FHR-Mediation 2-28-08

	Thank you to everyone who spoke yesterday in support of FHR at the mediation hearing !
	All the Friends of Forest Hill Road are so grateful to each of you who took time away from your businesses, family, or other daily obligations to come and speak in support of Forest Hill Road, and by extension- your own neighborhoods and the survivability of our city. Unfortunately, the reporter from the Telegraph, Keich Whicker, did not mention your names or what groups you were there to represent, but I will. He chose instead to single out and report the comments of only one of two people who spoke in favor of the current destructive design and she lives in Atlanta! Here are the names of people who spoke, or who came to speak on behalf of FHR, but had to leave early because the pre-Mediation instructions were lengthy. If I missed anyone, please forgive me. It was a very long and gut-wrenching day! Jaime Webb, representing the Citizen's Advisory Committee of the Macon Area Transportation Study Amanda Upshaw, representing the Shirley Hills Neighborhood and also a member of the CAC Angela Tomey, who lives on Forest Hill Road Larry Schultz, President of Intown Macon Neighborhood Association Ron Lemon, Past President of- and representing the Vineville Neighborhood Association Andrew Layton representing St. Francis Episcopal Church Lynn Cass, who came, but because of a previous commitment had to leave early before the Officials finished their rather long preparatory instructions. Lynn was president of the Macon Arts Alliance, past chair of the Macon Transit Authority, and a former member of the Macon Area Transportation Study Policy Committee. Bette Lou Brown, representing Historic Macon. (I do not have her e-mail contact information. Would someone please pass along our sincere thanks?) Arthur Brook, a retired Professional Engineer, nearby resident of FHR and a former commissioner of Macon-Bibb County Planning & Zoning. If you saw our consultant's presentation at the public portion of the mediation, and if you had had the opportunity that we had to talk with him beforehand about what could be done to FHR with a context sensitive design and a 21st. Century transportation planning approach, you would agree with us that he was worth every penny we paid him to represent the interests of FHR. It has always been clear- now even more so- that the engineers of Moreland-Altobelli and Stantec are insensitive to the wishes of the community for context sensitive street designs- and with the blessings of GaDOT- have engineered a design for FHR that is wasteful, archaic, and outdated. Once again, thank you all. We are very, very grateful for your unwavering support. Lee M. "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead (1901 - 1978)

Forest Hill mediation begins

Bibb County officials, an engineering firm and Forest Hill Road residents were in court Wednesday for a mediation session aimed at working out concerns about the controversial $26.1 million plan to widen the road.

Judge Dorothy Toth Beasley said the session "cannot deal with what everyone might like to do." She said she hopes all the parties "can push toward the center until we get something we can live with."

There were about 40 people in the courtroom, many of them wearing T-shirts or carrying signs in favor of halting the project, for the public portion of the mediation. About a dozen of them spoke out against the project and two people spoke in favor of it before those involved in the mediation left the courthouse for the Fickling Building, where the session's private deliberations are taking place.

With no resolution reached Thursday, deliberations are set to resume today, officials said.

The plan for Forest Hill Road, which officials said has been scaled back three times from its original proposal, calls for the current two-lane road to be widened into three- and four-lane sections.

The road widening was approved by voters in a 1994 special purpose local options sales tax, but the plan has languished for years as officials tussled with residents about the plan's design.

Recognizing the animosity surrounding the issue, County Commissioner Lonzy Edwards called for the mediation last year, in the hope that disagreements could be resolved and new compromises reached.

But exactly what the mediation might accomplish is not clear.

Representatives for Moreland Altobelli Associates Inc., the firm that oversees the county's road improvement program, made no statements during the public portion of the mediation.

However, in recent months, various county officials and engineers have said the redesign that opponents want is not feasible, because the plan already has been approved by state and federal agencies.

At this point, they say, "minor changes" are all that might be acceptable, because anything else would mean the county would lose the millions in state and federal highway money tied to current design plans.

A project redesign would take an additional five to eight years to complete, engineers have said. Bibb County commissioners say there is no money to do that.

