Group plans challenge over I-75 project along Riverside Drive in Macon

By Gene Rector - grector@macon.com

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More than 40 determined citizens braved Sunday afternoon rain to learn more about — and express dismay over — Georgia Department of Transportation plans to widen Interstate 75 from Pierce Avenue to Arkwright Road.

Of particular concern were related changes to Riverside Drive, a heavily traveled thoroughfare running parallel to the western boundary of the interstate.

Planning for the massive overhaul proposed for Interstate 75 along Riverside Drive began in March 2000, when the first of several public meetings was held to discuss concepts and designs for the project, according by the Georgia Department of Transportation.
The meetings were part of the “public outreach” process required for the project to qualify for federal funding, DOT officials said. Here’s a breakdown of the meetings, according to a timeline provided by the DOT.
March 7, 2000
The DOT hosts the first of two “public information meetings” to discuss concepts for the project. Numerous ideas were proposed. Fifty-two people attended, with 27 making official comments either verbally through a court reporter on hand or in writing. Of those, 24 favored the idea of the project, which involves six-laning the interstate and relocating the Pierce Avenue southbound on- and off-ramps. Three comments were made in opposition. One wanted noise barriers included. Another was concerned about the possible environmental impact on the Ocmulgee River. The third wanted an interchange at Northside Drive.
April 6, 2000
A project development team selected after the initial public meeting holds the first of three workshops. Among its members are local and state officials, residents, business owners and a consultant. The group begins narrowing the list of concepts for the project. It meets again that year on May 23 and July 20.
June 6, 2000
The second public information meeting draws 77 people – and 61 comments on the project, which is still in the concept stage. Included in the comments are four opposed to the project and 40 that are “decisively in favor.” Also, a petition requesting noise barriers gathers 14 signatures.
Dec. 8, 2005
More than five years after the last meeting, the DOT holds a “public information open house” (now called a “public hearing open house”) at which the draft document of the project’s final concept is unveiled before it is sent to federal officials. The meeting draws 54 people and 21 comments. Fourteen support the plan. Three oppose it. The Macon Area Transportation Study’s Citizens Advisory Committee objects to the design because it differs from the one it approved. After the meeting, the DOT develops an engineering plan in conjunction with right-of-way purchases. The project is expected to be let – or put out for bids – sometime this summer.
— Staff writer Rodney Manley

Most of the dismay focused on DOT’s plans to create a new southbound exit and entrance ramp across from Riverside Plaza (Riverstreet Corners shopping center) and the building of a raised, concrete barrier at Lee Road about 200 feet north of the access area.

Lee Johnson, who works on Lee Road, has been most active in raising public interest in the changes. He said his major concern is safety.

“The barrier will prevent direct access to Lee Road for emergency vehicles coming from Macon and it will also block left turns from Lee Road onto Riverside Drive,” he said. “It also means people coming home from work in Macon won’t be able to turn left onto Lee Road.”

The barrier will jeopardize drivers seeking I-75 southbound access from Lee Road, Johnson added, requiring the immediate crossing of two southbound lanes and blending with traffic approaching the interstate access ramp.

The DOT initiative, scheduled to begin this summer, caught local officials and residents by surprise. Macon City Councilman Rick Hutto, who attended the two-hour session, said even Larry Walker, a Perry resident and vice chairman of the DOT board, was not aware of the project until it surfaced in a March 1 story in The Telegraph.

“Larry Walker is a good friend of mine and he was livid when he saw that front-page article,” Hutto told the crowd. “It just suddenly appeared. It had not been on any DOT schedule.”

Vic Jones, a key organizer along with Johnson, said the group was trying to draw consensus from five major neighborhoods in the area.

“There will be multiple impacts and the consensus will tell us what we need to negotiate with DOT,” he said. The Crestline Drive resident said he did not believe the August start date was set in stone.

“It may be negotiated based on impact concessions,” he said. “We’re not going to try to block the project or get in the way of it. We just want some impact concessions for our area.”

Jones said the group plans to appoint what he called a five-person “front line” team to take their concerns to DOT.

Two alternatives surfaced at the Sunday session. One was to move the exit and entrance ramp to the Lee Road point on Riverside Drive along with the necessary traffic signaling. Another was for DOT to purchase property now occupied by Village Market Conoco service station at the corner of Lee and Riverside. The state has already purchased the Wendy’s restaurant property just south of Lee Road to make room for the access ramp.

“Buying the Conoco station along with the Wendy’s property would allow Lee Road residents to turn right then blend with traffic going directly across Riverside Drive onto the I-75 access ramp,” Johnson said. There was no indication that owners of the Village Market property have been approached with the proposal.

Lindsay Holliday, who developed a schematic depicting the proposed Lee Road access ramp change, said he was unaware of DOT’s plans until the March news article.

“I’ve served on the Macon Area Transportation Group and I’ve been involved with ‘Caution Macon’ for years and it hadn’t been mentioned,” he said.

Holliday said his years of working transportation issues gave him little insight into how the Georgia DOT operates.

“Even the insider groups aren’t inside,” said Holliday, who has been active in opposing the Forest Hill Road widening project in Macon. “There are just too many subterranean pathways.”

The dentist and Mercer University graduate said he believed that winning concessions from DOT was possible.

“But people have to wake up,” he stressed. “This idea of not worrying about it because it’s not in your neighborhood won’t work anymore because it’s now in their neighborhood. This is a democracy and people have to participate.”

Hutto also expressed optimism, but cautioned Sunday’s crowd to be prepared for what they likely will face in dealing with the state agency.

“Get accustomed to being very frustrated,” he advised with a smile.

The action group plans a second meeting March 29 at 3:30 p.m. tentatively at Riverside United Methodist Church on Pierce Avenue.

Lee Johnson can be reached at (478) 747-4121. The group also has a Web site at saveleeroad.com.

To contact writer Gene Rector, call 923-3109, extension 239.