Opposition forming to Northern Connector

GAINESVILLE - Renewed talk of a connector road across North Hall is leading to organized opposition to the planned four-lane.

Debbie Lawson Davis is president of the Lake Lanier Community Preservation Organization and says although the road - if ever built - would not be completed for several decades, now is the time to act because of the long-range effect just the planning process is having on property owners.

"Those people who live under those points on the map - this really puts them in limbo," Davis said. "I personally know of two instances."

Transportation planners have proposed several alternatives or the corridor between Thompson Bridge Road and Georgia 365.

Davis says a plan is needed that will not impact so many neighborhoods "that have been...there that will just be completely wiped out."

Davis acknowledges, however, that an easier way is needed to get from east to west across North Hall, "We do, we are not opposed to the thought of a northern connector." Davis says it's just that the alternatives planners have come up with are unacceptable because of the number of homes and people who would be impacted by the proposed routes.

Also of great concern, according to Davis, is the impact the road would have on Lake Lanier, noting that one of the proposed routes would require the construction of four bridges. Her group is worried about the environmental impact that work would have on Lanier and also the enormous cost that would be involved in building four bridges. Hence, the name of the group's Web site, stopthebridges.com. That site was unavailable Friday afternoon, but Davis says they hope to launch it very soon.

The Lake Lanier Community Preservation Organization also hopes to schedule a community-wide meeting in the near future, as well, to discuss plans for the road.

Also springing up in opposition to the plans is a Web site titled Scenery Not Cement.

Both groups had their birth following an August 11 meeting of the Gainesville-Hall County Metropolitan Planning Organization at which new information about the possible Northern Connector was presented.

Officials emphasized at the time that the project is still in the planning stages, but it would become the only other east-west corridor through the Gainesville area, after Jesse Jewell Parkway.

Jeff Carroll, transportation planner with Wilbur Smith Associates, worked on the project and said a study shows the four-lane highway could definitely alleviate traffic.

"It's hard to do anything in downtown Gainesville with the limited right-of-way needed with the maximum lanes already there," said Carroll. "So you have to look at other options."

Carroll said at the time a transportation plan could start early next year.

"This Northern Connector provides an opportunity for travel east-to-west from State Route 365 over to the Thompson Bridge Road area. And so it would be able to provide that connectivity, which could alleviate some of the pressures on some of the downtown roads in Gainesville - Jesse Jewell and E.E. Butler specifically."

Carroll said his new projections show traffic doubling on Jesse Jewell over the next two decades.

There are two different possible routes. One would run farther north, and would impact more wetlands and vacant pieces of land. The other would be shorter, but would impact more residential parcels of land.

Carroll said the early projections for the project start at $140 million, with several million dollars being used to build four different bridges over Lake Lanier and other waterways.

Srikanth Yamala is the Gainesville-Hall Metropolitan Planning Organization's
Transportation Planning Manager. Yamala said the connector is listed in a long range transportation plan.

"The current technical study is to assess potential impacts and benefits, if any, from a corridor of this nature," Yamala said. "Two potential alternatives were used to conduct technical analysis and by no means these alternatives do refer or relate to any design, engineering or right-of-way phases. The alternatives were solely used as reference points for the analysis."

Yamala also said at the August meeting that findings from this technical study will be incorporated into the 2040 metropolitan transportation plan that will be developed by the GHMPO in the next 18 to 20 months.