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ConnectGeorgia
Supplement to Georgia Trend
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Q&A with Chris Clark
Chris Clark is the President and CEO of The Georgia Chamber of Commerce.
Why is this vote to fund transportation so important?
Voters across Georgia will have the
opportunity on July 31 to say yes to one
of the most significant economic
development opportunities our state has
seen in decades. A vote in favor of the
transportation referendum is a vote for
new jobs and investment, not only as
the projects are built, but as a result of
the companies this investment will help
attract to our state.
How will it benefit the state?
The benefits are many. Our unemployment rate will be
reduced as Georgians are hired not only to build the roads,
but to work in the many industries that will support the construction projects. The Federal Highway Administration
estimates that every $1 billion spent on transportation projects
supports 28,000 jobs. This referendum would raise $19 billion
– that’s more than 500,000 jobs at a time when we need
them badly.
Jobs are not the only positive outcome. Communities will
be more efficiently connected to each other and to Georgia’s
ports and airports. Our roads and bridges will be safer – and
transportation projects that have been needed for years will
be able to move forward once funding is available.
Why is new funding necessary now?
Sources that we have relied on in the past are no longer
adequate to meet our transportation needs – in fact, Georgia
ranks 49th in per capita transportation funding. There are
fewer Federal funds available, and as vehicle efficiency has
improved, the gas tax is no longer a reliably strong source
of funding. In addition, as our ports are deepened, they will
begin to service new, larger ships that carry more cargo –
which means more truck traffic as those goods are delivered
to and through our state. Our rural communities desperately
need better connectivity to the interstate system in order to
get their products to market and attract economic investment
– and our urban communities are experiencing growing
congestion every year.
Is it more important in some parts of the state
than others?
One of the things we hear consistently as we talk with
business leaders from every part of Georgia is that transportation is a priority for all of our communities. From the mountains
to the coast – there are needs not being met today that will
2 I Connect Georgia
be should the referendum pass in July.
Every region has a unique set of needs
that can be met if the referendum is
successful in July. This was evident in
the process the regional roundtables
went through last year as they selected
what projects would be funded – difficult
decisions had to be made in all 12 regions
to develop prioritized lists that fit within
the new funding constraints.
How will new transportation funding benefit Georgia’s economy?
A high-quality, efficient, multi-modal
transportation system is critical to growing our economy.
Transportation has always been at the core of our success –
Georgia’s location on the East Coast, our ports, railroad
networks, interstate highway system and international airport
have allowed us to attract the manufacturing industry, Fortune
500 companies, and entrepreneurs who understood the importance of our position as a transportation and logistics hub.
That said – our competition is growing stronger. Maintaining
our leadership position will require renewed investment,
coordinated planning, and assurance to corporate leaders
today and in the future that their transportation needs will be
met. When Caterpillar announced their recent location to
Georgia, one of the factors they cited was the upcoming transportation referendum. Companies are willing to invest in a
state that is willing to do the same.
What happens if the referendum doesn’t pass?
That’s a tough question. The projects that will be funded
are not extraneous – they each meet real needs for our
communities and only a very small number will ever be met
with our existing funding stream. And, I can assure you
that companies and site selectors from around the world
are watching to see what we will do in July.
The fact is – there is not another option. That is why our
organization is supporting this initiative so strongly. I can
assure you that the last thing the Georgia Chamber ever
wants to do is promote
a new tax – especially
as businesses and families are struggling, but
in this case the benefits – in particular the
jobs we believe will
be created – far outweigh the cost.
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T R A N S P O R T A T I O N
V O T E
Moving Georgia’s
Economy Forward
This summer Georgians will have the opportunity to vote on an entirely new
method of transportation planning and funding, one based on regions and
comprised of locally submitted projects. It’s called the Transportation Special
Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (TSPLOST), a long name with a simple purpose:
keeping local tax dollars at work in the local community for much needed
transportation upgrades and repairs.
If the 1 percent sales tax is approved July 31 by all 12
transportation regions, Georgia transportation will have up
to $19 billion in additional funding over the next 10 years.
The special transportation tax is based on the same model
that many counties and cities have been using for years to pay
for everything from transportation upgrades to economic
development and creative arts centers. The Special Purpose
Local Option Sales Taxes (or SPLOST), an extra penny on
the dollar for purchased goods, is a popular way to help ease
the burden of property and income taxes, since a heavy fraction
of it comes from visitors to Georgia counties.
The regional angle of the upcoming transportation referendum emerged as the state wrestled with its outdated county
by county infrastructure network, which required thinking
outside territorial boundaries about projects that affect entire
regions. The legislature drew a map based on the state’s existing regional development commissions, and solicited projects
from local leaders to create their individual project lists.
The process took about two years and included dozens of
roundtable meetings to establish which projects were best for
each region. Top Georgia leaders, including Gov. Nathan
Deal and House Speaker David Ralston, have all urged voters
to support additional transportation funding to help keep
Georgia competitive.
Todd Long, former Georgia Department of Transportation
director of planning, has said that the nearly $19 billion
TSPLOST is expected to raise will give Georgia the only
chance it will have to address its transportation problems
over the next 10 years, after which the tax would sunset.
Furthermore, the deepening of the Port of Savannah to
accommodate the bigger ships soon moving through a widened
Panama Canal could lead to an explosive increase in the state’s
logistics industry. While bringing manufacturing and other
economic sectors back to Georgia is good, it will increase freight
traffic through the state. This fact must be addressed if we’re to
avoid making traffic congestion worse in Georgia and passing
the transportation referendum is the best way to start.
The projects funded by the transportation tax would help
spur growth throughout the state. That’s why the economic
development community has rallied behind it, and many
political leaders are supporting it as part of a strategy to
grow jobs in Georgia.
This special issue provides an overview of what the transportation tax would mean for each region of the state. The
planned projects do more than just improve the state’s transportation network – they move Georgia’s economy forward
and improve the prospects of a better future for every Georgian.
Connect Georgia I 3
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G e o r g i a ’s Tr a n s p o r t a t i o n N e t w o r k
The Road to Future Growth
W
hen Caterpillar announced earlier this year it had
selected Georgia for a $200 million plant that will eventually
employ 1,400, it was a big and much-needed win for the state
– and a big pat on the back for Georgia’s transportation
network.
The equipment manufacturing giant offered a number
of reasons for picking a tract in east Georgia near Athens,
but a deciding factor was more than 200 miles to the south
– Georgia’s ports. Caterpillar expects to export some 40
percent of the equipment made at its new plant from the
Port of Savannah, among the busiest and fastest growing in
the world.
Caterpillar is just the latest company to pick Georgia in
part because of the state’s highly ranked ports, international
airport and rail and highway system.
Georgia Department of Economic Development
Commissioner Chris Cummiskey says the state’s “great logistics
network” is one of the main selling points used to attract new
business to Georgia. That network, he says, includes an
international airport that is the busiest in the world, a port
that is the fastest-growing port in the nation and a rail and
highway system that allows shipments to reach 80 percent
of the U.S. market within two days.
4 I Connect Georgia
The relationship of the state’s transportation network to
growth shows the importance of the July 31 transportation
tax vote. Passage of the referendum in 12 regions across
Georgia will enhance the state’s logistics network in a way
that will shape the state’s economy for generations to come.
Projects as seemingly disconnected as the widening of I16 in the Coastal Georgia region and improving a bridge
over the Oconee River in the Heart of Georgia region work
together to strengthen Georgia’s economic position as the
Capital of the South. Hundreds of proposed projects will
create a logistics network that will knit together our ports,
highways, rails and airports in a way that will bring jobs here,
improve safety on the roads and strengthen
local communities.
In a meeting with business leaders last
year, Gov. Nathan Deal talked about the
importance of the transportation tax for
future growth, using the ports as a prime
example. He called passage of the tax a
critical piece in building the logistics
network that feeds the ports of Brunswick
and Savannah. “It doesn’t do a whole lot
of good to get larger vessels into the ports
if we can’t get the cargo distributed around
the state,” he said.
Georgia’s ports are playing increasingly
important roles in the state’s economic
growth. The Ports of Savannah and
Brunswick achieved record volumes in
2011 and the Port of Savannah is now the
number-two export port in the nation. But
also important is how the ports reach out
to every county in the state and touch the lives of almost
every Georgian.