Commissioners also say the county has an obligation to complete the project because it was one of the items approved by voters in a 1994 SPLOST referendum. [But these same officials keep trying to dump the Houston Avenue project. And they have already changed many other projects - like Ingleside Avenue - so how can you believe them?]

The judge seemed to acknowledge as much when she talked about the mediation being hamstrung by the state Department of Transportation and the federal DOT's guidelines.

"We're stuck with that," Beasley said. "We can't change them."

Small changes to the current design are possible, county officials said.

However, many residents and opponents of the plan want more than that.

Thursday, the group selected to represent the residents - Alice Boyd, Dan Fischer, Lindsay Holliday, Carol Lystlund and Susan Hanberry-Martin - called on Rick Chellman to lend weight to many of the same arguments that opponents to the plan have been making for years.

Chellman, a New Hampshire-based engineer with more than 25 years experience in consulting, traffic engineering and urban development, emphasized he was not a hired gun brought in by the group. [Keich Whicker emphasized that he is not a hack writer for the Telegraph]

After reviewing the current widening plan, he said engineers could reduce the traffic congestion on the road by 60 percent if they altered the design so that it focused on fixing the road's many intersections. [Chellman

was misquoted in the article "traffic congestion won't reduce by 60%"- but by optimizing the signals, 60% MORE traffic can still use FHR/Wimbish and meet the rather low threshold of LOS- Level Of Service= C]

"In my opinion, there is no need to widen this road," he said, echoing the opposition's calls to reduce the scope of the current project.

Chellman also dug into the traffic data used to justify the project, which local activists have said was "pumped up" by engineers to secure state and federal highway money.

Essentially, he said the data and the projections did not justify the project as it has been designed, something roads activists have long claimed.

Engineers associated with the project consistently have stood by their data, arguing that the scope of the project is justified by the numbers.

Not everyone at the courthouse opposed the widening.

Anne Mullendore, who owns property along Forest Hill Road, said she wanted the project to go ahead because of safety concerns. {She works in Real-estate. She lives in Atlanta. She rents out her property on FHR... Is she really interested in $afety or just $afety...}

Specifically, she is looking forward to new curbs and sidewalks that will enable people to walk along the road or go to their mailbox without being afraid of a car striking them.

"I'm not saying I love the design," she said, "but we need this project to some degree."

COMMENT ON THIS STORY AT MACON.COM.

To contact writer Keich Whicker, call 744-4494.

