffic will double along I-16 -- doubling on my calculator shows 106,000 vehicles per day. Nevertheless, other factors beyond Savannah will diminish the crystal ball estimate justifying the 14-lane concrete umbrella over the Ocmulgee River.

A Feb. 10 report states, “About 9,000 cargo trucks travel I-16 through Macon daily (another numbers disconnect), about 11 percent of all traffic on that interstate, according to 2011 state DOT numbers. If the Port of Savannah is deepened, as Gov. Nathan Deal and others want, cargo volume will rise. There are plans underway to keep that cargo off the interstates.

“Cargo rail lines ... and a new spur on the Norfolk Southern line in McIntyre roughly doubled the railroad’s capacity, said state Rep. Bubber Epps, R-Dry Branch. ‘The railroad is ready to handle the jump in (Savannah) cargo traffic,’” Epps said.

Georgia Ports Authority Executive Director Curtis Foltz said at a Dec. 2012 conference for legislators, “We forecast about 20 percent of our activity today moves via rail versus road. We think that will grow to 25 percent to 27 percent over time. So as our business grows, a higher percent is going to ship via rail. That shift from road to rail,” Foltz said, “is part of the Savannah harbor’s long-term strategy.”

President Obama opined on a recent NBC Tonight show, “If we don’t deepen our ports all along the Gulf -- places like Charleston, S.C., or Savannah, Ga., or Jacksonville, Fla. --i f we don’t do that, these ships are going to go someplace else and we’ll lose jobs.”

Later, Foltz told the Miami Herald, “We agree with the president’s comments that this region needs improved ports, including in Charleston and Jacksonville.” Foltz’ comment highlights a prophetic sentence in the 2010-2050 State Freight and Logistics Plan: “The pace of growth at Savannah through 2050 could go in different directions depending on a number of factors, including the overall competitiveness of the port’s infrastructure relative to other U.S. container ports.”

Jasper County, S.C. officials are planning for a 1,500-acre site (not tied to I-16) that will be the largest contiguous port facility in the U.S. and will add capacity for ports in Charleston and Savannah, opening the way for the region to serve new container traffic that cannot be accommodated in either port.

In a Nov. 2012 press release, Jimmy Lyons, the Mobile, Ala. Port Authority director, noted a steady increase in “Post-Panamax” vessels at the port due in part to infrastructure investments at the port. The Panamax cargo originates in Europe. And, Jacksonville, Fla. plans to increase the depth of its existing channel to 47-feet, similar to Savannah.

The Georgia Ports Authority and Cordele Intermodal Services signed an inland port agreement on July 10, to ensure a direct 200-mile rail route to and from the Garden City Terminal in Savannah. The partnership is expected to reduce highway traffic.

Several of the Governor’s Road Improvement Program routes will drain big rigs from I-16 prior to reaching Macon: U.S. 1, U.S. 441, SR 15 and SR 96 often described as the defacto Fall Line Freeway. Not every truck leaving Savannah will travel I-16, many head north and south on I-95. Kia ships autos via Brunswick’s port.

Macon City Councilman Rick Hutto observed in Macon.com, “Yes, (the interchange) needs to be fixed, but we have to scale it back,” noting that “the proposed plan would make for a wider interstate than the current Interstate-75/Interstate-85 lanes between Georgia Tech and downtown Atlanta.”

We “provincials” -- a word used by another letter writer encompassing “obstructionist tantrums” and “political panderers” -- are trying in a small way to divert politicians and the GDOT away from their single-minded mantra: “The highway is the only way.”

Potential consolidated government officials must, during the short campaign time left, share their transportation ideas with voters. Doing so are Sam Hart and Henry Ficklin.

Lee Ballard is a Macon resident


Here are links to i16i75 website:
http://www.macon-bibb.com/ROADS/i16i75.htm
boondoggle.





Unintended consequences

Congratulations to Lindsay Holliday. His decades-long obstructionist tantrums over Forest Hill Road have now cost the entire region by blocking, for four more years, a sensible solution to that traffic danger and delay that is the I-16/I-75 Interchange.

During Wednesday’s vote in the MATS Committee, a parade of “political panderers” led by Lonzy Edwards and Rick Hutto, tacked I-16/I-75 on to the Forest Hill squabble vote.