According to the Georgia Ports Authority, the state’s deepwater ports and inland barge terminals support more than
295,000 jobs throughout the state annually and contribute
$15.5 billion in income, $61.7 billion in revenue and $2.6
billion in state and local taxes to Georgia’s economy.
Impressive figures any Georgian can relate to ... and they’re
numbers expected to grow as the state looks to improve its
transportation network with funding from the transportation
tax to be voted on July 31.
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A Yes Vote Is a Vote...
... for Jobs
V
oting yes on July 31 for a 1 percent local option sales tax will
not only help accumulate up to $19 billion for Georgia’s economy, it
will provide thousands of job opportunities across the state.
Local leaders believe passing the penny tax will help improve
the state’s unemployment rate. “I think opportunity will be spread
all across our region if the TSPLOST passes, and it will demonstrate to the business world that we are ready for them,” said Lamar
Paris, sole commissioner of Union County, which is part of the
Georgia Mountain Region (Region 2).
The Federal Highway Administration estimates that every $1
billion invested in highway construction and improvements supports
nearly 28,000 jobs. Out of these 28,000 jobs, about half will be
occupied by construction workers and supply services for the
statewide projects. The other 50 percent of these jobs will develop
due to the increase in spending by the new employees.
According to the Statewide Strategic Transportation Plan, the
TSPLOST will produce more than $480 billion dollars in gross
domestic profit growth over the next 30 years, and create nearly
425,000 jobs.
TSPLOST revenues can only be spent on the specific project
list approved by each region’s roundtable members in October
2011. All money raised in each of the 12 transportation districts
in Georgia will be spent on projects only in that region. Of the
total raised, 75 percent will be spent on regional projects, and 25
percent will be spent at the discretion of local governments for
transportation projects. The funds generated are expected to
have a lasting impact on local governments within these regions.
“The 25 percent non-restricted funds that will come to our
county for local road improvement will definitely have a huge
impact on our county,” Paris said. “We will be able to hire local
contractors and haulers to work on our local roads in not only
construction but in resurfacing and other jobs.”
... for Safety
T
he Georgia Coastal Region (Region 12) is economically dependent on tourists vacationing to the
state’s beautiful beaches, and that means transportation
safety is a major concern.
A high-priority road improvement project in the
Coastal Region is the widening of State Route 144 in
Bryan County. SR 144 is a two-lane highway to Interstate
95 that serves as a hurricane evacuation route for the
county and the main transportation route for Fort
Stewart, which is a rapid deployment unit.
It’s a critical project for the region, said Jimmy
Burnsed, Bryan County Commission chairman.
“Evacuation will be a nightmare if the State Route
144 is not widened,” he said. “This tax is important,
it will enhance the quality of life and help get these
projects done quickly.”
Leaders from around the state believe Georgians
will be safer if voters approve the 1 percent local option
sales tax on the July 31 primary ballot. Approval of
this transportation initiative will provide more than
$19 billion in revenue for selected transportation
projects across the state.
The special tax referendum will be voted on statewide, but it’ll be approved, or turned down, on a
regional basis. The law approving the vote also created
12 special tax regions and voters will be deciding the
fate of projects only in their region. In each region 75
percent of the tax will be used to construct these
projects and another 25 percent will be distributed
to local governments for other transportation issues
in their county.
Around the state, safety is a common theme in
the projects selected. In Georgia’s Mountain Region
(Region 2), for example, accessibility to medical centers
has become an issue. Due to limited passageways and
the mountainous two-way roads, transportation to
these centers has become more of a chore than a
necessity. In parts of the region it takes citizens 30
minutes to an hour to reach their medical centers.
These problems will be resolved through projects like
widening 5.4 miles of U.S. 129 between Gainesville
and Cleveland. This $47 million project will provide
easier access for people heading to Northeast Georgia
Medical Center in Gainesville.
Connect Georgia I 5
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IT’S LOCAL ‘Our Money … for Our Roads’
T
ransportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales
Tax (TSPLOST) – that’s the official although somewhat
tongue-twisting name of the tax Georgians will vote on this
summer. Seven words, but it’s the one in the middle –
LOCAL – backers want voters to remember when they
trek to the polls July 31.
“Being local ... that’s the real key,” says Sue Parr, president
& CEO of the Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce. “It’s
our money being used for our roads and that’s as it should be.”
The special tax referendum will be voted on statewide,
but it’ll be approved, or turned down, on a regional basis.
The law approving the vote also created 12 special tax
regions and voters will be deciding the fate of projects only
in their region.
The idea of local money for special local projects has
been in use – with much success – for decades in Georgia.
Local governments and school systems have found their
residents usually willing to pay more in taxes if they can see
the long-term benefits and can actually see the money
being put to use in their own communities. That’s why
these special purpose local option sales taxes, called SPLOSTs
or ESPLOSTs (when used for education projects), have
been so popular in Georgia and, remarkably, have been overwhelmingly approved by voters, even in the tough economy
of recent years.
Since enacted into law in 1985, SPLOSTs have been
used by every one of Georgia’s 159 counties. And, there
have been relatively few times voters have not approved
one. In November 2011, there were 60 referendums on
SPLOSTs or ESPLOSTs and 56 were approved, according
to the Association County Commissioners of Georgia.
The transportation tax follows the same path obviously
favored by Georgia voters. The extra penny per dollar they’ll
be voting on will be used strictly for local projects. Twenty-five
percent (15 percent in Metro Atlanta) of the funds raised will
go directly to the local governments, while the rest will be used
to fund major projects considered of benefit to the entire region.
To develop the project lists, county commission chairs and
mayors in each of the 12 districts participated in roundtables
to determine the transportation needs for their areas.
Billy Pittard is a roundtable participant who believes
TSPLOST planners “got it right” by setting up the vote
region by region.
“The way this has been designed is so local people have
control of the money and the projects. People at home
know what’s important to them a lot more than officials in
Atlanta or Washington,” says Pittard, who, as chairman of the
Oglethorpe County board of commissioners, was a member
6 I Connect Georgia
of the roundtable that selected the projects for his 12-county
Northeast Georgia region.
“We had tons of meetings before coming up with a final
list,” Pittard says. “We have our own projects for our county
but there are also projects in other counties that will benefit
the whole region. We also drive on other counties’ roads and
any economic development that comes will benefit all of us.”
Many local and state officials say economic development
is the main reason the transportation tax is needed. The
TSPLOST referendum is considered one of the most important
economic development opportunities in the state’s history.
If passed in all regions, it would pump up to $19 billion in
direct investment into the state’s economy over the next 10
years while connecting communities, reducing congestion
and improving road safety.
“It’s all about creating jobs,” says Kit Dunlap, the longtime
president & CEO of the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce
in Gainesville. “The TSPLOST gives us an opportunity to
invest in our future and it gives us a say-so in the projects
that will benefit our region the most.”
Hall County is in the Georgia Mountain Region, a 13-county
region stretching from growing, more urban Hall and Forsyth
counties to rural mountain communities on the state’s border.
“The way this has been designed
is so local people have control of
the money and the projects.”
– Billy Pittard, chairman, Oglethorpe County Commission
Improved road safety and better access to health care are also
big issues for Dunlap’s region. “A lot of folks in the mountains
say they just want to be able to get to a hospital,” she says.
Augusta’s Parr is also looking at the boost the transportation
tax would give her region, which is the 13-county Central
Savannah River Area in east Georgia.
“A better transportation network is vitally important to
our businesses and our citizens,” she says. “It’ll help us expand
our economic base and create jobs, and it’ll improve the
commuter network so people can get to those jobs.”
Oglethorpe County’s Pittard sums of what many see as a
primary benefit of the July 31 referendum. Regions that pass
the tax, he says, “will send a message throughout the country
and even abroad that Georgia is prepared to spend money
on infrastructure – a good clear message (to industry) that
we’re doing all the right things.”
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DADE
Northwest Georgia
CATOOSA
MURRAY FANNIN
WHITFIELD
GILMER
WALKER
CHATTOOGA GORDON
FLOYD
PICKENS
BARTOW
POLK
PAULDING
HARALSON
D
avid Austin remembers only too well what it was like
driving from his home in Paulding County to his work in
Gwinnett County, some 57 miles away, for more than 25 years.