Posted on Fri, Feb. 29, 2008

Forest Hill mediation begins

By Keich Whicker - kwhicker@macon.com

Posted on Fri, Feb. 29, 2008


	Our Position Paper for the Mediation that began on Thursday 2-28-08 is now public. It can be downloaded here The contents can be viewed below:
	Position Paper Forest Hill Road Neighborhoods To put citizen concerns and frustrations regarding the proposed Forest Hill Road (FHR) project in perspective, it is essential to review the history of the Macon/Bibb Road Improvement Program, road planning in the city and county, and planning and public input specific to FHR. Problems with the project start with the original SPLOST (1994). The campaign for the SPLOST was directed and financed by Moreland Altobelli, Inc. (MAI), the firm who was promised the contract to manage the projects funded by the SPLOST. Public officials, including the county engineer, were actively involved in the campaign, resulting in a complaint from a local attorney observing that government employees were banned from such participation. No public hearings detailing the actual projects and scope thereof included in the SPLOST were conducted (a GDOT official who recently learning of the lack of public hearings expressed surprise, as this is not the norm). The SPLOST was sold to the public as “Pennies for Potholes,” a statement that disguised the true intent and scope of the program. The list of projects provided did not include much of an explanation beyond “improvements.” The SPLOST barely passed (by less than 250 votes); as detailed proposals for specific projects were released to the public, concern was expressed regarding numerous projects, including FHR. Road planning in Bibb County leading up to the Road Improvement Program (RIP) has been piecemeal and episodic. Projects were selected by a handful of non-technical civic leaders (elected and private) guided by political expediency rather than planning or need. Old-fashion “pork barrel” motives (maximizing Federal and State funds spent locally, regardless of actual need or collateral damage to the urban fabric) led to pervasive over design of projects, with little regard for negative impacts. Implementation and control of detail planning for projects was delegated to a private firm, Moreland Altobelli, Inc. (MAI), with limited control by elected officials. MAI, rather than Bibb County or the City of Macon, was given primary responsibility for and control over public presentations and input. It was apparent to citizens that their input was unwelcome and would for the most part be ignored. MAI representatives have acknowledged that “after build” reviews are not conducted as a way of verifying project assumptions and projections. Such evidence-based reviews would show that several RIP projects have significant problems. Two examples are Houston Road and Zebulon Road. The Macon/Bibb Planning & Zoning Department substantially reduced traffic projections for Houston Road soon after completion, as those projections did not support realistic planning for the area. Serious accidents and fatalities have increased on Zebulon Road since its completion; anecdotal accounts from law enforcement officers note clocking speeds of over 90 mph and urban drag racing on Zebulon. Serious drainage problems have resulted from several projects. FHR is classified as a minor arterial, but its primary function is and has historically been as a collector for adjoining neighborhoods. Unfortunately, the current project will greatly diminish FHR’s local utility by barring turning movements from Wimbish south for residents and emergency vehicles. Lack of legal turnabouts will force residents and emergency vehicles to take lengthy, indirect routes, despite the fact that significant through traffic is limited to the morning and evening rush hour. An excessive design speed will make local access much more hazardous to both residents and to through traffic. The FHR project was originally justified as a road to the Macon Mall. It would feed a new “Northwest Parkway” offering a convenient shortcut to the mall from north Macon. The Macon Mall is now on the decline, and the Northwest Parkway is no longer under active consideration, yet FHR is still projected to handle more than double in its current load, despite flat traffic counts for the past 20 years. Vineville Avenue, the primary roadway it feeds, lacks additional capacity (90% of the traffic from southbound FHR will continue on Vineville Avenue according to RIP projections). No plans for expansion of Vineville, which traverses locally valued historic districts, have been approved. Citizens have suggested that this dramatic change in plans and justification should cause the “Needs and Purpose” statement for the project to be revisited and revised – hopefully with adequate public participation. The projects contained in the Northwest Parkway, including Forest Hill Road, were planned in a segmented fashion (segmentation is prohibited in projects with federal funding, as federal regulations require effective system-wide planning). MAI is very careful to skirt the legal definition of segmentation, but it is clear that the interdependent projects do not have independent utility. The new section of road from Park Street west that was to provide the linkage to the Macon Mall has been moved from the active to the long range section of the MATS program. Considering today’s funding crisis in GDOT, it is clear that few if any of the projects in the long range section will be built in the foreseeable future. At the north terminus of the Forest Hill Road project at Northside Drive, FHR continues north as a two-lane road, with no current plans or need for widening or expansion. Substantive questions about traffic projections, safety data, purpose and need, drainage plans, noise projections, future maintenance and repair costs, and neighborhood integrity have been filed repeatedly at public hearings and through the Macon Area Transportation Study (MATS) process. Most of FHR is in the city (all will be if proposed annexation to Northside Drive is ratified), yet the County and the RIP are making the decisions significantly impacting future City costs and liabilities. When the original SPLOST was proposed, the County claimed that the City delegated its responsibility to the County yet no City ordinance or resolution is on file. The City has consistently supported the neighborhood’s position and has asked that the project be scaled back. Traffic projections as presented by MAI are grossly inflated. http://www.macon-bibb.com/FHR/traffic.htm These projections were made almost 14 years ago and we now have real data from these years that we can compare to the projections. We have provided graphs showing these comparisons (please see Exhibits A and B). The traffic counts and inflated projections do not justify the scale of this project Rush hour congestion on FHR is due entirely to constraints at the major intersections (Vineville, Ridge, Wimbish and Northside). Intersection improvements, including better turning movements and additional stacking, would redress this problem to the extent possible; these intersections, particularly that with Vineville, will remain the constraint on FHR’s carrying capacity. The intersection problems can, however, be solved at reasonable cost without expansion of the entire road and without sacrificing local utility and the integrity of adjacent neighborhoods. The proposed design for FHR will significantly increase speed, making it more dangerous to travel and enter the road from adjacent properties. As speed increases in an urban setting, so do the number and severity of accidents. FHR is currently safer than comparable roads in the state (the purpose and need statement overstated accidents by 30% and claimed that the road was more dangerous; our calculations were acknowledged as correct in a letter from Harvey Keepler of GDOT in 