November 8, 2006
GEORGIA
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION WILL HOLD A “PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT
WORKSHOP”
On Monday, November 13, starting
at 6:00PM in the City Visitor’s Center (City
Municipal Bldg on the Square), the Georgia Department of
Transportation, through the Tennille district office, will
hold a “public involvement workshop”. Jasper County residents
will have an opportunity to talk
with state planners about long-range transportation needs
for the area.
Topics
could range from roads, freight routes, and aviation to
rail lines, bike paths, and sidewalks. The
needs of “developing areas” will also be a focus. This is
likely the reason Putnam, Greene and Morgan counties are
part of the same study. One hope for the planning process
is “communication” among the four counties about common
transportation needs.
Quoting from
the Eatonton Messenger, “We would like to see some interconnection
and thinking on the same wave length,” said Vonda Everett,
planning and programming engineer in the DOT’s Tennille
District office. “So far, we have gathered information and
been to our advisory board. Now
it is time to hear from the public about what direction
they would like to go in the future. Of
course, a lot of what they might want may already be on
the books in our (six-year) Construction Work Program.”
The Monday night
workshop will begin with a 15-minute presentation on the
scope of the study. Another 15 minutes or so is set up for
general questions and answers. The remainder of the time
will be spent at display boards around the room, with DOT
officials listening and answering more detailed questions
about individual concerns. “We need to know what the public
knows about what we do and can do,” Everett said. “For instance,
they may know about needs for bike lanes and pedestrian
walkways near parks and schools that we don’t know about...
And we’ve had people tell us that all they are interested
in a bypass to get traffic out of downtown and otherwise
leave them alone. They want to keep the integrity of their
small town.”
The transportation
plan under development this year and next will look two
to three decades into the future, and will eventually become
part of a statewide plan. While such a long-range
plan will be somewhat generalized, it will be used to coordinate
planning around the state for consistency. “There’s a study
in place to the west (Atlanta) and the north (Athens). This
is sort of closing the gap,” Everett said. It will be used
as a basis for more detailed plans in the DOT’s six-year
Construction Work Program and the even more detailed (and
funded) three-year Transportation Improvement Program (TIP).
The
BOC appointed the Multi-County Transportation Study Advisory
Group at its October meeting. That group consists of Walter
Smith (EDA member), Ken McMichael (JCWSA member), Robert
Jordan (citizen), Bill O’Keeffee (EDA member), David Dyer
(Farmer’s Market Director), Jerry Lazar (citizen).
TWG
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Mission
Statement:
** To keep the taxpayers of Jasper County, Georgia informed
as to where and how their tax dollars are being spent.
** To keep the taxpayers abreast of local policies and
laws being discussed and enacted.
** We advocate more open government, less government spending,
and lower property taxes.
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