“Every year the amount of traffic grew by thousands of
cars. Finally I was getting up at 4 a.m. and driving to a fitness
club in Norcross and working out. When I left there, I
would be at work by 8 a.m.,” he said.
He didn’t dare
oversleep. If he didn’t
get under way from
home until, say, 6 a.m.,
he would usually be
late.
That
memory
guided the Paulding
County commissioner
in leading a roundtable of elected officials from 15 counties
last year in setting
transportation priorities for the Northwest Georgia region (Region 1).
Work on those projects will be financed with proceeds of
a 1 percent local option sales tax for transportation, which
will be on the July 31 primary ballot this summer. Money
raised within the Northwest Georgia region will be used
only for projects in that region.
It’s a diverse area that runs from Lookout Mountain all
the way down to Austin’s Paulding County, where the big
transportation issue always is the daily commute.
“We have 142,000 people. Some 75 percent to 80 percent
leave every day to go outside the county for work,” he said.
One of the projects on the list addresses Macland Road
and State Route 360, a major connector between Paulding
County and Cobb County but a route also with a crash rate
higher than the state average. Money from the local option tax
would pay to widen a portion of the highway to four lanes.
Paulding also would get money for a new traffic control
center that, in combination with new fiber optic capacity,
would allow the county to manage the traffic flow on several
key highways, including U.S. 278, which connects to Camp
Creek Parkway and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International
Airport.
To the north, a project in Gordon County calls for constructing a new bypass on the south side of Calhoun.
Sen. Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, a nonvoting member of
the roundtable, said the project will ease truck traffic, especially
that stemming from the carpet industry – struggling though it
might be now. “One day it will come back strong,” Mullis said.
Some other key projects include a partial relocation of
SR 20, a major regional connector between west Bartow
and Floyd counties, and construction of a new 7.3 mile
connection between U.S. 411 and I-75 in Bartow County to
help reduce truck traffic on SR 3/ U.S. 41.
Transportation projects worth $1.12 billion are on the list
to be funded from the local option transportation tax. That’s
about 75 percent of the amount the tax is expected to raise.
The remaining 25 percent will be distributed to local governments as discretionary funds.
Mullis, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee,
said the discretionary funding will address a wide variety of
other local needs. “Counties can move forward with the
money and there is no red tape coming out of DOT,” he said.
FACT BOX
NORTHWEST GEORGIA REGION
www.connectgeorgia2012.com/northwest_georgia.php
These counties make up Region 1, Northwest
Georgia Region: Bartow, Catoosa, Chattooga,
Dade, Fannin, Floyd, Gilmer, Gordon, Haralson,
Murray, Paulding, Pickens, Polk, Walker, Whitfield
Total number of projects: 106
Total economic impact: $1.48 billion
Regional projects (75%): $1.12 billion
Local government discretionary fund (25%):
$372 million
Regional roundtable members:
Clarence Brown (Bartow), Matt Santini (Bartow),
Keith Greene (Catoosa), Lynn Long (Catoosa), Jason R.
Winters (Chattooga), Jessica Eller (Chattooga), Ted M.
Rumley (Dade), Barton Harris (Dade), Bill Simonds
(Fannin), Donna Whitener (Fannin), Eddie Lumsden
(Floyd), Wright W. Bagby Jr. (Floyd), Mark E. Chastain
(Gilmer), Al Hoyle (Gilmer), Alvin Long, (Gordon),
Jimmy Palmer (Gordon), H. Allen Poole (Haralson),
William “Pete” Bridges (Haralson), David Ridley
(Murray), Billy Cantrell (Murray), Boyd L. Austin Jr.
(Paulding), David A. Austin (Paulding), Robert P. Jones
(Pickens), John W. Weaver (Pickens), Marshell Thaxton
(Polk), Bebe Heiskell (Walker), Neal Florence (Walker),
W. Michael Babb (Whitfield), Ken Gowin (Whitfield)
Connect Georgia I 7
TOWNS
RABUN
UNION
WHITE
HABERSHAM
LUMPKIN
STEPHENS
DAWSON
FORSYTH
Photo: Georgia Department of Transportation
I
HALL BANKS
FRANKLIN
HART
Georgia Mountains
n the rugged terrain of extreme northeast Georgia, roads
narrow as they claw their way through the ancient rock of
the Appalachian foothills, plunge down steep mountainsides
and zigzag through dizzying corkscrew turns. Safety in such
difficult circumstances is always a concern for those charged
with minding the transportation needs of the region. But it
isn’t the only one.
Access to medical care is right up there with it, says Lamar
Paris, sole commissioner of Union County, and chairman of a
special roundtable of elected officials that spent much of last
year thrashing out and prioritizing the top transportation
needs of the 13-county Georgia Mountain region (Region 2).
The list the group produced includes scores of projects
and touches every county. It will be funded with proceeds
from a 1 percent local option sales tax for transportation,
which will be on the July 31 primary ballot this summer. All
of the money raised from the tax in the Georgia Mountain
region will be spent within the region.
One highlight of the plan calls for widening 5.4 miles of
U.S. 129 between Gainesville and Cleveland and for additional
work on the ongoing Cleveland bypass project.
Paris – although responsible for mountainous Union
County – said he supported the $47 million project in the
flatter but more heavily populated Hall County because it
will improve access for his constituents to the big Northeast
Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville.
Heretofore, he said, those headed to the hospital from his
county had to go over the mountain “and then fight through
Cleveland traffic, which is a zoo. It was always a problem.”
A project in the southern end of the district,
where the land is flatter
and the population has
surged, is aimed at
alleviating congestion on
Georgia 400 between exits
12 and 14 at morning and
evening rush. Some 60,000
cars use the roadway every
day, and it is often bumperto-bumper between exit
12 (McFarland Parkway)
and exit 14 (Georgia 20).
Of the money raised
through the proposed 1
percent local tax, $40
8 I Connect Georgia
million would go to this project. One additional lane would
be added in each direction.
Athens-bound travelers may find it a bit easier to reach the
Classic City under a projected widening of U.S. 129/S.R. 11
in Hall County between State Routes 323 and 332. The 6.7mile project completes the four-laning of that route, said
Rep. Carl Rogers, R-Gainesville, who was a nonvoting
member of the district roundtable.
In all, transportation projects in this region worth some
$1.26 billion would be funded under the list adopted by the
roundtable, which was composed of elected officials from
every county in the district. The $1.26 billion is roughly 75
percent of the amount expected to be raised from the new
revenues. The remaining 25 percent will be discretionary
funds distributed to local governments.
“The key to the whole thing is that … the dollars are coming
back to the region,” said Rogers. “Most people fear the
money might be going to the Department of Transportation
and into a black hole. That’s not true.”
FACT BOX
GEORGIA MOUNTAIN REGION
www.connectgeorgia2012.com/georgia_mountians.php
These counties make up Region 2, Georgia
Mountain Region: Banks, Dawson, Forsyth,
Franklin, Habersham, Hall, Hart, Lumpkin, Rabun,
Stephens, Towns, Union, White
Total number of projects: 63
Total economic impact: $1.26 billion
Regional projects (75%): $945 million
Local government discretionary fund (25%):
$315 million
Regional roundtable members: Milton Dalton (Banks),
Jerry Neace (Banks), Mike Berg (Dawson), Joe Lane Cox
(Dawson), Calvin Byrd (Dawson), Brian Tam (Forsyth),
H. Ford Gravitt (Forsyth), Sam Elrod (Franklin), Harris
Little (Franklin), Doug Vermilya (Habersham), Margaret
Ballard (Habersham), Tom Oliver (Hall), Ruth Bruner
(Hall), Brandon Johnson (Hart), David Jordan (Hart),
Dr. John Raber (Lumpkin), Gary McCullough (Lumpkin),
Virgil Kilby (Rabun), Bill Robinson (Rabun), Dean
Scarborough (Stephens), Bob Troup (Stephens), Bill
Kendall (Towns), Barbara Mathis (Towns), Lamar Paris
(Union), Jim Conley (Union), Travis Turner (White),
Don Stanley (White)
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Metro Atlanta
CHEROKEE
COBB
GWINNETT
DEKALB
DOUGLAS
ROCKDALE
CLAYTON
FULTON
FAYETTE HENRY
M
etro Atlanta has struggled for years to cope with one
of the byproducts of the economic growth that brought it
unprecedented prosperity – an equally unprecedented level
of traffic. But efforts to relieve the pain so far have only
landed the region the unhappy distinction of having one of
the worst commutes in the nation.