2001). Most of the accidents are rear-end collisions without injuries occurring at the intersections. There has been much discussion about straightening the curves in the road. It is counter-intuitive, but curves actually increase safety by slowing traffic, and are a component of modern traffic-calming techniques. The most dangerous roads in any community are wide and straight, as they encourage drivers to travel at unsafe speeds. As noted above, MAI has admitted that they have never revisited their projects to verify the assumptions about speed or safety in their designs. Zebulon Road project is a prime example of a project that MAI completed that is more dangerous after the “improvements” due to excessive speed. Streets, churches, schools and residences that enter FHR along the section between Wimbish and Vineville will not be able to make left-hand turns because of the raised median. There are no provisions for safe and legal U-turns. The closing of streets in this section and the inability of residents to access the road to and from both directions will force traffic onto quiet residential streets in an indirect and inconvenient way. Storm drainage along FHR is currently handled effectively by grassy swales – a method preferred for cost and environmental benefits when viable. http://www.macon-bibb.com/FHR/Swales.htm and http://www.macon-bibb.com/FHR/FHR_Flooding_Suit.htm The project will increase and accelerate runoff significantly, as both existing and expanded sections of the roadway will be channelized. Downstream costs and impacts have not been adequately addressed (prior RIP projects have caused flooding and lawsuits). When the city engineer pointed out to MAI and its local consultant that the drainage from the project would exceed that allowed by law, MAI elected to skirt the issue by calculating the impact of the runoff against the entire drainage basin instead of the project area. Such slight of hand will not reduce the City’s future liabilities. At the present time virtually all of the streams in Bibb County, and the Ocmulgee River exceed EPA limits for pollutant loads (called Total Maximum Daily Loads, or TMDLs.); this project will further degrade water quality. The road as planned will exceed the federal noise limits. Residential frontage precludes effective mitigation measures. The health impacts from an increase in ambient noise are well documented, hence the federal regulations. Property values and quality of life will suffer. Residents have been told that they will have to live with the problem. There are significant changes planned to the intersection of Northminster and Wimbish. The alignment of the entire road will be changed. A huge detention pond is planned which will require a protective fence and entail inherent liability due to its proximity to a school. Presently the location of the pond is pristine forest that has been lovingly maintained. The realignment will create a hazard for the 60 residents of condominiums located across the street as the increase in speed will make access and egress from their neighborhood dangerous. FHR is one of Macon’s signature urban/rural roadways. These include FHR, Wimbish, Wesleyan, and Rivoli in north Macon. Such roadways are assets to the entire urban area, while efficiently handing traffic demands. Similar roadways are valued and protected in Atlanta (witness West Paces Ferry Road in Atlanta, which carries twice the traffic projected for FHR on two lane sections with efficient intersections). Examples such as West Paces Ferry Road should be the model for FHR, as such context-sensitive designs are proven to serve local and through traffic safely while protecting aesthetics, quality of life, and safety. Such a sensible approach offers immediate and long-term financial benefits to the local community, while protecting the integrity of adjacent neighborhoods. These concerns have been repeatedly expressed by citizens since the inception of the road program. Citizens have formulated “Design criteria and Constraints” that we believe should guide design of the FHR Project and mediation, and which address the neighborhoods’ primary concerns – footprint, speed, access, neighborhood integrity, and drainage: • Protect the integrity and livability of neighborhoods fronting and served by Forest Hill Road. • Recognize Forest Hill Road as one of Macon’s premiere scenic residential roadways, and protect that asset. • Provide for the safety of motorists, pedestrians and school children. • Provide safe and convenience access to adjacent businesses, churches, schools, and residential areas. • Provide unimpeded access by public safety vehicles. • Minimize on-going maintenance and operations costs by the City of Macon and Bibb County, to include traffic control, storm drainage and policing costs. • Use modern traffic-calming and neighborhood-sensitive design techniques to further the all of above. • Employ a design speed of 35mph. • Minimize the footprint of the roadway and construction zone to preserve the existing landscaping and tree cover, and to avoid the expense and disruption of relocating utility lines and poles and channelizing storm drainage. • Recognize that the current Statement of Need is outdated, and adopt a new one that realistically reflects current and future needs and traffic volumes. • Thoroughly study the effect of induced traffic volumes on Vineville/Forsyth, Ridge, and Park Street; delay construction if increased volume will require expansion of those roadways that is unmanageable, unacceptable, or not contained in approved projects scheduled for completion in the immediate future. • Protect the historic resources at Park Street, the Prado and the residences along FHR. The plans for FHR have been vigorously and overwhelmingly opposed since they were revealed, and the concerns outlined above repeatedly voiced. Each official public presentation has been attended by hundreds of people (these were not conducted as formal public hearings allowing participants to share concerns or express a consensus). Discussion has been hampered by MAI’s refusal to release current plans to the public, a problem we continued to experience in preparing for mediation. The City of Macon’s Mayor and City Council (most recently in a resolution adopted on February 19th, 2008), http://www.macon-bibb.com/FHR/MaconCouncilResolutionPower.htm and the Macon Area Transportation System’s Citizen Advisory Committee have supported and echoed the residents’ concerns for an appropriate design. All have been ignored. The RIP, County Commission and MAI have consistently claimed money spent to date on design as justification for refusing to modify the plan. However, the design process proceeded without adequate citizen involvement and with clear knowledge that substantive concerns about the project had not been resolved. It is illogical to proceed with an excessively costly and damaging project on the basis of premature design and engineering, much of which would be used in a redesign. The significant cost of the project is in its construction, not design; it is foolish to throw good taxpayer’s money after the bad on an improperly designed project. A plan that would be acceptable to the neighborhood is as follows the linked diagram below: http://www.macon-bibb.com/FHR/Docs/FHR_Flyer_b.jpg From Northside Avenue to Ridge: maintain a two-lane roadway, with roundabouts or dedicated turn lanes as necessary (South Forest Lake Drive and Newport Road, Old Lundy and Lokchappe Drive, and Wimbish). A multi-use path (pedestrian and bicycle) on one side of the road and separated from it would be welcome. Maintain drainage in grassy swales to minimize runoff and preclude the need for retention/detention facilities. Minimize removal of trees. From Ridge to Vineville: additional stacking and turn lanes. Improvements in this segment are most critical to reducing rush hour congestion and delays.

