Macon transportation planners want residents’ feedback

The transportation planning agency for the Macon area is seeking the public’s help to shape long-range thinking.

The Macon Area Transportation Study staff is updating the 2040 Long Range Transportation Plan, and residents can comment on or propose transportation projects they’d like to see in their communities. There’s an open house at the Terminal Station on Cherry Street at 10 a.m. Friday.

The public’s input is essential in the overall progress of Macon transportation efforts, said Greg Brown, a senior planner and MATS spokesman.

“It helps significantly because one of our requirements to update the transportation plan is gather public input on the front end,” Brown said. “The general public can help us prioritize projects — where money should and shouldn’t go.”

Suggestions from residents help the agency make recommendations to the Georgia Department of Transportation to improve public roads, get projects funded and create new transit opportunities in Macon. The long-range plan helps guide how transportation dollars are spent for the next 20 to 25 years.

The plan, updated every four years, involves improvement on all kinds of initiatives — from the current Forest Hill Road widening to plans down the road to expand the Interstate 75/16 interchange.

Residents expressed concerns about the I-75/I-16 interchange at the last such feedback request, Brown said. Since then, progress has been made and the project is in its fifth phase, with roadway plans and construction slated for 2020.

Brown said input makes for real change.

“A lot of citizen input went into adding bike lanes to some of our roadways and also improving pedestrian infrastructure,” he said. “We need (the public’s) input prioritizing projects and formulating goals and objectives.”

After the suggestions, ideas will be sent through a collection of committees within the organization to sketch out details.

A second and third public information open house will be held July 12 and July 27 at the Willie C. Hill Government Center Annex Building in downtown Macon.

The Macon Area Transportation Study group was established in 1964, in response to the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1962. All urban areas with populations exceeding 50,000 people are required to maintain a transportation planning process. It is the Macon area’s metropolitan planning organization and comprises Macon-Bibb County, the southwest portion of Jones County and a small portion of southern Monroe County.

This story was originally published June 22, 2016 at 6:30 PM with the headline "Macon transportation planners want residents’ feedback."