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Top 5 traffic hot spots Hall leaders are paying attention to
Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce Vision 2030 bus tour highlights problem areas
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Green Street in Gainesville was one of the sites discussed by the Vision 2030 tour group Tuesday morning as they traveled throughout Hall County during an awareness tour to help familiarize the group with major traffic areas that are being discussed for or are in line for improvements.

Everybody’s got their traffic pet peeve when driving around Hall County. It may be stop-and-go traffic on Dawsonville Highway or Spout Springs Road or sitting behind someone turning left on Green Street.

On Tuesday, a bus full of government officials took a “transportation awareness” tour of some key areas where improvements are needed in Hall County. The trip was sponsored by Vision 2030, an arm of the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce.

The following are the key areas they discussed:

1. Sardis Connector

Getting from Dawsonville Highway/Ga. 53 to Thompson Bridge Road/Ga. 60 or vice versa involves a lot of twists, turns and stops on residential roads. Hall County officials have long proposed to build a four-lane road connecting the two state routes. However, just acquiring the right of way is probably still years away.

2. South Enota Drive between Ga. 60 and Ga. 129

Gainesville leaders want to realign South Enota Drive between Park Hill Drive and Thompson Bridge Road, behind Enota Multiple Intelligences Academy, to help relieve traffic congestion along Green Street and in the downtown corridor. The city has applied for state money to help with the project.

3. Tumbling Creek interchange

Hall County wants to build a bridge on Tumbling Creek Road over the railroad, the same crossing that was closed last year despite a fight from the Hall County Board of Commissioners. The road would be a key connector between Atlanta Highway/Ga. 13 and Mundy Mill Road.

4. Green Street

The main thoroughfare through downtown Gainesville has plagued drivers for decades. It’s a bottleneck at the best of times, and those turning left onto or off of the road often find it near impossible, not to mention aggravating to all the traffic behind them. A study is underway looking under the road to see how best to improve the driving surface and fix drainage issues.

5. UNG Parking Lot off Exit 17

Now mostly used as a shuttle site and parking for University of North Georgia’s Gainesville campus, talks have started to use this lot as potential bus transit station taking passengers to downtown Atlanta.