	TV Report by 13WMAZ.com
	No Agreement Over Forest Hill Last Update: 2/29/2008 11:18:05 AM Author: Yenu Wodajo Web Editor: Kari Webb
	The debate over whether to widen Forest Hill Road continues on. Representatives from Moreland-Altobelli engineering met with neighbors in court Thursday to begin mediation talks. Bibb County Attorney Virgil Adams said the two parties were unable to reach an agreement by close of business Thursday, though he said progress was made. Adams said they will reschedule mediation talks for a future date, though he is not sure when. He said, if no agreement can be reached, the plans to widen will continue as they are. He said that is unless Bibb County officials change their minds about widening. People lined up in court one by one, each eager to express their opinion on the proposal to widen Forest Hill Road. "When it comes to road design and improvements and traffic flow, we do not agree that bigger is always better," said Ron Lemon with the Vineville Neighborhood Association. Homeowners opposed to the plan say widening will ruin the character of the neighborhood and encourage speeding. "In front of my house is a straight away and you can hear them hit the gas when they get there," Angela Tomey said. "You add that third lane, that's just one more place for them to pass and go even faster." Anne Mulllendore bought her home on Forest Hill Road to one day retire in. When she does, she says she wants there to be sidewalks where she can take her grandchildren for walks and one day exercise safely. "This current design of this road is not conducive to family living," Mullendore said. She's one of only a few residents speaking in favor of the plan. The signs lining her neighbors' yards take a different stance. "This city can ill afford to stand by and allow road construction to make the calls when it comes to our neighborhoods," Lemon said. "What we're saying is there are better solutions out there," Tomey said. "And before it happens in other neighborhoods and we keep ruining neighborhood after neighborhood, let's look at better solutions. Let's try to find better ways of doing this." If the two parties reach an agreement, they will sign off on it and send it for official approval. To be fair and balanced, we asked representatives from Moreland-Altobelli to comment but they declined. Check back with 13WMAZ.com for updates on this story. http://www.13wmaz.com/news/local_story.aspx?storyid=49545

