This is what Gretchen meant when she
told the Lowndes County Commission
trucks too big use Hambrick Road as a short cut,
when GA 122 is 0.4 miles farther up Cat Creek Road.
You can see who owns this particular truck, but it’s far from the only one.
And in case you had any doubt where this is, Continue reading
Thanks to County Engineer Mike Fletcher for doing almost
what Gretchen asked
at the Lowndes County Commission Regular Session 26 April 2016.
They rattled through
the agenda
with almost no questions, unanimously approving everything, including
the $89,005 in emergency no-bid repairs.
You’d have little idea why they were doing anything if you weren’t at the
previous morning’s Work Session or you didn’t view the
LAKE videos of the Work Session,
in which we discovered for example
it’s not
Beatty Creek Bridge, rather Bevel Creek Bridge.
Nonetheless, the County Engineer still said the creek name wrong.
Here are links to each of the LAKE videos of the Regular Session of April 26th 2016, with a few notes, followed by a video playlist.
See also the
LAKE videos of the Work Session of April 25th 2016,
and the agenda.
They meet again this morning at 8:30 AM. Continue reading
The
FY 2017 Juvenile Justice Incentive Grant was a popular topic yesterday morning, and
some Commissioners showed a little bit of scepticism about that
$89,005 in
emergency no-bid
repairs
on
the agenda for yesterday morning and for voting 5:30PM this evening.
Also
$634,800 for a bridge we can’t tell where, and
some unknown fraction of
$1,663,888.78 to resurface a road that shouldn’t be used as a highway in the first place.
Who’s in charge of budget planning for the county?
At the end, there was
more from the County Manager about private road Carter Way:
they discovered another property owner (“at least one”) after they
agreed to spend $67,822 to fix a private road.
Here are links to each of the LAKE videos, with a few notes, followed by a video playlist. Continue reading
$89,005 in emergency no-bid repairs on the agenda for Monday morning and voting Tuesday evening.
Also $634,800 for a bridge we can’t tell where, and some unknown fraction of $1,663,888.78 to resurface a road that shouldn’t be used as a highway in the first place.
Who’s in charge of budget planning for the county?
Why is replacing the fiber optic data cable that connects the South Lowndes Data Center and the E911 Center an
emergency repair for $61,020,
when apparently the problem has been going on for years?
Meanwhile, it’s good that it’s not an emergency that the 911 Center
Core Network Equipment
needs replacing for $38,621.
Planning ahead is good.
Is one of these items in the budget and the other not?
Another emergency not marked as such in the agenda is Continue reading
Gretchen Quarterman said she was concerned not just about traffic on Val Del Road, but
Once they leave Val Del, how will they get to the base safely?
Also what happened at Nelson Hill,
just up Val Del Road, even though she was neither for nor against REZ-2013-09,
at
the 13 August 2013 Lowndes County Commission Regular Session.
She specifically expressed concerns about GA 122, Hambrick Road
and Radar Site Road, among others,
as she had done
at the Planning Commission.
The previous morning at the Work Session,
Commissioner John Page had asked about
McMillan Road and GA 122
and had gotten an answer from County Engineer Mike Fletcher
which only addressed Val Del Road.
Gretchen Quarterman also expressed concern about another development
out in the county going bad like Nelson Hill did,
with many of its 13 conditions not being met.
Here’s
the video:
This tanker truck just barrelled down Hambrick Road faster than the speed limit and turned onto Cat Creek Road, even though Georgia 122 is less than a mile to the north, connecting to GA 125 (Bemiss Road) three miles to the east. Does this safety hazard to residents on a local road seem right to you? Yet this is the kind of thing Lowndes County T-SPLOST projects would promote.
Tanker truck turning from Hambrick Road onto Cat Creek Road, 20 June 2012
Pictures by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).
Remember, the county wants to make this problem worse by widening Cat Creek Road and adding turn lanes at Pine Grove Road, Radar Site Road, New Bethel Road, and, you guessed it, Hambrick Road. The county wants to turn Cat Creek Road into a highway and Hambrick Road into a feeder highway. That project got cut from the non-discretionary T-SPLOST project list, but T-SPLOST also includes 15% discretionary funding, which will probably go to some of the projects that got cut if T-SPLOST gets funded.