Money is the problem, and that should come as no surprise
in a state that is 49th lowest in per-capita spending on transportation. But many in the 10-county Atlanta transportation
district now believe a real solution is at hand.
It comes in the form of
a 1 percent local option
transportation tax, which
– if voters approve on
the July 31 ballot – will
generate an impressive
$7.2 billion for regionally
significant projects as
selected by a blue-ribbon
committee of the region’s
elected officials, plus
another $1.3 billion which
cities and counties can use
as they see fit for local
transportation needs.
The 157 regional projects for metro Atlanta
include rebuilding programs for some of the most congested interstate highway
interchanges in the state. The list also includes some big rapid
transit projects in acknowledgement of the fact that there
are tightly-packed areas in which there is no room for new
or expanded roads to relieve congestion.
Some key projects:
• A partial reconstruction of the interchange of I-285 and
I-20 west is designed to address one of the most congested
– and dangerous – sections of interstate highway in the
region. I-285-bound traffic often backs up onto I-20.
• I-285 north at the State Route 400 interchange also is
massively congested. A proposed reconstruction is designed
to enable traffic to flow more freely. Also planned are
collector-distributor lanes parallel to SR 400 from I-285
to Spalding Drive, potentially removing some local
traffic from SR 400.
• One of the largest of the transit projects in the plan
would construct a new rail line from Lindbergh Center to
Decatur via the Clifton corridor, linking the Centers for
Disease Control and Emory University, both major employers, and other activity centers to Atlanta’s transit network.
Major upgrades to MARTA’s electrical power network
and train control systems are also on the list, along with
funds to restart the Clayton County bus system and to offer
connectivity to Hartsfield-Jackson, Fort Gillem, Clayton
State University and other destination points.
The projects are intended not only to improve the quality
of life for those who live or travel through the region, but
also to keep Atlanta competitive for new business. Recruiters
already are saying the region is at risk of losing companies
to rival cities because of the fierce traffic.
Sam Williams, president of the Metro Atlanta Chamber,
said: “This is our Olympic moment – a chance for everyone
in the region to come together to jumpstart our economy.
We will be able to get home earlier, while helping not only
construction workers but tens of thousands of others to get
back to work as we regain our confidence and competitiveness.
Our best days will now be ahead of us.”
FACT BOX
METRO ATLANTA REGION
www.connectgeorgia2012.com/atlanta.php
The counties that make up Region 3, Atlanta
Regional Commission: Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb,
DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry,
Rockdale
Total number of projects: 157
Total economic impact: $8.5 billion
Regional projects (85%): $7.2 billion
Local government discretionary fund (15%):
$1.3 billion
Regional roundtable members: Kasim Reed (Atlanta),
Buzz Ahrens (Cherokee), Tim Downing (Cherokee),
Eldrin Bell (Clayton), Willie Oswalt (Clayton), Tim Lee
(Cobb), Mark Mathews (Cobb), Burrell Ellis (DeKalb),
William Floyd (DeKalb), Tom Worthan (Douglas),
Mickey Thompson (Douglas), Jack Smith (Fayette),
Kenneth T. Steele (Fayette), John Eaves (Fulton),
Ralph Moore (Fulton), Shirley Lasseter (Gwinnett),
Bucky Johnson (Gwinnett), B.J. Mathis (Henry),
Lorene Lindsay (Henry), Lorene Lindsay (Henry),
Richard Oden (Rockdale), Randy Mills (Rockdale)
Connect Georgia I 9
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HEARD COWETA
BUTTS
SPALDING
MERIWETHER
PIKE LAMAR
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UPSON
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Three Rivers
Y
ou can see the growth that is overtaking the Three
Rivers region (Region 4) of west central Georgia in a number
of ways. The new Kia plant in Troup County is one. The
University of West Georgia in Carrollton, which reached an
all-time high enrollment of 11,647 students last fall, is another.
The two new hospitals being built in the region is a third.
Roughly bounded by the Chattahoochee River on the
west and the Ocmulgee on the east with the Flint River
rolling down the middle, this region has come a long way
from the day when textile mills were the biggest employers.
Now the jobs come from the manufacturing and service
industries, with quite a few of those who live in the district
commuting to Hartsfield-Jackson Airport to work in the air or
on the ground, and to the industrial park in Fayette County.
Remarkably, no single city dominates the 10-county region,
so the list of projects to be funded through a special purpose
local option sales tax for transportation that will be on the
July 31 primary ballot isn’t dominated by any particular highdollar endeavor.
But through a myriad of projects in the region’s 10 counties,
the elected leaders who devised the list sought to focus on
east-west connectivity in order to give shippers better access
to the port in Savannah and to improve access to health care
and other services, said Upson County Commission Chairman
Maurice Raines, who chaired the planning group.
The district’s construction list includes projects worth at
least $710 million, accounting for 75 percent of the projected
revenues the tax would raise in the district. Another 25 percent
of the money would go to local governments to use for
transportation programs as they see fit. The money raised
in any particular district stays in that district.
One key project calls for constructing a new freeway
interchange in Coweta County between I-85 and Poplar
10 I Connect Georgia
Road, where the two new hospitals – the 136-bed Piedmont
Newnan Hospital and a Cancer Treatment Centers of
America facility – are being built. The cost is $25 million.
Candace Boothby, president and CEO of the NewnanCoweta Chamber of Commerce, says it’s hard to overstate
the importance of the hospitals and the interchange to the
region’s economy. “With these hospitals, our draw as a
health care destination will be significant.”
Another project – valued at $53.6 million – will widen
State Route 36 from I-75 in Butts County to State Route 74
in Upson County from two lanes to four, providing residents
of Thomaston, Barnesville and other cities four-lane access
to the interstate.
Another – costing $32.5 million – will widen Lower
Fayetteville Road, ending where a huge new Sam’s Club is
set to go in.
Boothby said those and other projects on the list will ensure
the region’s continued vitality and keep it competitive in luring
industry and jobs. “Our communities either grow or they go
backwards. By investing in these kinds of investments we ensure
that we are growing in quality and mapping out growth for
the future.”
FACT BOX
THREE RIVERS REGION
www.connectgeorgia2012.com/three_rivers.php
The counties that make up Region 4, Three
Rivers Region: Butts, Carroll, Coweta, Heard,
Lamar, Meriwether, Pike, Spalding, Troup, Upson
Total number of projects: 101
Total economic impact: $947 million
Regional projects (75%): $710 million
Local government discretionary fund (25%):
$237 million
Regional roundtable members: Mitchell McEwen
(Butts), Harvey Norris (Butts), Bill Chappell (Carroll),
Rick Ford (Carroll), Paul Poole (Coweta), Keith Brady
(Coweta), June Jackson (Heard), Denney Rogers
(Heard), Jay Matthews (Lamar), Peter Banks (Lamar),
Freddie Hines (Meriwether), Ron Garrett (Meriwether),
Douglas Mangham (Pike), Mike Beres (Pike), Eddie
Goss (Spalding), Cynthia Ward (Spalding), Richard
Wolfe (Troup), Jeff Lukken (Troup), Maurice Raines
(Upson), Hays Arnold (Upson)
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JACKSON
Northeast Georgia
ELBERT
MADISON
BARROW CLARKE
OGLETHORPE
WALTON OCONEE
GREENE
NEWTON MORGAN
JASPER
H
ow can Georgia get a leg up on other states in the
intensely competitive struggle to land new industry and
generate new jobs?
To Billy Pittard, chairman of the Oglethorpe County
Commission, the answer is simple. It lies in the list of
projects to be funded with revenue raised in the 12-county
Northeast Georgia region (Region 5) from a special purpose
local option sales tax for transportation.
The list was developed by Pittard and other elected
officials in this diverse district that ranges from the south
Atlanta suburbs to the South Carolina border, from
sprawling subdivisions on the one hand to vast stretches of
farmland on the other. This is also Bulldog Country. The
economic powerhouse that is the University of Georgia lies
within the district’s borders.