My thanks to Mayor Robert Reichert and Commissioner Joe Allen who, along with five other members, cast their votes against the committee’s personal provincialism.

-- L.A. Sturdivant

Macon
http://www.macon.com/2013/08/12/2603169/this-is-viewpoints-for-monday.html






Common sense solution

I completely disagree with L.A. Sturdivant’s letter to Viewpoints Monday. I’m proud of Lindsay Holliday and his relentless effort to make the DOT, MATS and Morland-Altobelli listen to the citizens of Middle Georgia. Finally someone defeated their grandiose plans and brought common sense into the equation. Forest Hill Road needs a little work, but not the unwanted multimillion dollar solution being forced on residents.

As for the Interstate-16/Interstate-75 interchange, the safety problem can be cured for a few hundred dollars, not the $200 million-plus dollars in the DOT plan. Back off two miles in both directions and start with a series of “Dangerous Interchange Ahead, 45 mph, Speed Limit Enforced” signs and police the heck out of the area. Bring speeding fines into city coffers, slow the travelers down to a reasonable speed which ensures safety and saves $200 million in tax dollars. Just a common sense solution.

-- John Brogden
Warner Robins
http://www.macon.com/2013/08/13/2604871/this-is-viewpoints-for-tuesday.html




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This is Viewpoints for Sunday, Aug. 11, 2013

Published: August 11, 2013 

http://www.macon.com/2013/08/11/2601641/this-is-viewpoints-for-sunday.html


A new day?

A wonderful thing has happened. For the first time in forever MATS has voted to reject a GDOT project. Maybe this is a dawning of a new day, where the citizens of this city have a voice in how their neighborhood looks and functions. Maybe Moreland Altobelli does not own Georgia.

A great big thank you to the people that stood up and were counted. Thanks to City Councilmen Rick Hutto and Henry Ficklin, County Commissioner Lonzy Edwards, Daylon Martin, Grace McCrimmins, Kamal Azar and special thanks to the only mayoral candidate to vote with us Commission Chairman Sam Hart. Once again thanks for standing up.

-- Nick Pietrzak

Chairman Citizen Advisory Committee

Macon



ERICKSON: Notes in August

Published: August 9, 2013

http://www.macon.com/2013/08/09/2598737/erickson-notes-in-august.html


By Erick Erickson - Special to The Telegraph

The Forest Hill Road project is necessary. The road is crumbling, bumpy, too narrow and a mess. It needs to be widened at Ridge Avenue. But while we should all be able to agree on that, can we also agree that the Georgia Department of Transportation’s plan is too big, too destructive of a beautiful neighborhood and most traffic has moved north to Bass Road. Bass Road is in far more desperate need now of expansion and stoplights than Forest Hill Road was even a year ago or five years ago.

Traffic patterns moved, road planning should too. At the same time, I fully support the Department of Transportation’s efforts at I-75 and I-16. The commercial traffic we are going to see over the next decade will be significant. We absolutely must improve and expand that section of road. Let’s hope whoever designed the parking lots at The Shoppes at River Crossing is not involved.

I have no idea who thought the parking lot design there was a good idea. If you park in the Dillard’s parking lot that fronts Wesleyan Drive, you are confronted with two options to actually get to Dillard’s -- walk through the ever growing hedge or walk all the way around the parking lot. Other parts are no better.

I spent this last week in New Orleans at my annual RedState Gathering. We had politicians and candidates from around the country pay their own way to New Orleans to talk to RedState’s readers. One of the most impressive candidates was a guy named Greg Brannon. He is a doctor running for the U.S. Senate in North Carolina. Another very impressive guy was Matt Bevin, a small businessman in Kentucky challenging Sen. Mitch McConnell in the Republican Primary.

No one running in the Georgia Senate race came. I did not ask them. I have not yet worked up measurable satisfaction with that race. I am friends with a number of the candidates running, from Jack Kingston to Paul Broun to Karen Handel. Kingston may be one of the finest people I know in Washington, D.C. He and his family are just stellar people. But in all the national conservative and Republican scorecards from the National Federation of Independent Business to the American Conservative Union to the Club for Growth, he ranks lower than Saxby Chambliss, the man he wants to replace.

