It’s time for forging ahead without the prospect of $300 million-plus in extra funding over 10 years.
The Gainesville-Hall County Metropolitan Planning Organization’s technical coordinating, policy and citizens advisory committees are set to hold their quarterly meetings today and Tuesday — their first since the 1 percent transportation sales tax referendum crashed and burned July 31.
If the tax had passed, the discussion likely would have turned at some point to what’s ahead for nine major Hall County road projects over the next decade.
Instead, the three groups — consisting of area road planners, engineers, elected officials and residents — will get back to talking about projects as grounded in today’s available funding.
On the agenda is discussion of the congressional passage in June of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act. Georgia expects to get an annual $1 billion or so from the 27-month reauthorization law, officials have said.
Todd Long, the Georgia Department of Transportation’s deputy commissioner, has said that once the law expires he foresees a collapse in money from the federal government as Washington lawmakers stop borrowing from the general fund to prop up transportation spending.
Also on this week’s agenda is an update of Gainesville’s transportation study.
Earlier this year, officials began talking about the need for a long-range roads plan for the city.
Gainesville is a major hub for Northeast Georgia, with hospital- and business-related traffic streaming through the downtown area every day.
Traffic jams along major corridors, such as Green Street and Jesse Jewell and E.E. Butler parkways, are common, especially at lunchtime and rush hour.
The city “wants to go back to a clean slate and look at all options that are available,” said Srikanth Yamala, Hall County planning director, when the issue came up in February.
The MPO’s technical coordinating committee is set to meet at 10:30 a.m. today and its citizens advisory committee at 4 p.m. today at the Development Services Building, 440 Prior St., Gainesville. The policy group is set to meet at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Georgia Mountains Center, 301 Main St., Gainesville.
Last week’s bus fire on I-85 has engineers on lookout
DOT engineers plan to keep an eye on a northbound section of Interstate 85 in Hart County this week.
They’ll be checking for further damage in the wake of a Wednesday tour bus fire that melted some asphalt on the shoulder, said Teri Pope, Hall County-based spokeswoman.
The damaged section at Exit 177–Ga. 77/Whitworth Road is less than 100 feet long and 3 feet wide.
No repair is needed, Pope said, adding that the stretch “ is just a little rough.”
There is no damage to the lanes on I-85, she added.
DOT workers were able to reopen all northbound lanes 80 minutes earlier than projected, Pope said.
Bridge work in Dawson taking longer to finish
Maintenance work on the Ga. 53/Jasper Highway bridge over the Amicalola Creek in Dawson County will take longer than planned.
If the weather cooperates, the work will be completed by Aug. 31, DOT District Engineer Bayne Smith said.
Officials had hoped for a Monday completion.
The bridge is west of Tinsley Chapel Road, about three miles from the Pickens County line.
The existing concrete driving surface or bridge deck is being removed by hydroblasting and a new concrete driving surface is being poured.
As one lane is finished, traffic will be shifted to use that lane while work occurs in the other lane.
“A temporary signal will continue to operate almost as a person flagging traffic around the clock until the work is completed,” Smith said.
The bridge is one of three included in a $1.9 million contract awarded to Comanche Construction of Marietta. The Ga. 11 bridge over the Middle Oconee River in Jackson County and Ga. 246 bridge over the Little Tennessee River in Rabun County are also a part of this contract.
The contract completion date for all three bridges is Sept. 30.
Jeff Gill covers transportation issues for The Times. Share your thoughts, news tips and questions with him:
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