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http://www.macon.com/198/story/437656.html
Posted on
Wed, Aug. 20, 2008
Forest Hill Road mediation fails
A mediation intended to work out concerns
regarding a controversial $26.1 million plan to widen Forest Hill Road
has failed.
After nearly six months of meetings, Forest Hill Road activists and
Moreland Altobelli Associates Inc. have been unable to reach a
compromise on the project, County Attorney Virgil Adams reported
Tuesday to the Bibb County Commission.
Moreland Altobelli, the engineering firm that oversees the county's
road improvement program, represented the county in the mediation.
Dorothy T. Beasley, a senior judge for the state who also serves as a
private mediator and arbitrator, presided over the session.
"It didn't work. That's all I can say," Adams said following the
evening commission meeting. He presented his report in closed session
during the Engineering Committee meeting earlier Tuesday.
Details about the mediation, which was hashed out in private, are far
and few between.
Adams said it is typical for parties involved in mediations to agree to
keep their discussions confidential, so people feel they can speak
freely. It also helps ensure that sessions aren't played out in the
media or used in future litigation, he said. Even though the mediation
has ended, Adams said the parties have agreed to continue keeping the
discussions confidential.
Lindsay Holliday, a Forest Hill Road representative involved in the
mediation, blamed Moreland Altobelli for the mediation's failure. He
said residents and activists went "more than halfway" toward an
agreement, but the engineering firm wouldn't compromise.
"They had nothing to lose, and they wasted our time," Holliday said.
"To say we're disappointed is quite an understatement."
Van Etheridge, program manager for Moreland Altobelli, was out of town
Tuesday and could not be reached for comment, but Chairman Charlie
Bishop said the engineers were instructed to "make an earnest effort"
to resolve the issue.
Forest Hill Road activists have been at odds with the county and its
engineers for years over the plan to widen the two-lane road to add
three- and four-lane sections.
Engineers say that traffic projection numbers support widening the road
while opponents have called the data erroneous and inflated.
Opponents also say the width of the road, which will vary between 38
and 64 feet, not including the curbs, gutters and sidewalks, will be so
large that it will harm nearby neighborhoods.
They've suggested roundabouts to ease congestion, but commissioners and
engineers have said a redesign, which would be necessary to add the
roundabouts, is not feasible.
Since the mediation failed, the project appears to be back where it was
in February when the mediation began, several commissioners said.
"So we're back where we were in the beginning," Commissioner Bert
Bivins said. "That seemed to be the last hope for a positive
resolution."
Information from The Telegraph's archives was used in this report.
To contact writer Jennifer Burk, call 744-4345.
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