I’m just not excited about the Georgia Senate race. About the only races less exciting are those for the consolidated Macon-Bibb County government. The mayoral debacle in Warner Robins is far more entertaining. The races here lack money, energy and compelling messages. Certainly they were thrown off by the delays and hiccups over preclearance, but they have never really taken off. At least the local Democratic Party has provided consistent drama of late.

Shifting gears here entirely at the end, upon returning from New Orleans, I realized school had started. Our oldest goes to First Presbyterian Day School, so we have a week left. But public school has started. Am I the only one who takes school zones seriously? I was driving up Zebulon Road the other day, slowed to 25 mph, and had the guy behind me angrily blare his horn and zoom around me.

For all its faults, growing up in Louisiana, every school zone had a sheriff’s deputy stationed daring people to speed through. School zone speed limits are not reduced to be inconvenient, but for the safety of the kids and parents coming and going. Slow down when the lights flash, please.

Erick Erickson is a Fox News contributor and radio talk show host in Atlanta.

 



Small victory in running battle over Forest Hill Road

Published: August 9, 2013 

http://www.macon.com/2013/08/09/2598736/small-victory-in-running-battle.html


It’s not often the Georgia Department of Transportation hits a roadblock. It has a habit of declaring “Our way or the highway.” As is its custom, GDOT proposes plans that are huge in scope. Many would say the department super sizes roads to maximize contractor profits. Politicians, seeing money coming into their communities, usually roll over to GDOT’s wishes.

Opponents of the Forest Hill Road project -- a battle that’s been going on even before the passage of the Road Improvement special purpose local option sales tax in 1994 -- have stuck to their guns and won another skirmish.

Wednesday, members of the Macon Area Transportation Study committee voted 8-7 to remove Forest Hill Road from the state’s Transportation Improvement Program that covers the next four years. Nothing is settled of course. One of the lead opponents, Lindsay Holliday, has taken GDOT to court and while resolution of the lawsuit may settle some of the issues, it is unlikely GDOT and the neighborhood will ever see eye-to-eye.

Both sides agree that Forest Hill Road needs improvement, but that is where agreement ends. Over the years, even the basis for improving Forest Hill Road has changed. The department has fudged on traffic counts and used other devices to justify its plans for widening the road. Once a part of a grand scheme to link the north side of town with the Macon Mall, that need is no longer a pressing issue. Don't tell that to GDOT.

What will eventually happen? It’s anyone’s guess. This community may still be talking about Forest Hill Road 20 years from now. There seems to be more evidence for just leaving the road alone than moving forward with GDOT’s expansive plans.

Another road dispute involves the Interstate 75/Interstate 16 improvement projects. The vote also moved those projects from the state’s short-range programs for fiscal years 2014-17. The initial designs were more akin to an Atlanta highway than one bordered by the Ocmulgee River and neighborhoods.

The cost, as it sits now, is enormous. GDOT has bounced the project to its long-term list before, and with the lack of funds, along with the defeat of the T-SPLOST, it may stay there for a while. The delay could be a huge problem. Interstate 16 is a direct artery for goods arriving at Savannah’s port. That traffic will certainly increase as the port gets ready for the new fleet of supersized cargo ships. The I-16/I-75 interchange is already a safety hazard and will become more so if an acceptable design can't be worked out.





Questions linger about Forest Hill Road work

Published: August 8, 2013

http://www.macon.com/2013/08/08/2598385/questions-linger-about-forest.html


By PHILLIP RAMATI ­ pramati@macon.com

For those who live along or travel Forest Hill Road, there seems to be two points of consensus: The road needs to be widened in at least a few places, and the pothole-prone stretch needs repair.

But officials and residents say they don't think any of that work will happen anytime soon.

Between a lawsuit filed by local roads activist Lindsay “Doc” Holliday against the Georgia Department of Transportation last December, and Wednesday’s decision by the Macon Area Transportation Study committee to remove the road from the draft of its short-term plan, it doesn't appear likely the road will soon get the repair work it needs.

Brooks Dantzler, a Macon resident who spoke at Wednesday’s MATS meeting against the current design plan for the road, said the MATS vote doesn't feel like much of a victory because the issue continues to drag along.

