| Hwy. 9 widening open to public's input on project
By Jennifer Sami Staff Writer Only 46 residents Thursday night attended the Georgia Department of Transportation's open house to garner opinions on early plans for a widening of almost 3 miles of Hwy. 9 in central Forsyth County. The low turnout left a lot of down time for the roughly 30 GDOT project representatives on hand to answer questions. "Usually when we don't hear from a lot of folks, it means they support the project," said Teri Pope, GDOT spokeswoman. "But we still wanted to hear from people who want the road widened, who don't want the road widened -- we want to know what everybody thinks, and that's why we're here. So it is still disappointing to not get as big a turnout as we'd hoped for." Three 12-foot by 3-foot maps of the proposed widening of the part of Hwy. 9 between Hwy. 141 and Hwy. 20 were on display in the Midway Elementary School cafeteria. While there was no formal presentation, GDOT personnel and consultants from project design firm Kimley Horn & Associates were available to answer questions regarding the proposal. Public comment, said Pope, is a key component in the design process, adding the proposal maps are just a rough draft which will definitely be changed throughout the process. "What we're trying to do is solicit community input here so we can develop that into the process on the front end. What we'll be doing next is taking that input, meshing it with federal environmental laws we have to meet -- 53 different ones -- and sound engineering standards, and then we'll come back in about 18 months with our best buildable route to show the public." While attendees were able to view a preliminary plan for the road widening, it will be a long time before anything is actually implemented. The right of way purchase is scheduled for Fiscal Year 2009, said Pope. With 121 parcels of land along the 2.82-mile construction section and seven possible commercial displacements, it might take the full three years before the slated 2012 construction start date. The plan includes one new signal at Piney Grove Road, sidewalks and a 24-foot-wide grass median. Curves will also be flattened to increase site distance, said Pope. Though plans are in the works to widen all of Hwy. 9 from the Fulton County line up through Dawson County to Lumpkin County, the section from Hwy. 141 to Hwy. 20 is furthest along in the planning. The section from Hwy. 371 to McFarland Road hasn't even been designed yet, said Pope. Though the open house is over, the GDOT is still seeking input online. To post questions or comments, visit www.dot.state.ga.us and click on public outreach from the list of featured links. Comments will be part of the project record. Maps and project details are also available on the Web site. "We hope that folks will go to the Web site and include us and let us know what they think about the project," said Pope. |