And it’s not just Cat Creek Road. Also on the original T-SPLOST list was $3 million to widen Val Del Road and $10 million to widen New Bethel Road to the Lanier County line. And of course still on the approved list is 
$8 million to widen Old US 41 North from North Valdosta Road to Union Road. Even though $7.5 million for a bus system was cut first pass.
Which do you want, a new 1 cent sales tax on everything including food going to projects that promote sprawl and risk public safety? Or, if we really need new transporation projects, a gasoline tax going to projects that actually would benefit the public, including businesses, such as a bus system?
-jsq
DSL in Lowndes County for fast Internet access? County Commission Chairman Ashley Paulk passed the buck on citizen Timothy Nesmith’s question about that, at the 24 April 2012 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.
Chairman Paulk violated the Commission’s own
Policies and Procedures for Citizens Wishing to be Heard by saying Timothy Nessmith didn’t get a chance to fill out the appropriate form, but he was welcome to speak anyway. Now I think that’s a silly rule, and if the Chairman is going to waive it for one person, they might as well revoke it for all citizens so nobody has to sign up.
Nessmith wanted the Commission 
to pressure BellSouth to provide DSL on Hambrick Road.
Chairman Paulk chose to answer that by saying it was a Public Service Commission issue, and adding that due to housing density on that road “they [presumably the telephone company] can’t make it work economically.”
Like my neighbor Chairman Paulk, I know Nessmith’s neighborhood (Nessmith lives around the corner from me, although I had no idea he was going to speak, and have never discussed his issue with him). Later I will post some things the Commission could do.
-jsq
Three million dollars buried on page 90 of the
171 page T-SPLOST Unconstrained Investment List
for the Southern Georgia Region
to funnel traffic along Cat Creek Road to Moody Air Force Base, promoting sprawl in far north Lowndes County,
in an area the Comprehensive Plan says should be for agriculture
and forestry.
In amongst the boilerplate and the red herrings (“potentially reducing
the incidence of crashes”, “mitigating congestion”) is the real purpose
of this project:
Also as a part of the project, protected left turn lanes will be added at
various intersections along Cat Creek Road. The proposed intersections
include Pine Grove Road, Radar Site Road, New Bethel Road, and Hambrick
Road.
There’s a more long-term reason, too, which is hinted at with this
further unnecessary work:
Lowndes County wants
$10 million dollars in T-SPLOST funds to widen New Bethel Road from 2 to 5 lanes,
even though Bemiss Road (GA-125) is right next to it and also connects to GA 122.
That $10 million might save Lanier County residents about one minute
getting to Lowndes County to spend their money,
while promoting
more sprawl of developments into Lanier County.
It would cost a lot less to put a four-way stop or a light
at Walker’s Crossing where GA-122 and GA-125 meet.
The details of this $10 million boondoggle are appended below,
extracted from this 171 page PDF.
-jsq
The Metropolitian Planning Organization (MPO)
invited people to a Public Open House last week
about prioritization of the 2035 Transportation Plan, so we went to the
RDC offices on W. Savannah Ave. and had a look.
You can see many of
the same materials online.
The MPO has a comment form you can fill out and mail to them.
There is also contact information on their web pages.
They are actively soliciting input.
One thing I noticed was that along Cat Creek Road they are proposing several
intersection upgrades (at Hambrick Road, New Bethel Road, and Radar Site Road)
which look like they would funnel still more traffic through Hambrick Road
to Moody AFB.
Hambrick Road and Cat Creek Road are not highways.
State highways 122 and 129 (Bemiss Road) make a nice fast route from
Hahira to Moody.
A few improvements at Walker’s Crossing (where 122 and 129 intersect)
would seem much more appropriate.
The MPO could request for the state to do that.
Widening of Old US41N is on the list again as a county project,
this time as far as Union Road.
Several new roads are proposed throughout the city and county
as well as widening of many roads with additional travel or turn lanes.
You can look over the list of projects and you’ll probably find ones
to comment on.