“I guess I’m as satisfied as I can be as long as we’re moving along (at) a snail’s pace,” she said.

The main complaint from residents opposed to the state plan for the north Macon roadway is that the plan is overdesigned, with the plan calling for expanding to four or seven lanes in some areas.

Some portion of the road -- mainly the stretch from Vineville Avenue to Wimbish Road -- is owned by the county. Bibb County Chairman Sam Hart and Commissioner Gary Bechtel, who serves the district in which Forest Hill Road is located, both said Thursday the county is obligated to repair the section it controls.

But the rest of the road is controlled by the DOT, and the county has no jurisdiction. DOT representative Kimberly Larson said the state would repair portions of the road where there is currently no roadwork being done or about to begin. Those sections are controlled by the contractors, she said, and repair work would only be done if there is a major traffic issue.

The committee’s decision means the state won't be authorized to spend more than $8 million to purchase the right-of-way land on Forest Hill between Wimbish and Vineville -- covering about six-tenths of a mile.

One of the reasons for the committee’s removal of Forest Hill Road from the draft of the short-range plan was Holliday’s lawsuit. Some who voted in favor of removing Forest Hill Road from the draft, including Bibb County Commissioner Lonzy Edwards, said they wanted to wait for a resolution in the legal case so they could better make plans for the road.

Bechtel said he will make a point with other county commissioners that the county needs to address any issues with the road, at least with the portion it controls.

“The bottom line is, this decision leads us in a certain direction, and we’re going to address it with local money that’s not addressed by DOT or Federal Highway (Administration) money,” he said.

Hart said he met with DOT officials last week and would like to maintain a dialogue with the agency to make sure necessary work gets done.

“I’m very committed to do something with Forest Hill Road,” he said. “Something needs to be done. ... (I) want to see if we can negotiate a decision on that property. That’s why we need to talk about this. Deferring this gives us some time for communication. I don't want to have an adversarial issue with the state.”

Holliday said the situation with the DOT has become nothing but adversarial, and local residents need to pressure the agency to live up to its obligations. He said the DOT has been more beholden to its contractors than it has to neighborhood residents.

“(The road) is already in neglect, and the state needs to do what we pay them to do,” he said. “They’re clearly extorting the public. ... They've got the money and the power to do what they want to do.”

Hart and Bechtel noted that Houston County has greater control of its road designs thanks to a special county penny tax approved by voters there. They said Macon-Bibb’s new government might need a similar remedy.

But Holliday said he doesn't want local money spent on the Forest Hill Road project, since the DOT is funded by tax dollars. He said he would rather the county join him in his lawsuit against the DOT.

“That'd be the quickest solution -- not let GDOT make us do what they’re supposed to be doing for us,” he said.

Holliday said his lawsuit is still in the discovery phase and that a court date hasn't been set.

To contact writer Phillip Ramati, call 744-4334

http://www.macon.com/2013/08/08/2598385/questions-linger-about-forest.html




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 This is Viewpoints for Monday, July 8
http://www.macon.com/2013/07/08/2547803/this-is-viewpoints-for-monday.html
Published: July 8, 2013 on page 8A.

Go Holliday
 
I am thankful for Doc Holliday’s suit against the Forest Hill Road project. Neither the state or local governments has listened to the people in the Forest Hill area. Testimony from experts say the “third lane” is a bad idea and have recommended alternative plans that would essentially accomplish the same goal with far less expense.

I read with interest that the contractor who was awarded the project wants to join in the lawsuit because he has been harmed financially. In my opinion, the state and local governments should pay for any damages the contractor might seek, for if it wasn't for the pigheadedness of those governments, this suit would have never been initiated.

I intend to support Holliday with a monetary contribution. I hope that the neighbors in the vicinity of Forest Hill Road will do the same.

-- Charles Brittain
AIA Emeritus

Charles Brittain (retired) was founder of Brittain, Thompson, Bray & Brown Architects & Planners. 609 Cherry St, Macon:
http://www.btbbinc.com/



Letter in Thursday's 6-27-2013 Macon Telegraph
http://www.macon.com/2013/06/27/2534530/this-is-viewpoints-for-thursday.html

Spoiled brats

The Urban Dictionary has many definitions of a “spoiled brat.” Generally, this term applies to a kid who wants everything. They cry and scream their heads off until they get it. Also, if things don't go right for them, they pack up their toys and go home.

