In amongst the boilerplate and the red herrings (“potentially reducing the incidence of crashes”, “mitigating congestion”) is the real purpose of this project:
There’s a more long-term reason, too, which is hinted at with this further unnecessary work: Continue readingAlso as a part of the project, protected left turn lanes will be added at various intersections along Cat Creek Road. The proposed intersections include Pine Grove Road, Radar Site Road, New Bethel Road, and Hambrick Road.
Lowndes County wants
$10 million dollars in T-SPLOST funds to widen New Bethel Road from 2 to 5 lanes,
even though Bemiss Road (GA-125) is right next to it and also connects to GA 122.
That $10 million might save Lanier County residents about one minute getting to Lowndes County to spend their money, while promoting more sprawl of developments into Lanier County.
It would cost a lot less to put a four-way stop or a light
at Walker’s Crossing where GA-122 and GA-125 meet.
The details of this $10 million boondoggle are appended below, extracted from this 171 page PDF.
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Jeffrey H. Dorfman,
Professor, Dept. of Agricultural & Applied Economics,
The University of Georgia:
Local governments must ensure balanced growth, as sprawling residential growth is a certain ticket to fiscal ruin*See The Economics of Growth, Sprawl and Land Use Decisions.
* Or at least big tax increases.
Note and jobs, not just people: jobs so the people can work and afford the houses they live in.
- Green spaces increase property values of surrounding land
- Green and open spaces can provide environmental amenities for free
- If green spaces contribute to quality of life, you attract people and jobs to community
But this doesn’t mean exurban subdivisions with big yards: Continue reading