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Forest Hill Road |
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Macon, Ga
Please help support our Forest Hill Road -
Improvements: |
CAUTION
Macon Macon-Bibb.com Macon, Georgia
FHR (Forest Hill Road)
GDOT-projects: STP-3213(1,3)/BRMLB-3213(5), Bibb County. P.I.No.
350520 & 351130/351135
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Forest Hill Road |
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Macon, Ga
Please help support our Forest Hill Road -
Improvements: |
> > > < < <> > > < < <
“All that’s necessary for
the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to
do nothing.” - Edmund Burke, an 18th century Irish
statesman
American Democracy is Not a Spectator Sport - - Only Citizens Can
Prevent Bad Government - - through Constant Investigation
and Involvement
Technical Committee
of the MATS- Macon Area Transportation Study - hears of Rick
Chellman's design options 1-20-10 (here)
| View below of Ridge Ave in Macon has same profile
as the design suggested by Rick Chellman of TND
Engineering. Design allows for safer walking and
biking. Shoulder can be used for mail-delivery,
bikers, emergency parking, passing of stopped
vehicles. |
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Telegraph Editors
say "Stop and re-Think (again)" (here)
Forest Hill Road
widening re starts - Dec 2009 (here)
Telegraph does not interview Citizens, misstates their position
as merely NIMBY.
Bibb Commissioners offer (letter) to
pay for roads-expert Chellman.
GaDOT is Broke; FHR postponed for 10 years (2020)
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Problems with the Forest Hill Rd project started with the original SPLOST (Special Purpose, Local Option, Sales Tax, in1994). 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 now laughable statement that disguised the true intent and scope of the program. . . see more (here): |
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| A Citizen representative of 6 Neighborhood Associations requests that Bibb Commissioner - Elmo Richardson - should recuse himself from any votes concerning Forest Hill Rd or Stantec. A few minutes later, Elmo voted on the Forest Hill Road mediation issue which included the stipulation that ROW acquisitions continue..(ROW). | ||
 "click" above to see Elmo's Ethics Complaints. |
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A few minutes later, Elmo voted on the Forest Hill Road mediation issue which included the stipulation that ROW acquisitions continue..(ROW).
More NEWS
Mediation Fails
8-20-08 (here)
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| Bibb Commissioner, Joe Allen is now (8-16-07) on-board to help support the citizens wishes for Forest Hill Road design!!! |
Please call the Bibb
Commissioners - ask them to change the proposed design
of FHR.
This is a MUST!
Elmo "Stantec" Richardson: cell 747-9476 or
office 474-6100 or home 477-3115
Bibb Commissioners are 100% responsible for the continuing
grief. They are delaying a resonable design for Forest
Hill Rd.
Do
not let these Commissioners tell you: "It is out of our
hands ... It is up to GaDOT leaders now to do any redesign
..." This is not true. The fact is that
these two Commissioners control the votes to initiate any
changes in this project.
[Note that Mr. Wallwork has
written a letter [here] to the Commissioners explainig
how GaDOT can Save Money with a redesign]
Read
the some BLOGs about Forest Hill Road:
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click on image below |
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| Tie A Yellow
Ribbon, Forest Hills Road style article and song at here http://www.wmccnews.com/ |
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Our state legislators
were invited to meet with Forest Hill Neighbors on Wednesday, Dec.
13, 4-5 p.m., in Council Chambers. A letter of invitation
went out to the Delegation, and courtesy copies to the Mayor &
Council members, Commission Chair & Commissioners. The
attendence was disappointing. Full report later.
Thanks.
The
Forest Hill Rd - win-win - Houston Avenue
connection here
was used by GDOT and the Bibb Commissioners Act to defeat the desires of the
Neighborhood. GDOT showed it has enough money to do any project
"it" desires. Taxpayers need to speak up.
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Forest Hill Road -- Petitions and Ribbons!
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13WMAZ.com -->> "The Department of Transportation says they're moving forward with the Forest Hill Road project , but some people living on the road say they're not going to let it happen without a fight. Saturday people lined Forest Hill Road holding up signs that asked drivers to honk if they love trees. Last month, D.O.T. marked thousands of trees up and down the road with blue spray paint. Project manager, Van Etheridge, said some of those trees may have to come down to accommodate the road widening project. People opposed to the project tied yellow ribbons around the trees with blue markings on Saturday. They say they want people to realize how many trees they could lose. CAROL LYSTLAND, FOREST HILL RESIDENT: "The main thing I personally do not want is to see our neighborhood torn down. They are wanting to, I feel like, destroy our neighborhood, to destroy our trees. CHRISI OGLES, FOREST HILL RESIDENT: "If they would take the money that they're planning on using to widen the road and just repair it, everybody would be so much better off." People opposed to the project also expressed concerns about traffic increasing. They say the current design for the road is too big, and they want it scaled down." Pics Pics
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| Meeting at the Museum of
Arts and Sciences on Forsyth Road Sunday, August 27, 2006 2-3pm  |
| Update on design status. Who
can change the design? New Roundabout
videos. Maps. State Historic Review
reports. Review the West Paces Ferry Rd (in
Atlanta) model. Meet several attorneys who have
successfully dealt with Ga.DOT issues like rights-of-way
condemnations, construction nuisances, maintenance
negligence and design liabilities - Chris Clark