It would appear that the Georgia Department of Transportation has behaved like the spoiled brat on the Forest Hill Road fiasco that is nearing 20 years. They tried intimidation by threatening millions of dollars being levied on anyone opposed. They don't want to hear arguments against their version of what must be done to FHR. Now it appears they have taken their toys (orange barrels and cones) and gone home. But, alas, they have only covered up their signs with giant trash bags. This would indicate they will probably be back.

Back in 2008 an email was received from the executive assistant to then- Commissioner Gena Abraham. He indicated that once environmental documentation was complete they would complete their evaluations for the I-16/I-75 exchange. Hopefully, they also made an evaluation on all their projects. Does anyone know if they received that documentation? Did the feds sign off?

A few years ago, I wrote the EPA concerning the removal of trees in connection with the Forest Hill project and the fact that Macon’s air quality was borderline. Did they respond? No. Has anyone seen an EPA clearance for this project or is its OK not necessary? Why didn't anyone call the Department of Justice when opponents of the project were threatened with financial ruin? I guess no one wants to say “No” to the spoiled brat. C’est la vie.

-- John M. Cherry III
Macon


...
Abused by the system
3-18-2013


On separate days in the past week I have come home to flags in my yard, construction barrels and finally white crosses marking trees to be cut. All of this for a project on Forest Hill Road that I certainly did not ask for nor approve. As a result, the DOT condemned the property they wanted for a meager price. The sidewalk will be within nine-feet of my front door. Although I am still fighting to get the value that my house will be reduced, DOT and its lawyers pretty much thumb their noses at me.

I don't feel I have been dealt with fairly, and now Georgia Power is about to put power poles within 20-feet of my home. How lovely, and again no choice. Since I don't feel the majority of people in Macon are for this project, I don't feel this is a manifestation of the democracy that I was raised to love and support. By the way, I am a government teacher and it is really hard to be upbeat with my students about our present system of government. How do I explain that it is their civic duty to go and vote for self-serving politicians who care little about the problems of the individual? Any ideas on this, please let me know.

-- Rodney Crutchfield

Macon

Read more here: http://www.macon.com/2013/03/18/2400419/this-is-viewpoints-for-monday.html#storylink=cpy
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Shift the Forest Hill money


I live several blocks from the intersection of Northside Drive and Forest Hill Road. Therefore, I travel Forest Hill Road, 10-12 times a week. I very rarely have a problem with the flow of traffic. Why destroy this beautiful road? Who wants to widen it? It does need to be repaved and not just patched, since it is full of pot holes. The road is used less and less since many citizens are heading for the outskirts of the city.

Have you been on Bass Road lately. There is the road that needs widening. Use the money they want to spend on Forest Hill for some worthwhile cause, such as a bigger and better place for stray animals. A lot of us voted for the SPLOST simply because we were promised a new animal shelter. What has happened to that project? Come on City Council do a little something good before your time is up. Leave the road alone and take care of our furry animals.

-- M.H. Nixon

Macon

Read more here: http://www.macon.com/2013/03/17/2397648/this-is-viewpoints-for-sunday.html#storylink=cpy
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Tree thievery continues
3-17-2013
There are divisions of government that can be trusted, not blindly, but trust based on past experiences. We have had a proliferation of theft of metals from properties which was met by action of public and private entities that have had positive results. One part of state government that imbues little trust from the public has been in the forefront of an aggressive, don't give a darn, attitude about one of Georgia’s great natural resources, our trees.

This part of state government is the Georgia Department of Transportation. There was a glimmer of hope about controlling the arrogant actions of GDOT several years ago when Gena Abraham Evans was appointed as commissioner. However, the good ole boys network with roots in the old county unit system of state government held sway and started almost immediately to plan her demise until she was forced out. These board members evidently did not like her management style with a foundation of integrity, competency and not “cooking the books” relating to promises and budget capability.

The Forest Hills Road project is poised to receive the GDOT interstate highway clear cut right of way treatment similar to Sherman’s March to the sea destruction.