The tax will be on the July 31 primary ballot. All of the
money raised from the tax in the Northeast Georgia region
will be spent on the list that Pittard and his colleagues
developed. There are 12 transportation regions in the state.
Each district will decide for itself whether to impose the tax.
Pittard said regions that pass the tax “will send a message
throughout the country and even abroad that Georgia is
prepared to spend money on infrastructure – a good clear
message (to industry) that we’re doing all the right things.”
The Northeast Georgia Region transportation list includes
$740 million worth of projects, including some for improving
highway safety and relieving congestion on major routes to and
from Athens and in several other densely populated areas.
But that figure is only 75 percent of what the tax is expected
to fetch. The remaining 25 percent goes to local jurisdictions
for road needs. For smaller counties, that’s every bit as
important as the big high-dollar projects because it will give
them more money than they have had for years for local
improvements, Pittard said.
One major project would install interstate-style interchanges on Georgia 316 at State Routes 11 and 81, both in
Barrow County. That is a major route to Athens, and the
intersections are dangerous even though there are traffic
signals in place.
Some routes to Athens go through Winder, which has
become one of north Georgia’s most congested cities during
rush hour. A bypass there, to be funded by tax funds, is
designed to provide relief.
Widening State Route 138 in Walton County, another
key project on the list, would give better access to I-20 from
Monroe and further the economic development that has
occurred in that region in recent years.
Other projects include a new interchange with I-85 in
Jackson County to break up a long stretch of road without
exits and widening U.S. 78 to four lanes from Athens to
Crawford.
Jim Dove, executive director of the Georgia Regional
Commission, said the benefits are substantial. Residents of
the region will get safer and less congested roads and
improved job opportunities, he said. And parents of
University
of
Georgia students
who drive home
on Friday and
return to school
on Sunday can
sleep a little better,
he added.
FACT BOX
NORTHEAST GEORGIA REGION
www.connectgeorgia2012.com/northeast_georgia.php
The counties that make up Region 5, Northeast
Georgia Region: Barrow, Clarke, Elbert, Greene,
Jackson, Jasper, Madison, Morgan, Newton,
Oconee, Oglethorpe, Walton
Total number of projects: 72
Total economic impact: $987 million
Regional projects (75%): $740 million
Local government discretionary fund (25%):
$247 million
Regional roundtable members: Danny Yearwood
Jr. (Barrow), Robert Bridges (Barrow), Nancy Denson
(Clarke), Alice Kinman (Clarke), Tommy Lyon (Elbert),
Larry L. Guest (Elbert), Dene Channell (Greene), C.
L. Rhodes Jr. (Greene), Hunter Bicknell (Jackson), Jim
Joiner (Jackson), Charles Hill (Jasper), Glenn Newsome
(Jasper), Anthony Dove (Madison), Chris Peck
(Madison), Mack Bohlen Sr. (Morgan), John Bostwick
(Morgan), Kathy Morgan (Newton), Kim Carter
(Newton), Melvin Davis (Oconee), Joe Walter (Oconee),
Billy Pittard (Oglethorpe), John Stephens (Oglethorpe),
Kevin W. Little (Walton), Greg Thompson (Walton)
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PUTNAM
JONES BALDWIN
MONROE
BIBB
CRAWFORD
WILKINSON
TWIGGS
PEACH
Middle Georgia
HOUSTON
PULASKI
U
nless you’ve got plenty of time and want to ramble, you
can’t get to Savannah from Atlanta without passing through
the Middle Georgia transportation region (Region 6),
where — after splitting off from I-75 just above Macon —
the eastbound I-16 speeds toward the coast and the ports.
A transportation hub with a staggering traffic load? Sure.
But this region is much more than an important interstate
highway junction. It’s got Macon and Bibb County, of course.
In Houston County to the south there is also the sprawling
military complex around Robins Air Force base – a place that’s
best to avoid, if possible, during morning and evening rush.
To the northeast, Lakes Sinclair and Oconee are
magnets for sports enthusiasts, as well as for second-homers
and for retirees. There is still some farmland left in the
district despite the rush towards urbanization. In places a
distinctly rural calm replaces the hustle and bustle.
There are 11
counties in this
region. Their
leaders have
forged a comprehensive list of
transportation
projects to be
funded through
proceeds from
a 1 percent local
option transportation tax that will be on the July 31 ballot.
The transportation spending “will help leverage our area
to be a future transportation and logistics hub for the entire
state,” Macon Mayor Robert Reichert’s spokesman, Chris
Floore, says.
“The benefits are not just the roads,” said Monroe County
Commission Chairman James A. Vaughn, who guided his
colleagues in developing the blueprint for spending an
expected tax revenue of $657 million. (That’s 75 percent of
the revenue. The remaining 25 percent will be divided
among the region’s counties for local needs.)
Because many of the projects also draw down federal
dollars, local leaders figure the total investment will be
something over $1 billion.
Several projects will assist in the reconstruction of the I75/I-16 interchange. Traffic volume currently on I-75 is more
than 76,000 vehicles per day and on I-16 it reaches more
than 81,000 vehicles a day.
Included is a widening of I-16 from four to six lanes between
State Routes 11 and 87; reconstructing the I-16 and I-75
12 I Connect Georgia
interchange from I-75 at Hardeman Avenue to Spring Street
off I-16, and widening I-16 from four to six lanes from Pierce
Avenue to I-16.
Another project will complete the long-anticipated Fall
Line Freeway, designed in the 1980s to provide smoother
travel from Columbus to Macon to Augusta.
In Gray, which is north of Macon, five highways now
converge within a very short distance. A bypass included in
the list would help alleviate that.
A widening project on State Route 96 could divert some
truck traffic from the I-75/I-16 interchange because it
connects those two highways south of Macon. Several projects
would provide easier access to Robins Air Force base.
Laura Mathis of the Middle Georgia Regional Commission
says the county leaders planned well. “I think they really
were strategic in looking where growth is today, where it is
projected to happen and the connectivity of making it easier
for people to get around.”
FACT BOX
MIDDLE GEORGIA REGION
www.connectgeorgia2012.com/middle_georgia.php
The counties that make up Region 6, Middle
Georgia Region: Baldwin, Bibb, Crawford,
Houston, Jones, Monroe, Peach, Pulaski, Putnam,
Twiggs, Wilkinson
Total number of projects: 77
Total economic impact: $876 million
Regional projects (75%): $657 million
Local government discretionary fund (25%):
$219 million
Regional roundtable members: Faye Smith (Baldwin),
Richard Bentley (Baldwin), Samuel F. Hart Sr. (Bibb),
Robert A.B. Reichert (Bibb), Dean Fripp (Crawford),
Becky Smith (Crawford), Tommy Stalnaker (Houston),
Jimmy Faircloth (Houston), Preston Hawkins (Jones),
Gus Wilson (Jones), Tye Howard (Monroe), James
Vaughn (Monroe), Melvin Walker (Peach), C. Brooks
Bailey (Pulaski), Shelly Berryhill (Pulaski), Tom
Thompson (Putnam), John Reid (Putnam), Ray
Bennett (Twiggs), Sonja Mallory (Twiggs), Dennis
Holder (Wilkinson), Kenneth Turner (Wilkinson)
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WILKES LINCOLN
Central Savannah River
TALIAFERRO
COLUMBIA
MCDUFFIE
WARREN
RICHMOND
HANCOCK GLASCOCK
JEFFERSON
BURKE
WASHINGTON
JENKINS
R
ush hour traffic congestion may not be at Atlanta levels
in the easternmost transportation district of Georgia, but
that’s little consolation to motorists in, say, Richmond or
Columbia counties, no matter whether they are bound to or
from Fort Gordon, one of the region’s largest employers, or
some other workplace.
“Of course, we’re nowhere near like Atlanta where you’ve
got an hour or so commute. But our people start getting upset
when its 20- or 30-minutes,” said Chairman Ron Cross of
Columbia County. He hopes some of the transportation
projects to be funded from a regional local option sales tax
in the Central Savannah River Region (Region 7) will help
cure that problem and spur economic development through
better connections to the interstate highway system and to
the ports.
The tax is on the July 31 primary ballot. Estimates are that
it will raise nearly $841 million in the district to be used
solely for the projects chosen by a roundtable of elected
officials which Cross headed. The $631 million is 75 percent
of expected revenue. The remaining 25 percent will go to
local governments in the region to use for transportation
projects as they see fit.
