GAINESVILLE – Traffic congestion along the burgeoning Dawsonville Highway corridor is positioning itself to be the next “hot-button” issue in Gainesville city politics.
Growth versus gridlock; convenience versus congestion; revenue versus road rage: these topics will be dissertated in the coming months if Tuesday evening’s Gainesville City Council meeting is a harbinger of what zoning battles lie ahead.
The meeting started with a disclaimer, of sorts: Mayor Danny Dunagan looked out at the audience and prefaced the agenda by saying, “Before we get stared tonight I think there is maybe a mix-up on some dates…the Ahaluna hearing and annexation request will be next Tuesday night with the Planning and Appeals Board.”
Reports have been received in the Access-WDUN newsroom that printed flyers were being distributed in area shopping centers over the weekend, placed beneath the windshield wipers of parked vehicles, asking concerned residents to attend the city council meeting and share their concerns on the traffic snarls associated with Dawsonville Highway’s semi-frenetic development.
That effort apparently bore some fruit as more people than usual were in attendance.
“There’s not anything on the agenda tonight about Ahaluna or the annexations or the traffic,” Dunagan added.
Ahaluna (Drive) intersects Dawsonville Highway in the heart of the commercial sprawl that spawned migraine-moments over the recent Christmas shopping season.
“Each one of our (City Council) phones blew up around Christmas time with everybody sitting and waiting,” Dunagan said about the December traffic dilemma.
“We (the city) are in contact as we speak with GDOT (Georgia Department of Transportation) on some improvements for that road,” Dungan said emphatically.
“We know there’s a problem and it really got worse during the Christmas season. So we hope by Christmas of next year and this fall that we are going to have some improvements for that road.”
“We are aware of it; we are working on it.”
In spite of the mayoral effort to defer discussion of the Dawsonville Highway traffic challenge until the Planning and Appeals Board meeting on Tuesday, March 14, three individuals asked to speak on the matter during the time for public comment.
Comments from Pat Horgan, Mandy Harris and Gene Korzenewski – all residents living in neighborhoods affected by Dawsonville Highway traffic – underscored the growing and serious concern for future rezoning requests that might worsen the diurnal congestion rather than mitigate it.
It also gave possible early notice that some people are ready for growth to decelerate on the short term.
