The Georgia Department of Transportation is set to give the latest updates on Hall County road projects.
But those attending the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce's Annual Transportation Forum at Gainesville State College on Tuesday also will likely hear about a larger initiative that affects area roads: the state's planned 1-cent sales tax for transportation.
Todd Long, the DOT's planning director, is the scheduled speaker. The former head engineer at the Gainesville-based District 1 office now is helping guide regions in developing project lists for the August 2012 statewide referendum.
Emily Dunn, the 9th Congressional District's representative on the State Transportation Board, also plans to speak.
State lawmakers in the 9th District voted in February to appoint Dunn, a Fannin County businesswoman, to replace Steve Gooch, who had resigned to run for the state Senate and now serves in that chamber.
Also scheduled to speak at the event are Todd McDuffie, District 1 engineer, and chamber officials.
Long has helped steer regional efforts concerning the 1-cent tax, the focal point of the state's Transportation Investment Act, passed by the Georgia General Assembly in 2010.
The law divides the state into transportation districts based on already-established regional commissions. Hall County falls in the Gainesville-based, 13-county Georgia Mountains Regional Commission.
Each region is supposed to create a transportation roundtable made up of city and county leaders and then use that group to form an executive committee.
Each region is working with the DOT on developing a project list that will go before voters next year.
DOT officials, including Long, have pushed the tax as the best solution to meet Georgia's growing road demands as old revenue sources, particularly the motor fuel tax, are drying up.
"As always, with Hall County, there are more needs than there is funding," said Teri Pope, spokeswoman at Gainesville's District 1 office.
"We are blessed and cursed in that our population has continued to grow while our transportation funding hasn't grown since the early 1970s. The last time the transportation gas tax was raised ... was 1972."
The Gainesville-Hall County Metropolitan Planning Organization, which is developing a 2040 transportation plan, has said at least $220 million is needed to address today's development patterns.
Those attending Tuesday's forum likely will hear about numerous projects, including the widening of Spout Springs Road and U.S. 129/Athens Highway, that are in preliminary stages but with no construction money identified.
The only project under construction is Thurmon Tanner Parkway, a four-lane road connecting Plainview and Mundy Mill roads in Oakwood.
The project is set for completion later this year, with paving yet to be finished and traffic signals yet installed.