and Jarome E. Gautreaux of http://obclawfirm.com Where to go from
here. |
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- - Forest Hill Road - - is already "...20% Safer than Ga Staewide Average..." - Harvey Keepler, Ga DOT Environmental/Location Engineer (here) |
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Citizen Involvement |
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50 Neighbors meet on September 20th, 2005 at St Francis Church on Forest Hill Road to discuss a new plan for improving Forest Hill. They reach a consensus: - 95% of Forest Hill Road can remain 2-lanes by using Roundabouts at Ridge, at Wimbish, at Lokchoppee at Old Lundy (<-See Visual Preference Design Concepts) and at Forest Lake Drive - Newport Road. 1. Roundabouts are markedly safer. 2. They move traffic faster by not holding it up at stop lights, especially when there is no intersecting traffic to justify the delay. 3. They tend to slow traffic between intersections by curving into the roundabout. 4. They are less expensive to maintain than traffic signals. 5. They reduce auto emissions -- Macon is already in trouble with EPA over air quality. 6. In this case the overall cost of the project would be dramatically reduced. 7. Grassy Swales will remain to better handle runoff - water is quicker to leave the roadway, then it is slowed and filtered before entering local streams - from which Bibb County derives its drinking water. Forest
Hill neighborhood personality should be preserved,
Macon Telegraph articles
on
water
runoff,
traffic
projections,
voting
members
of
the
road
policy
committee, Flooding causes Detention
Pond Failure and Leads to Lawsuit of Bibb County
by Homeowner. Macon Council
Disrespected
by GDOT, Macon City
Coucil Resolution to modify road design, and to
have ultimate authority over all road designs in the
City. Review - 2001 GDOT Deceptions
Project is Enlarged
over original size published in "Program Management
Services Agreement signed between Tom
Moreland's
Moreland-Altobelli and Bibb County on
2-1-95. 1999 detailed concerns
, Air Quality Issues (click) "Stakeholders - Landscaping" Meeting
with GDOT on April 14, 2005 with Original Minutes,
or .rtf version
with some loss of formating , Flaws in the Environmental Assessments,
Over 200 Citizen and Neighborhood
Comments from 2001, Meeting with GDOT on May 31 2002,
Notes from 2004,
Visual Preference Design Concepts at Old Lundy and Lokchoppee and at Ridge Avenue , Flawed
- Traffic_Count_Projections
, What does the real Accident Data show (here)
Roundabouts in North Carolina , Macon
Telegraph graphics of projected new footprint between Vineville
and Wimbish, and between Wimbish
and Northside Dr. 4-21-06 the Bibb
Commission votes
to let GDOT begin to aquire ROW. More ROW data and parcels.
Video (click)
of fatal accident that could have been prevented
by a Roundabout. New Proposed Resolution before City
Council: A RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING A REVIEW
REQUIREMENT FOR MACON-BIBB Petitions - Signatures collected in
October 2006 of citizens who want a new design.
264 citizen signatures here [pdf].
And
330
more
citizen
signatures
plus
23
duplicates
here
[pdf]. And here
are pages 28-45 {pdf
- 3MB]
Video: |
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Mr Michael
Wallwork, PE.- International Road/Traffic Design
Expert:
Mr Michael Wallwork, PE.
undertook some analyses at Forest Hill Rd and
Forsyth Rd. He discovered a very good
level-of-service with a two lane roundabout that only
has one lane in each direction for the
His reason for the three
lane is that the traffic volumes are at the stage
where getting in and out of the street becomes
difficult and more unsafe. Increasing volumes will
exacerbate the situation. By adding a third lane
with medians, medias are a must, then left turn
becomes safer and easier, trees are added to
beautify the street and the median make road
crossings by pedestrians much safer, they also fit
better with roundabouts. The FHWA project engineer
in Atlanta should undrstand how roundabouts would
save lives, and reduce right-of-way, construction
costs and maintenance costs and how these cost
reductions will pay for the minor redesign many
times over. FHWA can consider the use of roundabouts
with the addition of landscaped medians within the
center turn lane. Here is text RTF
or DOC
of letter to Bibb Commission Chairman, Charles
Bishop. It describes the advantages of
changing the Forest Hill Road design. It
details how to save Money and Time, Who to contact,
What to say to accomplish the change.
Michael Wallwork Alternate
Street Design, P.A. (904) 269-1851 www.roundabouts.net |
Roundabouts Meeting at City Hall on January, 31, 2006. report:
Mr Michale Wallwork spoke about the modern uses of roundabouts to economically smooth the efficient and safe movement of traffic. See his website at www.roundabouts.net
The next morning, Mr Wallwork spoke to the Policy Committee of the Macon Area Transportation group. There was general interest and some specific locations discussed to utilize roundabouts. Mr Wallwork said that Forest Hill Road could be redesigned to benefit from roundabouts. This would save time, money and it would use a smaller footprint, thus be friendlier to the neighborhood. He later wrote a letter to Bibb Chairman, Charles Bishop - that letter can be viewed here - page 1 and 2.
GDOT - Forest
Hill Road stakeholder meeting was on Monday, December 12, at 6pm
at St. Francis Church located at 432 Forest Hill Road to discuss
landscaping and lighting concepts.
It was a waste of time because. the neighborhood still has not
accepted the basic road design...
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Forest
Hill Road |
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What is the Commercial Value of Canopied
Roads?  See numerous Canopied Roads |
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| And
how much Rights Of Way will be stripped of
trees from this landscape? Diagram shows major loss
of canopy is being planned by GaDOT and Ga Power utility
poles relocations... Alliance for Community Trees... |
| Old Website, Prior to
12-20-2009 |
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- CAUTION Macon - |
| Eisenhower Parkway Extension |