The district includes 13 counties, with Richmond and
Columbia the most heavily urbanized and kaolin mining
and cotton growing among the major rural enterprises.
A key project to be funded with the local tax money would
widen Old Petersburg Road / Old Evans Road from two to
four lanes. Andy Crosson, executive director of the Central
Savannah River Area Regional Commission, said the road
is a key route between the government center in Columbia
County and downtown Augusta. The project would complete
the only portion which is not now four laned, providing
easier access to Augusta for motorists in Columbia, Lincoln
and parts of McDuffie counties.
Another big project would partially fund the first phase
of a widening project on SR 17 from two to four lanes in
Wilkes County, beginning just south of Washington, and
improving access to I-20 and I-85 for that part of the region.
“One of the things we lack on this side of the state is fourlane connectivity between the interstates. Our roundtable
thought it was important to try to speed up the process of
getting that connectivity,” Crosson explained. Improvements
to the top end of SR 17 in Elbert County are included in
another district’s list of projects.
It’s hard to overstate the economic importance regional
planners attach to the project since it potentially opens a
viable new route north for truck traffic from the ports.
“Right now when they come out of the port, it’s easy to
go to Atlanta or Charlotte. There’s nothing that allows you
to go due north,” he said.
Crosson said the alternate north-south route not only
would open the region
to further economic
development but would
help alleviate some of
Atlanta’s traffic problems
by getting trucks off the
road which were only
passing through. “I see
that corridor as important to economic growth
for everybody.”
FACT BOX
CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER REGION
www.connectgeorgia2012.com/central_savannah.php
The counties that make up Region 7, Central
Savannah River Area: Burke, Columbia, Glascock,
Hancock, Jefferson, Jenkins, Lincoln, McDuffie,
Richmond, Taliaferro, Warren, Washington, Wilkes
Total number of projects: 85
Total economic impact: $841 million
Regional projects (75%): $631 million
Local government discretionary fund (25%):
$210 million
Regional roundtable members: R. Wayne Crockett
(Burke), George Deloach (Burke), Ron Cross
(Columbia), Bobby Culpepper (Columbia), Scott Lamb
(Glascock), Samuel Duggan (Hancock), William Evans
(Hancock), William Rabun (Jefferson), Lester Hadden
(Jefferson), James Henry (Jenkins), Albert Rocker
(Jenkins), Wade Johnson (Lincoln), Henry Brown
(Lincoln), Charlie G. Newton (McDuffie), Kenneth
Usry (McDuffie), Joe Jackson (Richmond), Deke
Copenhaver (Richmond), Charles Ware (Taliaferro),
J. Herrman Milner (Taliaferro), John Graham (Warren),
Tony Mimbs (Warren), Horace M. Daniel (Washington),
James Andrews (Washington), Sam J. Moore (Wilkes),
W.E. Burns (Wilkes)
Connect Georgia I 13
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HARRIS TALBOT
TAYLOR
MUSCOGEE
MARION
MACON
SCHLEY
DOOLY
STEWART
SUMTER
WEBSTER
CRISP
CRISP
QUITMAN
CHATTAHOOCHEE
River Valley
RANDOLPH
CLAY
CLAY
S
outhwest Georgia’s River Valley transportation region
(Region 8), hugging the Chattahoochee River and the
Alabama state line, is a region of contrasts. It includes some
of the wealthiest counties and some of the poorest ones. It
has all the congestion of a major urban area because it
encompasses Columbus, the state’s third-largest city, the
associated suburbs and Fort Benning. But it also has vast
acres of open, empty rural land where your only company
for miles may be red-wing blackbirds.
Transportation-wise, something important is happening
here. In Crisp County on the easternmost side of the district,
a newly constructed inland port facility is providing direct
container rail service to and from the Georgia Ports, 180
miles away. From Cordele, outbound goods can be trucked
to points beyond. The facility already has landed one big
economic development. Regional planners think the inland
port will be the key to many more.
No wonder then that improvements
on roads leading to the port play a big
role in the transportation plan devised
by elected leaders of the region to be
funded by proceeds from a 1 percent
local option tax on the July 31 ballot.
The 16 counties of the district will
have an estimated $456 million to
spend on projects of importance to the
entire region. But that’s just part of the
spending story, since that’s only 75
percent of the expected revenue.
The remaining 25 percent will be
returned to local governments to spend
on transportation projects as they see fit. “For most of these
small counties, that’s the most money they’ve ever seen for
transportation purposes,” said Patti Cullen, executive
director of the River Valley Regional Commission.
The Inland Port projects include the construction of a
new bridge on the east-west U.S. 280 over Lake Blackshear
in Crisp County along with a widening of certain sections
of U.S. 280 in Crisp County.
Colin Martin, vice president for governmental affairs for
the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce, said local
businesses will likely receive more goods from the ports than
they ship but that, either way, it’s a big plus for industry recruitment. “Having great connectivity is economic development
at its finest,” he said.
The list also includes two widening projects on U.S. 27,
one in Harris County and one in Randolph. Cullen said the
14 I Connect Georgia
Harris County project will help relieve the morning and
evening rush hour commute into Columbus. The Randolph
County project is expected to facilitate the flow of freight
on this major corridor between Columbus and Florida.
A $10 million project in Muscogee County will complete
the River Walk, the linear park that follows the Chattahoochee
River and that the Chamber’s Martin calls “the crown jewel
of our community.”
In addition to current attractions, those who walk or jog
down the River Walk will be able in the future to watch
kayakers take on what is being billed as the largest urbanized
white water course in the nation. To create the course, three
dams on the river are being taken out.
FACT BOX
RIVER VALLEY REGION
www.connectgeorgia2012.com/river_valley.php
The counties that make up Region 8, River
Valley Region: Chattahoochee, Clay, Crisp, Dooly,
Harris, Macon, Marion, Muscogee, Quitman, Randolph,
Schley, Stewart, Sumter, Talbot, Taylor, Webster
Total number of projects: 24
Total economic impact: $594 million
Regional projects (75%): $456 million
Local government discretionary fund (25%):
$148 million
Regional roundtable members: Emmett Moore Jr.
(Chattahoochee), Jim Lawrence (Chattahoochee),
David Shivers (Clay), Samuel T. Johnson (Clay),
Wallace Mathis (Crisp), Zack H. Wade (Crisp), Terrell
Hudson (Dooly), Charles West (Dooly), Harry Lange
(Harris), Dennis McPherson (Harris), A. Richmond
Felton (Macon), Gerald Beckum (Macon), George
Neal (Marion), Ralph T. Brown (Marion), Teresa
Tomlinson (Muscogee), Berry “Skip” Henderson
(Muscogee), Richard Morris (Quitman), David
McMiller (Quitman), Jimmy Bradley (Randolph), Paul
Langford (Randolph), Greg Barineau (Schley), David
Theiss (Schley), Joe Lee Williams (Stewart), Adoph
McLendon (Stewart), Randy Howard (Sumter),
George Bagley (Sumter), Freeman Montgomery
(Talbot), James Carter (Talbot), Clinton Perry (Taylor),
Harold Heath (Taylor), George Moore (Webster),
Melvin Crimes (Webster)
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JOHNSON
EMANUEL
Heart of Georgia
LAURENS
BLECKLEY
TREUTLEN
CANDLER
MONTGOMERY
DODGE
WILCOX
WHEELER
EVANS
TOOMBS
TATTNALL
TELFAIR
JEFF APPLING
DAVIS
WAYNE
I
f you think of places like Atlanta or Macon or Augusta
or Columbus when you hear the term “big city,” then you
won’t find any big cities in the Heart of Georgia-Altamaha
transportation region (Region 9) in central southeast Georgia.
What you will find is a particularly fine agricultural region
where the world famous Vidalia onions are grown, where
timber is a major crop and where prisons are among the
biggest employers.
With 17 counties in the region, it is the largest land-wise
of any transportation district in the state but has one of the
smallest populations. There are 63 cities, with Dublin, Jesup
and Vidalia among the largest of those. Unemployment
remains high, as it does in most of the rest of Georgia, yet
not a single county in the district lost population between
the 2000 and the 2010 censuses.
