GAINESVILLE -- The Hall County Commission is getting set to approve a pair of items that will pave the way for work on the residential Martin Road as it braces for the upcoming Interstate 985 interchange.
The commission gave consent to take the South Hall road off of the county's "Gateway Corridor Boundary", a move which will now be given two public hearings before it's given a final vote from the board, as well as a traffic study for the road which will be be voted on at the board's Thursday meeting.
The items were given consent at the commission's Monday work session, and come after over a year of meetings with residents of the road, who had expressed concern about the impact the new 985 exit would have on the residential area.
Hall County Public Works Director Ken Rearden said the traffic study, which if approved will be conducted by Wilburn Engineering, is a formality that has to be done before the county can install stop signs or other possible improvements to the road that county officials and community members had previously agreed on.
Those improvements, called alternate number seven by the county, would see stop signs placed at Martin Road's intersections with the Martin's Crossing West and Quailwood subdivisions, as well as a possible roundabout at the intersection of J.M. Turk Road. Commission Vice Chairman Scott Gibbs said the project is one of the most important in the county.
"To me, if there's an intersection in the county that has got to have something done it is J.M. Turk and Martin," Gibbs said. "We have a huge community center...just the sheer volume of traffic that we as a county thread down J.M. Turk Road, and I think it would serve as a calming force for that almost-hairpin turn (at Martin Road)."
Rearden said the study will help officials determine the best way to improve the intersection.
"We think maybe a traffic circle is a good candidate there. We want to wait until we get all the data," Rearden said.
Rearden said if the study is approved it would not begin for about a month as crews allow traffic to settle into it's school year pattern. Then, he said, county officials would likely get the results sometime in November, allowing the commission to finally vote on road improvements.
Meanwhile, county planning director Srikanth Yamala said removing the road from the gateway plans would give the county more direct control over it. He said Martin Road was added to the gateway in 2007 and earlier plans had called to widen the road to four lanes.
All of the items were given unanimous consent.
