Thursday March 28th, 2024 8:31AM

Acceptance and rejection accompany pair of GHMPO votes

GAINESVILLE – There is a bit of a paradox arising out of Tuesday’s Policy Committee meeting of the Gainesville-Hall Metropolitan Planning Organization (GHMPO).

The GHMPO is the intergovernmental transportation planning body for Hall County and a portion of western Jackson County.   The federally mandated group provides three independent steps for future transportation plans to become a reality: after analysis by GHMPO staff project requests must first pass the rigors of the GHMPO Technical Committee, and then the plan must pass the scrutiny of the GHMPO Citizens’ Review Committee.

If successful the plan then moves on to step three: the Policy Committee, where it faces a final decision - approval or rejection - and that is where a pair of resolutions received approval from the Committee but caveats from the individual committee members.

The two items are in essence:

  1. Moving up from year FY 2022 to FY 2019 a $200,000 transportation study (now unfunded) to determine the need and feasibility and possible routing of a northern Hall County bypass linking Sardis Road to SR 365, known as the North Hall Parkway.
  2. Asking the Georgia Department of Transportation to delete from interstate signage “Martin Road” for Exit 14 off I-985 (currently under construction).This request was made recently by the Martin Road Stakeholder Committee.

Moments before the vote was called for moving up the North Hall Parkway study to FY2019 Gainesville Mayor Danny Dunagan, a member of the Policy Committee, said categorically, “I just want to make it real clear right now that the City of Gainesville does not have any funds right now.  We’ve got our hands full with what we are trying to do inside the city…so we have no funds whatsoever (for that) local match.”

Fellow Policy Committee member Gina Roy, representing Jackson County, was quick to echo Dunagan’s position.  “From a Jackson County standpoint…we are doing our transportation plan right now and we have a hefty match on that, so I don’t think we could do any…cash match.”

Oakwood Mayor Lamar Scroggs, Chairman of the Policy Committee, said, “I think we’re pretty much in the same boat.”

Flowery Branch Mayor Mike Miller, also a Policy Committee member agreed.  “I’m representing the citizens of Flowery Branch and we’ve got so many other transportation issues…we don’t have the money to be putting in…we’re not giving any money for a north Hall connector.”

“I don’t have a problem with moving it up but it will be without a penny from Flowery Branch,” Miller added.

“I am not for moving this up to the short term (FY2019 list) at this point,” Dunagan repeated.

Anne Chenault of Gainesville said she had been a part of earlier hearings and participated on an ad-hoc committee investigating the possibility of moving the North Hall Parkway study up to FY2019.  She said she felt it was a worthwhile investment.  “We were told…it came out in the Technical Committee that probably $160,000 of the $200,000 cost could be found through transportation (TSPLOST) funding…leaving the municipalities maybe only $40,000.”

“Given the amount of money we spend on traffic study spending over and over again…it seems like a relatively small amount,” Chenault added.

After lengthy further discussion with GHMPO staff about possible funding that might pay for the study, the Policy Committee approved by a 5-1 vote moving the North Hall Parkway study up to FY2019. 

Mayor Dunagan was the lone dissenting vote.  “This is a county project,” he said after casting his “no” vote, adding he feels that the county should be the party responsible for funding the change.

The same postures were then taken by Policy Committee members for changing the exit signage on order for exit 14.    

Unanimous approval was given to proceed with changing the interstate signage to remove Martin Road and have HF Reed Industrial Parkway alone on the signs, but if there is any cost associated with the change, “we leave it as designed” said one Policy Committee member.

In all likelihood the two measures approved, but objected-to, will work themselves out, suggested GHMPO Director Srikanth Yamala, but it is evident transportation planning is a dynamic enterprise at times.

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