You won’t find a lot of regional projects on the transportation
improvement list drawn up by elected community leaders
in preparation for the July 31 vote on a local option sales tax.
That’s not where leaders saw the greatest need for using the
$299 million the tax is expected to raise here. Rather, a
higher proportion of it will go to local needs than is the case
in most other districts, where 75 percent is earmarked for
specific, itemized regional needs and 25 percent is available
for local governments to spend as they think best.
Mayor Billy Trapnell of Metter, president of the Georgia
Municipal Association, said, “When we looked at what our
individual communities would get from the 25 percent, it was
just not going to generate enough to do any of us any good.”
So with the state’s OK — given the region’s unique
circumstances — the project list for the region places
heavier emphasis on meeting a huge backlog of local road
needs than for launching new projects.
In Trapnell’s own city, for example, there is money on the
list to create a new access route to the government complex
that houses the EMS, the detention center and the sheriff’s
office. The project will shave critical minutes off the time it
takes emergency responders to respond to calls.
Most of the local projects will enable governments to fill
the gap left by declining state transportation grants. “We’re
not out to goldplate anything,” Trapnell said, “but we sure
would like to put a lot of asphalt on our roads.”
That’s more than just for convenience, he said. “If you
bring people in and they’re looking for houses and you’ve
got patched roads everywhere, it does not give a real
progressive look to your community.”
Among the regional projects on the list is the construction
of a new Oconee River crossing in Laurens County to provide
an alternate river crossing between Dublin and East Dublin
in case of flooding or other problems.
Another calls for
widening U.S. 1 in
Toombs County from
two lanes to four to
help relieve congestion and improve
access to activity centers in Toombs and
Appling counties.
FACT BOX
HEART OF GEORGIA ALTAMAHA
www.connectgeorgia2012.com/heart_georgia.php
The counties that make up Region 9, Heart of
Georgia Altamaha: Appling, Bleckley, Candler,
Dodge, Emanuel, Evans, Jeff Davis, Johnson, Laurens,
Montgomery, Tattnall, Telfair, Toombs, Treutlen,
Wayne, Wheeler, Wilcox
Total number of projects: 13
Total economic impact: $399 million
Regional projects (75%): $299 million
Local government discretionary fund (25%):
$100 million
Regional roundtable members: Lewis Parker
(Appling), Steve Rigdon (Appling), Bob Brockman
(Bleckley), Cliff Avant (Bleckley), H.V. Lanier (Candler),
Billy Trapnell (Candler), Dan McCranie (Dodge), Jack
Burnham (Dodge), Keith Thompson (Emanuel),
Charles Schwabe (Emanuel), Del Beasley (Evans),
Luther Royal (Evans), Hugh Brantley (Jeff Davis), R.
Bayne Stone (Jeff Davis), James McAfee Jr. (Johnson),
Buddy Adams (Laurens), Phillip Boatright (Laurens),
Phil Best (Laurens), Franklin Brantley (Montgomery),
Joey Fountain (Montgomery), Frank Murphy (Tattnall),
Jean Bridges (Tattnall), Howard Hart (Telfair), June
Bradfield (Telfair), Buddy West (Toombs), Ronnie Dixon
(Toombs), Joe C. Webb (Treutlen), Reginald Evans
(Treutlen), John Shaver (Wayne), Herb Shaw (Wayne),
Keith McNeal (Wheeler), G.M. Joiner Jr. (Wheeler),
Tracy Tyndal (Wilcox), James Rhodes (Wilcox)
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TERRELL
TERRELL
LEE
LEE
DOUGHERTY
DOUGHERTY
WORTH
CALHOUN
WORTH
CALHOUN
EARLY
EARLY
BAKER
BAKER
MILLER
MILLER
COLQUITT
COLQUITT
MITCHELL
MITCHELL
SEMINOLE
SEMINOLE
DECATUR
DECATUR
T
THOMAS
THOMAS
GRADY
GRADY
Southwest Georgia
he Marine Corps Logistics Base at Albany, Ga., has
survived the five most recent base closure efforts. Community
leaders in southwest Georgia want to make sure that string
continues if there is a sixth, as some already fear.
That’s why access to and from the base plays a big role in
the transportation improvement plan developed by elected
leaders of the 14 counties that make up the 10th transportation region, the Southwest Georgia region. The projects
included in the plan will be green-lighted if voters approve a
local option 1 percent sales tax for transportation on July 31.
The base has an impact of $657 million on the region’s
economy and provides employment for 3,400 military and
civilian workers, according to 2009 data. It is one of only
two Marine Corps supply bases in the country.
So far it’s only talk, but there are those in Washington
and elsewhere who already anticipate a sixth round of Base
Realignment and Closure — or BRAC — studies.
“Everybody is anxious about that,” said Deborah Bowie,
senior director of public policy and communication for the
Albany Area Chamber of Commerce.
The sales tax will generate $398 million for use on regional
projects in the region, although that’s actually only 75 percent
of the amount it is expected to raise. The remaining 25
percent will go to local governments in the region to use in
meeting transportation needs as they see fit.
One big project in the regional plan calls for widening
State Route 133 from two lanes to four in Colquitt County
– a project valued at $53 million. Another would widen
State Route 133 from two lanes to four lanes in Dougherty
County. That’s worth $33 million. Both are related to the
Marine Corps base.
Highway 133 is adjacent to the base and is a main route
to Jacksonville through Valdosta at I-75 and then I-10.
Gerald Goosby, transportation planner for the Southwest
Georgia Regional Commission, said widening the road is
“very important to the sustainability of the region.”
But important, too, are some of the smaller regional projects
that focus on improving farm-to-market roads. Despite its
urban pockets, this is an agricultural region known for cotton,
peanuts, soybeans and poultry.
A major project in Bainbridge, where the state operates
docks on the Flint River, would widen County Road 38,
which has become a major throughway for agricultural and
commercial goods. Other projects are designed to improve
access to an industrial park.
Road widenings and the addition of curbs, gutters and
sidewalks are on tap in Thomasville for a congested route
16 I Connect Georgia
that passes by the private, four-year Thomas University.
In Lee County, a major bedroom community for Albany’s
workers, a mile-long Westover Boulevard Extension will
reduce traffic on the Nottingham/Liberty Expressway
interchange, which has an average daily traffic count of
more than 37,000 vehicles.
The transportation plan is an investment in the future, said
the Chamber’s Bowie. “Either we have good infrastructure
and we can build on that or we have poor infrastructure and
we can complain about it.”
FACT BOX
SOUTHWEST GEORGIA REGION
www.connectgeorgia2012.com/southwest_georgia.php
The counties that make up Region 10,
Southwest Georgia Region: Baker, Calhoun,
Colquitt, Decatur, Dougherty, Early, Grady, Lee,
Miller, Mitchell, Seminole, Terrell, Thomas, Worth
Total number of projects: 70
Total economic impact: $530 million
Regional projects (75%): $398 million
Local government discretionary fund (25%):
$132 million
Regional roundtable members: T.E. Moye (Baker),
Gary Coker (Baker), Mike Stuart (Calhoun), Reeves
Lane (Calhoun), John Alderman (Colquitt), Bill McIntosh
(Colquitt), David Moseley (Decatur), Edward Reynolds
(Decatur), Jeff Sinyard (Dougherty), Dr. Willie Adams
(Dougherty), Richard Ward, III (Early), Ric Hall (Early),
Charles Norton (Grady), Richard Vanlandingham
(Grady), Ed Duffy (Lee), Jim Quinn (Lee), Jimmy
Haywood (Miller), Jerry Chapman (Miller), Ben
Hayward (Mitchell), Mary Jo Haywood (Mitchell),
Tommy Rogers (Seminole), Joe Burke (Seminole),
Wilbur T. Gamble, Jr. (Terrell), Robert Albritten (Terrell),
Elaine Mays (Thomas), Camille Payne (Thomas), Matt
Medders (Worth), Bill Yearta (Worth)
BEN HILL
TURNER
TURNER
Southern Georgia
IRWIN
BACON
COFFEE
TIFT
TIFT
PIERCE
ATKINSON
BERRIEN
BERRIEN
WARE
COOK
COOK
BRANTLEY
LANIER
LANIER
LOWNDES
LOWNDES
BROOKS
BROOKS
CLINCH
CHARLTON
ECHOLS
ECHOLS
I
t’s an optical
illusion, but the miles
seem to be longer on
the flat stretches of
highway traversing
the Southern Georgia
transportation region (Region 11) than anywhere else in
Georgia.