	We made some progress for part of the project in mediation, but the details must remain confidential until the mediation is complete. Our consultant, Mr Chellman of www.TndEngineering.com was invaluable. Nothing would have happened without him. We hope there may be a successful (but non-binding) compromise by the end of next week at which time we will bring those ideas to you for consideration. We made our position paper public. Moreland-Altobelli is keeping their position paper secret.
	Posted on Fri, Feb. 29, 2008 http://www.macon.com/198/story/281412.html Forest Hill mediation begins By Keich Whicker - kwhicker@macon.com Bibb County officials, an engineering firm and Forest Hill Road residents were in court Wednesday for a mediation session aimed at working out concerns about the controversial $26.1 million plan to widen the road. Judge Dorothy Toth Beasley said the session "cannot deal with what everyone might like to do." She said she hopes all the parties "can push toward the center until we get something we can live with." There were about 40 people in the courtroom, many of them wearing T-shirts or carrying signs in favor of halting the project, for the public portion of the mediation. About a dozen of them spoke out against the project and two people spoke in favor of it before those involved in the mediation left the courthouse for the Fickling Building, where the session's private deliberations are taking place. With no resolution reached Thursday, deliberations are set to resume today, officials said. The plan for Forest Hill Road, which officials said has been scaled back three times from its original proposal, calls for the current two-lane road to be widened into three- and four-lane sections. The road widening was approved by voters in a 1994 special purpose local options sales tax, but the plan has languished for years as officials tussled with residents about the plan's design. Recognizing the animosity surrounding the issue, County Commissioner Lonzy Edwards called for the mediation last year, in the hope that disagreements could be resolved and new compromises reached. But exactly what the mediation might accomplish is not clear. Representatives for Moreland Altobelli Associates Inc., the firm that oversees the county's road improvement program, made no statements during the public portion of the mediation. However, in recent months, various county officials and engineers have said the redesign that opponents want is not feasible, because the plan already has been approved by state and federal agencies. At this point, they say, "minor changes" are all that might be acceptable, because anything else would mean the county would lose the millions in state and federal highway money tied to current design plans. A project redesign would take an additional five to eight years to complete, engineers have said. Bibb County commissioners say there is no money to do that. Commissioners also say the county has an obligation to complete the project because it was one of the items approved by voters in a 1994 SPLOST referendum. [But these same officials keep trying to dump the Houston Avenue project. And they have already changed many other projects - like Ingleside Avenue - so how can you believe them?] The judge seemed to acknowledge as much when she talked about the mediation being hamstrung by the state Department of Transportation and the federal DOT's guidelines. "We're stuck with that," Beasley said. "We can't change them." Small changes to the current design are possible, county officials said. However, many residents and opponents of the plan want more than that. Thursday, the group selected to represent the residents - Alice Boyd, Dan Fischer, Lindsay Holliday, Carol Lystlund and Susan Hanberry-Martin - called on Rick Chellman to lend weight to many of the same arguments that opponents to the plan have been making for years. Chellman, a New Hampshire-based engineer with more than 25 years experience in consulting, traffic engineering and urban development, emphasized he was not a hired gun brought in by the group. [Keich Whicker emphasized that he is not a hack writer for the Telegraph] After reviewing the current widening plan, he said engineers could reduce the traffic congestion on the road by 60 percent if they altered the design so that it focused on fixing the road's many intersections. [Chellman was misquoted in the article "traffic congestion won't reduce by 60%"- but by optimizing the signals, 60% MORE traffic can still use FHR/Wimbish and meet the rather low threshold of LOS- Level Of Service= C] "In my opinion, there is no need to widen this road," he said, echoing the opposition's calls to reduce the scope of the current project. Chellman also dug into the traffic data used to justify the project, which local activists have said was "pumped up" by engineers to secure state and federal highway money. Essentially, he said the data and the projections did not justify the project as it has been designed, something roads activists have long claimed. Engineers associated with the project consistently have stood by their data, arguing that the scope of the project is justified by the numbers. Not everyone at the courthouse opposed the widening. Anne Mullendore, who owns property along Forest Hill Road, said she wanted the project to go ahead because of safety concerns. {She works in Real-estate. She lives in Atlanta. She rents out her property on FHR... Is she really interested in $afety or just $afety...} Specifically, she is looking forward to new curbs and sidewalks that will enable people to walk along the road or go to their mailbox without being afraid of a car striking them. "I'm not saying I love the design," she said, "but we need this project to some degree." COMMENT ON THIS STORY AT MACON.COM. To contact writer Keich Whicker, call 744-4494.