Ask the women’s clubs of Georgia about the reasonableness of GDOT as it relates to trees along the interstate roads. They have not seen a tree not eligible to be cut down so we could admire those beautiful elevated signs, many of which are currently unused or in disrepair.

Then they can construct those attractive noise barriers, possibly even green in color. Statistics said the signs were needed. Sounds like Forest Road vehicle projections of year’s past moving people from one side of town to the other. What is a roadway of mature trees in an established neighborhood compared with progress? Does any intelligent person really think that there will not be adverse results if this road work proceeds?

Each property owner on Forest Hill Road will have a reduction of property value, which will result in claims for reduction of assessed values, probable appeal to Boards of Equalization and or Superior Court. Local government budgets will not be reduced so property owners remote of Forest Hill can then make up the shortfall in taxes. The only one not in this local bathtub is -- you know who -- is GDOT. They will go to another community to hand them misery.

The work must proceed from Wimbish Road north even though the purported four lane portion of the road from Forsyth Road to Wimbish Road is still on the drawing board. I have only been an engineer for 50-plus years, but this just does not sound right or reasonable.

Disclaimer: I live in a neighborhood remote of Forest Hill Road and own no property on the road. However I use the road since GDOT work and design on Riverside Drive fouled up access to my neighborhood where I have lived for the past 48 years.

-- Arthur D. Brook

Macon

http://www.macon.com/2013/03/17/2397648/this-is-viewpoints-for-sunday.html



This is Viewpoints for Monday, Jan. 28, 2013, p9A
- great letter by Lee Ballard

Continuing FHR controversy

“City, county, and Georgia Department of Transportation officials have bent over backwards to try to satisfy the community’s concerns,” wrote Denise Whiting-Pack and Mary Jo Volkert, senior assistant attorney generals. The GDOT said Lindsay “Doc” Holliday is “trying to stop (via a lawsuit) what the public has wanted for decades.” These two statements relating to the continuing Forest Hill Road saga appeared in a recent Telegraph report.

If satisfaction depends on proper local transportation planning and good results, the attorneys and officialdom need to backtrack mulling the “decades” of turmoil in Bibb County. Forest Hill Road played a small part in a much bigger tale. Careers were ruined, unwanted roads were built, wanted roads weren’t built and general bedlam ensued.

The Forest Hill Road project first appeared in the transportation investment program about 1985 as a five lane urban section from Forsyth Road to Wimbish Road. The estimated cost was $2.39 million. The current two-phase widening project -- including the three lane urban section between Wimbish Road and Northside Drive -- debuted in the 1994 transportation SPLOST.

City and county officials approved the joint resolution for the SPLOST, including a referendum.

The resolution called for a Northwest Parkway to be built as a multi-lane road to improve access to Macon Mall and Eisenhower Crossing stretching from Bloomfield Road along Macon’s west side to Northside Drive.

The SPLOST revenue target for all projects was $105 million. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in May, 2000 that more than $130 million had been raised.

Despite the revenue overages, the Northwest Parkway project languished for 18 years. A 2003 Telegraph editorial opined, “Leaders have attempted to divert opposition by employing the financing shell game” and it later accused the GDOT of using Houdini-like traffic counts.

Officialdom plans to eliminate the more relevant part of the Northwest Parkway -- from Vineville Avenue to Mercer University Drive, saying, “This project has high construction costs, environmental impacts, and relatively few benefits. There are many other projects that are needed more.” The same might be said for FHR.

The estimated price tag for FHR in 1994 was $6.39 million. Presently, officialdom unapologetically calls for taxpayers to cough up $16.5 million, a whopping malfeasance-induced 250 percent increase for a disjointed project having little similarity to the voter-approved referendum. “Satisfaction” is not a word that comes to mind, however several expletives do pop up.

P.S. The GDOT uses the word “crowded” to describe FHR in its contract award announcement; however, the department’s own traffic count reveals that since the SPLOST days FHR traffic volume has decreased about 17 percent between Wimbish Road and Northside Drive.

-- Lee Ballard
http://www.macon.com/2013/01/28/2331090/this-is-viewpoints-for-monday.html


The Lawsuit:
http://www.macon-bibb.com/FHR/Injunction-2012-Text.htm


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Link here to Older Letters sampling
 

   

- CAUTION Macon -

Forest Hill Road