The highways push through long stretches of pine tree
plantations and wiregrass from Turner and Ben Hill counties
in the north to the black water Okefenokee Swamp and
Suwanee River in the south, giving rise to the notion that
while a sound transportation network is important everywhere,
it’s especially important here.
This is timber-growing country but cotton and peanuts
also are major crops. It consists of 18 counties and 45 cities,
with Valdosta, Tifton, Douglas and Waycross the largest.
Moody Air Force Base near Valdosta is one of the largest
employers. Valdosta State University and South Georgia
Medical Center also have big payrolls.
Transportation needs are diverse here, from safety improvements on road and rail to enhanced connectivity in and out
of the district. A plan adopted by local elected leaders last
year addresses many of them by allocating funds from a 1
percent local option sales tax that will be on the July 31
ballot. The tax will generate an estimated $503 million for
regional projects, which is 75 percent of the total revenue.
The remaining 25 percent will go to local governments for
projects as they see fit.
One of the key projects will widen State Route 40 to
four lanes between Kingsland and Folkston. The route is an
economic development corridor, linking U.S. 1 with I-95. It
also is a hurricane evacuation route for residents of both
Georgia and Florida.
Another big project calls for widening U.S. 84 in Clinch
County from two lanes to four, eliminating the last two-lane
section of that highway in the county. It’s also an important
route into the district from the Georgia ports.
Corey Hull, metro planning organization coordinator for
the Southern Georgia Regional Commission, says he has been
told that trucking companies with westbound freight from
the ports will take a circuitous route just to avoid that twolane section.
The widening also will benefit shippers within the region,
said Myrna Ballard, president of the Valdosta-Lowndes County
Chamber of Commerce. “Having access to the port by way
of a four-lane highway is just very, very important,” she said.
U.S. 441 will be widened between Douglas and Broxton
under another project designed both to relieve congestion
and to promote economic development. “Douglas is one of
the up-and-coming commercial hubs in our district,” said
Mayor Travis Harper of Nashville, who chaired the group
which developed the plan. “We’ve been trying to widen that
road so we can get more commercial traffic through that.”
The south Tifton bypass is designed to reduce the high
percentage of truck traffic going through the city. Among the
major commercial enterprises in Tifton is a Target distribution
center.
Another project will see the construction of a four-lane
overpass in Ware County over the CSX lines. Waycross is home
to the railroad’s Rice Yards, its largest yard in the southeast.
FACT BOX
SOUTHERN GEORGIA REGION
www.connectgeorgia2012.com/southern_georgia.php
The counties that make up Region 11, Southern
Georgia Region: Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien,
Brantley, Brooks, Charlton, Clinch, Coffee, Cook, Echols,
Irwin, Lanier, Lowndes, Pierce, Tift, Turner, Ware
Total number of projects: 59
Total economic impact: $671 million
Regional projects (75%): $503 million
Local government discretionary fund (25%):
$168 million
Regional roundtable members: Tommy Guthrie
(Atkinson), Ellie Morris (Atkinson), Roger Boatright
(Bacon), Wayne Williams (Bacon), Phillip Jay (Ben
Hill), Gerald Thompson (Ben Hill), Steve Sumner
(Berrien), Stephen T. (Travis) Harper (Berrien), Ronald
Ham (Brantley), S.L. Jones (Brooks), Curtis L. Pickels
(Brooks), John Meyer (Charlton), Austin Hickox
(Charlton), Kenton McLaine (Clinch), Robbie Lee
(Clinch), Jackie L. Wilson (Coffee), Jeff Lane (Cook),
Richard C. Barr (Cook), Derek Herring (Echols),
Robert (Chip) Martin (Echols), Joey Whitley (Irwin),
Lamar Royal (Irwin), Alex Lee (Lanier), William
Darsey (Lanier), Ashley Paulk (Lowndes), Wayne
Bullard (Lowndes), Mitch Bowen (Pierce), Tom Davis
(Pierce), Grady Thompson (Tift), Jamie Cater (Tift),
Same McCard (Turner), Jim Hedges (Turner), Jimmy
Brown (Ware), Clarence Billups (Ware)
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SCREVEN
BULLOCH
EFFINGHAM
BRYAN
CHATHAM
LIBERTY
LONG
Coastal Region
MCINTOSH
GLYNN
CAMDEN
T
raffic has been a headache for years
in Georgia’s Coastal transportation region (Region 12),
where aging two-lane roads can’t meet the demands thrust
upon them by growth and where travel is complicated not
only by the twice-daily surge of commuters to and from
Savannah but also by increasing volumes of freight traffic
to and from the ports, military traffic into and out of Fort
Stewart and, of course, by tourists.
But many local leaders believe that help is on the way if
voters in the 10-county region approve a 1 percent local option
sales tax on the July 31 ballot. The tax would raise $1.2
billion to be used on transportation projects with regional –
and some with statewide – import, along with another $402
million to be distributed to local governments to use for
transportation needs as they see fit.
• Widening I-16 from I-95 to I-516. The project would add
an additional lane in each direction on this key route into
and out of Savannah. “You would not believe the traffic,”
said Bryan County Commission Chairman Jimmy Burnsed,
who chaired the group that devised the plan. “If you try
to get in between 7:15 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., you’d think you
were in Atlanta.” The widening is designed both for
commuters and for port traffic.
• Widening State Route 21 at the I-95 interchange. A large
number of people who work in Savannah live in nearby
Effingham County. This is one of their major routes.
• A new four-lane Hinesville bypass would route some
truck traffic around the city and improve access between
Fort Stewart and the Georgia ports when rapid mobilization
is required.
The money is going just where it should go, said former
state Sen. Eric Johnson of Savannah. “If we’re going to expend
tax dollars, we should expend them on infrastructure which
the private sector needs to grow. This is exactly what you
want tax dollars to be spent on.”
FACT BOX
The projects were chosen by a roundtable of elected officials
within the region. Some of the most important will augment
the work that’s already been done to improve the flow of
freight to and from the Savannah ports, a major economic
engine for the state.
Gov. Nathan Deal told business leaders last year that
improving the coastal road system is critical to the state’s
future. “It doesn’t do a whole lot of good to get larger vessels
into the ports if we can’t get the cargo distributed around
the state,” he said.
Some other key projects to be funded with proceeds from
the local option tax:
• Widening State Route 144 in a portion of Bryan County.
The highway is an access point for Fort Stewart as well as a
hurricane evacuation route. It is one of only two major roads
into this county, which has experienced a growth spurt.
• Widening State Route 67 from I-16 to the Statesboro bypass.
SR 67 is a primary route for traffic between Statesboro and
Savannah via I-16, which is a key hurricane evacuation route.
18 I Connect Georgia
COASTAL REGION
www.connectgeorgia2012.com/coastal.php
The counties that make up Region 12, Coastal
Region: Bryan, Bulloch, Camden, Chatham,
Effingham, Glynn, Liberty, Long, McIntosh, Screven
Total number of projects: 76
Total economic impact: $1.6 billion
Regional projects (75%): $1.2 billion
Local government discretionary fund (25%):
$402 million
Regional roundtable members: Jimmy Burnsed
(Bryan), Harold Fowler (Bryan), Garrett Nevil
(Bulloch), Joe Brannen (Bulloch), David Rainer
(Camden), Kenneth Smith (Camden), Pete Liakakis
(Chatham), Mike Lamb (Chatham), Dusty Zeigler
(Effingham), Tom Sublett (Glynn), Bryan Thompson
(Glynn), John McIver (Liberty), Sandra Martin
(Liberty), Bobby Walker (Long), Myrtice Warren
(Long), Kelly Spratt (McIntosh), John Cox (McIntosh),
Will Boyd (Screven), Margaret Evans (Screven)
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2013-2022 Economic Impact
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Web Address
http://www.connectgeorgia2012.com/
E-Mail
[email protected]
Address
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Atlanta, GA 30303
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Phone #
478-216-8424 | 706-389-4224
ConnectGeorgia contributing writers: Dick Pettys, Bucky Smith