GAINESVILLE – Hall County wants to build a bridge spanning railroads tracks to provide egress for the now-closed Tumbling Creek Circle crossing, shuttered last year by the Georgia Department of Transportation at the request of Norfolk Southern Railroad.
Safety concerns expressed by the rail carrier were given as reason for the closure, but Hall County Commissioners felt shutting down the crossing was overkill especially in light of the fact that the connector road was used nearly 400 times per day, including frequent use by county school buses.
Commissioners asked staff to investigate possible sources of funding to repair, replace or realign the crossing.
At Monday’s Commission work session County Program and Grants Manager Jessica Robinson told Commissioners that funds were available from the Georgia Transportation Infrastructure Band (GTIB) for the $3.4-million project.
“We are asking for the Commission to approve a match (matching funds) of potentially $300,000,” Robinson explained.
“We are working to work with other potential partners including the City of Gainesville, the railroad, the City of Oakwood and Gainesville City Schools to help with that $300,000 match,” Robinson added.
Commissioner Scott Gibbs agreed with seeking partners for the match. “It’s definitely an issue with the City of Gainesville going to be placing an elementary school (nearby) and then it’s an issue for our fire department trying to access that road.”
The closed roadway once provided connectivity between Old Oakwood Road and Atlanta Highway, and could be of great benefit to the fast-growing Mundy Mill development and its main thoroughfare, Millside Parkway.
Public Works Director Ken Rearden explained that the bridge would not cross the railroad tracks at its current location but would be built where Tumbling Creek Road becomes Tumbling Creek Circle, directly fronting the intersection of Old Oakwood Road at Millside Parkway.
“It would tie in to that Mundy Mill subdivision road that’s on the other side of the railroad track,” Rearden tried to describe. “Directly, straight dead across from it.”
Rearden explained that that location offered the ideal topography for minimizing excavation work. He said the elevations on both sides of the proposed crossing were sufficient to allow the required 19’ of clearance for the overpass but with the minimum requirement to move or bring in fill dirt.
And there’s another benefit to the bridge Rearden added, “When we looked at this a year ago…we asked them (the engineering team) to put a multi-use path on one side of the bridge where we could take the Central Hall Trail and tie it into…the North Georgia College trail system.”
How long before the vision becomes a reality if the funds are approved?
Quite a while, Rearden said. “I think it would take at least two years to get a permit to construct this bridge.” And that’s before construction begins.
LET’S CLEAN THOSE SEWERS
Hall County plans to enter into a contract with a Stone Mountain company to provide for the cleaning of county sanitary and storm sewers, spending an estimated $90,000 in the process.
Commissioner Jeff Stowe asked an obvious question. “What have we done in the past for this?”
Rearden answered, “We have not done anything in the past, is the problem. I have been here eight years now and we have not cleaned one linear foot of sanitary sewer.”
Rearden told surprised Commissioners, “I have been here eight years; the sewer system is ten years old or better; it is time to start doing something or we are going to be in trouble.”
Commissioner Gibbs asked that notices be sent with bills reminding customers that putting grease into the system is prohibited.
Rearden said the inspections would begin with the oldest county sewer line, located in the Reunion Subdivision, and that would tell his department what the worst-case scenario is.
“If we don’t see any issues in there I’m not going to have them come do (the whole system). That’s where I’ll start.”
