Drivers, road builders, hikers, bikers, train operators, airport representatives, officials from the cities, county and DOT all showed up Tuesday at the first “stakeholders” meeting of an extensive Pickens County Transportation study.  The group of more than 30 people was enlisted by the county to give a team of consultants their opinion on what’s wrong, right and going to happen in the next 30 years on the roads in this county — as well some roads that ought to be built in this county.  Frank Hill, the supervisor of the local MATS (Mountain Area Transportation System) said, “There ought to be a better way to get around Pickens County without so many bottlenecks.”  Bill Bapst, a Bent Tree resident, said there should be a way for the city, county and DOT to coordinate their efforts to get better traffic flow and plan for the impending growth.  Joe Kelley, president of the local Homebuilders Association, said he was there to see if this county could avoid the disasters which happened on the roads of Fulton County.  And Sam Wheeler, a Pickens native and employee of the DOT, said not only did they need to consider traffic flow, but they needed to “maintain the rural setting and avoid urban sprawl here.”  Greenhorne and O’Mara, the consultants funded by the DOT, laid out a lengthy planning period with ample time for public comments including additional stakeholder meetings and and two public open houses / comment sessions on August 10 and then again on October 5.  The goal of the study according to information presented at the meeting is to identify the deficiencies in the county’s transportation system and then propose solutions in a manageable plan.  On Tuesday the consultants challenged the group to provide some insight into what area motorists, bikers, hikers and road builders think about the safety, useability and traffic flow on the area roads.  It was generally agreed that there were places where traffic could be instantly helped with roads improvements, but the problem is the lack of funding.  Lou Chastain, the District Engineer with the DOT, said another long term problem “are priorities that shift with changes in sole commissioners, mayors and councils.”  When asked to identify the biggest problems on local roads the section of Highway 53 from Jasper and continuing west past the site of the Home Depot/Kroger Development was generally voted public enemy number one.  Don Wells, a Monument Road resident, said “The mobility on Highway 53 all the way from Pickens High School through Jasper [and to the four-lane] is just hard to get through.”  Eric Wilmarth, who serves on the Nelson City Council and works for the City of Ball Ground, said, “515 in general will be a problem with more traffic lights and congestion. It was meant to be a high speed corridor.”  Of specific concern was the intersection at Highway 515 and Highway 53, which will soon see large shopping centers on two of the corners. Kelley pointed out that there isn’t adequate distance on Highway 53 between the intersection at 515 and the one leading into the new Home Depot. “Gridlock there is guaranteed,” he said.  Chastain said the DOT is well aware of that problem, but “the area you see there is the area you got. There’s not room to do much there.”  Other problems cited were:  • construction equipment negotiating the steep turns on Cove Road.  • the need to preserve traffic flow into downtown Jasper to maintain a viable shopping area there;  • the need for traffic signals at some of the intersections on Highway 515;  • the fairly heavy use of local roads by logging, quarrying and agriculture (poultry) trucks, especially many of the roads not suitable for heavy trucks.  In an interesting exchange, several members of the group said bike lanes are needed, but the owner of the local bike shop said bikers really didn’t want special lanes, and more and worse wrecks between cars and bikes occur in the designated lanes.  Joe Lambert, owner of the Bike Connection, said most bikers know to avoid the heavily travelled roads, like Highway 53, but would appreciate some “Share the Road”

signs on the scenic byways through the county.  Several members of the group said they think more needs to be done to insure the safety of bikers as well as local motorists using Burnt Mountain Road, which is a designated “Scenic Byway.”  Don Wells, Monument Falls resident, said the problem on Burnt Mountain Road is on weekends there are a lot of bikers riding it as well as many motorcyclists who are going as fast as possible through the curves, plus the regular traffic. “Saturday and Sunday are a real mess,” he said.  Barbara Decker, the Executive Director of the Mountain Conservation Trust, said there should be more done to encourage “alternative transportation” in the area including more sidewalks for pedestrians. She advocated efforts to promote walking and biking in town through dedicated off-road greenway trails.  Looking ahead at some recommendations or goals, consultant David Low said the basic options are expanding existing roads where possible, but also looking at building new roads. He said experience has shown that having an effective “grid” pattern of roads is the best way to keep cars flowing.  “Grids provide the best way to keep traffic flowing,” he said. “An area like Jasper, it is better to work with a grid than a circumference road (bypass).”  He said without advocating any particular route, the people of Pickens County should consider an additional North-South connector, particularly to serve the western end of the county, which lacks a good system to move North and South.  It was also discussed whether Henderson Mountain Road could ever be improved enough to serve as a traffic artery to move East and West across the county. The general consensus was the terrain and condition there would not allow it.  Jasper Mayor John Weaver said he really hadn’t come to discuss specifics, but he knew the commissioner had some plans already in the works and he asked Newton to present them.  Commissioner Bill Newton said he has engineers working on a plan to make Industrial Boulevard either three or four lanes to connect Highway 515 to Camp Road and then into Jasper via Spring Street.  “This route is not used much currently, but it could alleviate some traffic off Highway 53,” he said.  The commissioner said he also has a rough drawing of a future road which would leave Cove Road at some point and cut through the the Long Swamp Creek corridor to tie into the back of the High School, then continue on to Highway 515. Newton said there are no immediate plans to build this route, but it would offer many advantages including: relieve traffic on both Highway 53 and Cove Road, add a second access to the High School, help school buses connect to all the schools in the county in a more direct path and reduce dependence on the steep curves on Cove Road.  Weaver said the city had earlier that week released a plan to five-lane Hwy. 53 from the intersection with Hwy. 515 into Jasper.  He said all information says that odd numbered lanes, three or five are much safer than four lanes.  “The city’s position supports the commissioner’s plan except, the council and the merchants are adamant about a five lane to bring traffic into Jasper,” he said.  “Start at McDonald’s and imagine a five lane road into town with a light in front of the Post Office,” he said.  Weaver said his new road would split at Jasper Middle School to have alternating two-lane one-way roads on either side of the cemetery. With traffic moving west on the existing Highway 53 from Main Street to Jasper Middle School, eastbound traffic would deter around the cemetery onto Spring Street to approach Main Street.  Weaver said that would create a “major intersection” where it met the commissioner’s proposed multi-lane road running into town from Industrial Blvd.  Weaver said this project “seems like a figment of imagination getting it to be a state project.” He said in 1992, adding new lanes to Highway 53 was slated to begin in 1994; in 1996 is was scheduled for 2001; in 1998 it was moved up to 2000, but has obviously never gotten past the drawing board stage.