	Letter of Support Posted on Fri, Feb. 29, 2008 http://www.macon.com/209/story/281006.html Group has high hopes for mediation process The Citizen's Advisory Committee of the Macon Area Transportation Study was established to provide an apparatus for ongoing public input regarding transportation and roads projects, new and old, in our community. From the beginning, once the design proposals for the Forest Hill Road corridor were made known, the CAC has steadfastly and consistently voiced its opposition to the scope and scale of what has been proposed for this area. The CAC's opposition is a reflection of what the vast majority of the residents in the affected neighborhood have also expressed at various opportunities throughout the process. At virtually every turn, the opinions and wishes of those who are most affected by this project have been ignored and, at best, paid lip-service. These people who find the plans objectionable are tax-paying citizens. Their interests and well-being have been marginalized in favor of the arcane and outdated road-building concepts of an autocratic bureaucracy which has shown very little interest in trying to adapt the re-design of this naturally beautiful corridor to produce an end-result which is not only functional but also respectful of the existing residential character of the area. Specifically, there has been no effort to incorporate modern "context-sensitive" transportation planning concepts in this project. The negative impacts of the proposed designs on other related segments of the street network, particularly on Vineville Avenue, have not been adequately addressed or ameliorated. Community "quality of life" issues, which will be negatively affected in a significant way by the "sledge-hammer" approach being employed in over-building this project, will bear an unacceptable cost from an environmental and public safety standpoint. Loss of tree canopy, increased drainage problems, greatly increasing the amount of asphalt paving, as well as the safety issues related to anticipated higher traffic speeds, all combine to make the proposed "fix" for this road a losing proposition for area residents and the city of Macon. Alternative, forward-thinking, and environmentally responsible design solutions have been repeatedly suggested to those who are charged with designing this road "improvement." These have fallen on deaf ears and been treated with disdain. It is as if the wishes of the residents of the area have no bearing whatsoever on the design process and the attitude seems to be that these citizens are supposed to accept whatever has been proposed and should be thankful for the destruction of their neighborhood. We find this unacceptable on many levels, especially from a public-policy perspective. It is our fervent hope that the long-sought mediation process that has begun regarding this project will result in a more responsible and responsive design for this road and that the end-product will, in fact, truly be a "road improvement" with which we can all live. James H. Webb Macon Mr Webb serves as the chairman of the Citizen's Advisory Committee to the Macon Area Transportation Study.

	Attachments:
	Exhibit A

	Exhibit B