December 7, 2016 11:29 AM

Latest Forest Hill Road designs ready for unveiling

Conceptual designs for the next phase of the huge Forest Hill Road project will be unveiled Thursday.

The public will be able to see the proposed plans and offer suggestions for improvements on the estimated $13.8 million project that would stretch from Vineville Avenue to Wimbish Road. The informal meeting will be held from 4-7 p.m. at St. Francis Episcopal Church, 432 Forest Hill Road.

As part of the second phase, the Georgia Department of Transportation plans to widen Forest Hill Road from Vineville to Wimbish from two to three lanes.

At Thursday’s meeting, large displays of the proposed designs will be set up, and people will be able to discuss the plans with engineers and others involved with the project, Macon-Bibb County Engineer David Forston said.

The latest design features signal upgrades at Forsyth Road and Ridge Avenue, a new traffic signal at Charter Boulevard and sidewalks along Forest Hill. Residents will also be able to weigh in on whether they want a traffic signal or roundabout at the Wimbish Road intersection.

Once completed, the changes will improve safety and traffic flow along awkward intersections and coordinate traffic lights between Vineville, Forsyth and Ridge, Fortson said.

“The roundabouts are generally safer than signals because you eliminate the T-bone crash, the real serious crashes,” he said. “People have to travel through roundabouts slower than through an intersection. (Roundabouts) do take more land, and some people aren’t comfortable with them. That’s why we want to ask residents which one you prefer.”

Anyone unable to attend Thursday’s meeting can submit statements and questions about the second phase until Jan. 6. They can be sent to Mitchell Greenway, PE, Stantec Consulting Services Inc., 1515 Bass Road, Suite G, Macon, Ga., 31210, or by way of email at mitchell.greenway@stantec.com.

While designs are being completed for the second phase, work continues on the first phase of Forest Hill Road — a two-mile stretch from Northside Drive to Wimbish. The project’s timeline was pushed back until the end of December, but it could take several months into 2017 before the major roadwork is complete, according to a letter from a DOT manager.

As for the next phase, many variables will determine when construction could begin. It’s too early too tell, but a ballpark estimate is three to five years before the first mounds of dirt are moved, Fortson said.

A combination of state and federal funds would be needed to complete the project.

“A lot will depend on when it gets funded,” Fortson said. “It could be ready to go but there is a delay in getting funding, and a lot of rights of way would need to be purchased.”

Stanley Dunlap: 478-744-4623, @stan_telegraph

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Contractors fill in a storm drainage ditch along Forest Hill Road as drainage pipe cover the front yard of a home on Normandy Road on 9/02/2015. JASON VORHEES jvorhees@macon.com

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BY STANLEY DUNLAP sdunlap@macon.com

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Bill Elder, center, visits with neighbors Thursday after viewing plans to widen Forest Hill Road between Vineville Avenue and Wimbish Road at St. Francis Episcopal Church. “I think they’ve done a great job,” he said of the plans.

Several years ago the plans for a Forest Hill Road improvement were too cumbersome for the liking of officials at a church on the busy Macon street.

But Thursday, leaders of St. Francis Episcopal Church were pleased with the conceptual designs presented for a nearly 1-mile stretch of Forest Hill Road. They were among the Macon residents able to view designs for the second phase of the multimillion-dollar project that proposes widening Forest Hill from Vineville Avenue to Wimbish Road from two to three lanes.

Early concepts proposed increasing Forest Hill Road to four or five lanes, which St. Francis priest Ben Wells and Senior Warden Tracie Jenkins say would have been overkill. The project has a target start date of 2020 to 2022 and would take about two years to complete.

“I think this is a vast improvement over the design of say three years ago,” Wells said at the meeting at the church. “Most cities are reclaiming (neighborhoods) like when Boston redid the tunnel so neighborhoods could rejoin together. This proposal here – I can support it.”

The latest design features signal upgrades and a turn lane at Forsyth Road and Ridge Avenue, a new traffic signal at Charter Boulevard and sidewalks along Forest Hill Road. A center two-way left turn lane will also be added.

“Because of the large number of streets, apartments, churches, driveways along there, you have a lot of left turning movement and potential for rear-end collisions,” Macon-Bibb County Engineer David Forston said.

Design firm Stantec Consulting Inc. will take the suggestions from residents and then show the designs to Macon-Bibb County leaders to get their input, Stantec senior associate Andrew Kohr said.

Plans call for Forest Hill Road to get new sidewalks that will include a 10-foot-wide multiuse path about twice the size of a standard sidewalk. The conceptual designs also include a realignment of Park Street near Forsyth Road to help prevent some of the blocking of the intersection with Forest Hill Road. Another proposal is to create a cul-de-sac along Drury Drive, which now has an awkward intersection with Ridge Avenue, Fortson said.

A small “pocket park” with landscaping improvements could be added there.

“There shouldn’t be much inconvenience and it might be beneficial because it’ll keep Ridge traffic from them,” Fortson said.

The latest concepts also include the option of either a traffic signal or roundabout at the intersection of Wimbish and Forest Hill roads.

Macon resident Charles Martin said he’s become a roundabout advocate after visiting England where the features are popular. Jenkins also favors the roundabout.

“Once you get used to them they are much safer and easier,” she said.

Construction is ongoing on the first phase of Forest Hill Road improvements that include work along a 2-mile stretch from Northside Drive to Wimbish Road. The major roadwork could be finished near the end of December or possibly several months into 2017.

Statements and questions about the second phase of Forest Hill upgrades can be submitted through Jan. 6. They can be sent to Mitchell Greenway, PE, Stantec Consulting Services Inc., 1515 Bass Road, Suite G, Macon, GA 31210, or by email at mitchell.green-way@stantec.com.

Stanley Dunlap: 478-744-4623, @stan_telegraph

"MOST CITIES ARE RECLAIMING (NEIGHBORHOODS) LIKE WHEN BOSTON REDID THE TUNNEL SO NEIGHBORHOODS COULD REJOIN TOGETHER. THIS PROPOSAL HERE — I CAN SUPPORT IT.
St. Francis Episcopal priest Ben Wells