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Group that worked to defeat North Hall connector routes not going away
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Debbie Lawson Davis, president of the Lake Lanier Community Preservation Association, talks about the group’s work after the defeat of proposed routes for the Northern Connector.

Four proposed routes for the Northern Connector have gone away, but the Lake Lanier Community Preservation Association hasn’t budged.

The group that campaigned successfully against the routes connecting Ga. 60/Thompson Bridge Road to Ga. 365 is now focusing on other issues affecting North Hall, including the concept that remains of a four-lane reliever spanning that part of the county.

"We do feel that an east-west connector would be beneficial as our community continues northern growth," said Debbie Lawson Davis, president of the community group.

The advocacy group formed after publicity about the proposed routes surfaced in mid-August.

Members were especially concerned about the road’s impact on the lake, neighborhoods and property values.

The Hall County Board of Commissioners voted in September to ask the Gainesville-Hall County Metropolitan Planning Organization to remove the routes from the drawing board.

The planning group’s Policy Committee did just that on Nov. 10.

The Northern Connector, however, remains a concept as the group moves forward in updating a transportation program involving work that could be done by 2040.

Davis said the community group plans to attend each of the planning group’s committee meetings and the county commission’s monthly meetings.

"Our mission of monitoring issues that concern North Hall and Lake Lanier is far from over," she said. "... The North Hall community west of 365 is really unrepresented with any organized group."

The group isn’t just interested in traffic issues. Land use is another concern, Davis said.

"We do want to keep our fingers on those developments that will be coming as the Glades Farm reservoir gets further along," she said.

She also cited the Hagen Creek development "that’s farther north but will still affect the lake and the North Hall community."

Two mammoth developments, Cane Creek and Hagen Creek, are planned near Lula.

The Cane Creek community is proposed on 1,135 acres, including residential space, retail and office space and even land for a college campus.