Sunday, Aug. 31, 2008

Forest Hill proposal

The widening of Forest Hill Road is being sold as a benefit for all. I believe that a telltale sign of how little anyone cares about the people is the poor condition of the lines on the present road.

The condition of the centerline and side lines is poor and I believe overdue for repainting. I still believe that the call for widening Forest Hill Road is to make more access to the north side of town and less of an incentive to the rest of Macon's revitalization and development.

Bobby W. Chastain
Macon
http://www.macon.com/209/story/448690.html

Posted on Wed, Mar. 05, 2008

Use 'creative accounting'

Since the county is strapped for cash to complete the Houston Avenue project, why not employ some of that "creative accounting" the commissioners used before to finish it with some of the money earmarked for Forest Hill Road - rob Peter to pay Paul? Since "Peter" (Forest Hill) doesn't want or need the scale of what was proposed, "Paul" (Houston Avenue) could be completed, satisfying almost everyone.

That expert at the mediation the other day said 60 percent of Forest Hill's traffic congestion could be fixed by re-working the intersections. That should be a lot less expensive than the unwanted extensive widening of the road. The money saved could be better used on Houston Avenue.

That way, both of these projects, which we keep being told were part of the original SPLOST and, therefore, have to be done, can be done. Seems like a "win-win" remedy: Houston Avenue gets what it wants; Forest Hill gets what it wants; and the taxpayers get to have their money well-managed and not wasted.

James H. Webb
Macon

Give county walking papers

OK, it's time for a divorce. I have lived in Macon and paid county taxes for 35 years, and what does Bibb County do for me? The benefits have all flowed in one direction. We had to bail out the county on its fire protection, pay for its recreation department, its schools, its sheriffs department and even for a time let the county use our landfill.

What have we received in return? We received a self-serving county commission that gave itself health care and life-long pensions, and an expensive county government that works for developers and GDOT. It destroys neighborhoods with roads [FHR] no one wants or needs and treats city taxpayers like sheep to shear.

It is way past time for a divorce. The county does not want to join with us? Good. Lets separate completely and all our taxes can go right to services for city residents. Let the county pay its own way for a change. Let's hold a vote and become an independent city and stop Bibb County from using us as a free lunch.

N. A. Pietrzak Sr.
Macon

Posted on Mon, Mar. 03, 2008

Macon Telegraph -Staff Editorial -
Posted on Mon, Nov. 05, 2007 - page 8A

First do no harm to the long and winding road

Forest Hill Road project an explosive political issue

For years now, residents along Forest Hill Road and others have steadfastly opposed plans to reconfigure the road in a manner they contend will destroy their neighborhood. Plans are to widen the road into three-and four-lane sections. The project has been altered three times from the original proposal, but if the Georgia Department of Transportation has its way, what neighbors fear will almost certainly come to pass.

An effort to convince the Bibb County Commission to halt the project appears doomed. At present, only one of the five commissioners - Joe Allen, a recent convert in this controversy - is opposed to the project. Other commissioners are falling into lockstep with Commission Chairman Charlie Bishop, who argues that if the commission blocks the project where the county has already spent $1 million more than the funds appropriated for redesign, it will lose $200 million in road-building funds. He posits the residents wanted road improvements and they should stand by what voters said they wanted done.

While there are holes in this line of thinking one could drive a truck through, it seems that reason would suggest the original imperative for a massive widening project is fading. Originally, the need cited to revamp Forest Hill Road was to facilitate traffic flow to the Macon, now Colonial, Mall, currently facing hard times with key tenants moving to greener pastures. Those traffic priorities are almost certainly obsolete, considering there is a huge new mall being constructed at Wesleyan and Riverside drives. And the Georgia Department of Transportation traffic counts for Forest Hill Road, which projected mendacious at best future traffic-flow patterns for the road, should be downsized.

Be that as it may, it doesn't appear at all likely that county commission members will do what the area's residents want - require that the state road project make improvements without wrecking the long-established residential community. The commission has no plans to intervene in the project, and acquisitions for needed right-of-way are proceeding. After all, commission members argue, the Forest Hill project is one approved by voters who supported a 1994 Bibb County special purpose local option sales tax.

If the opposition was without merit, and the 13-year-old project wasn't arguably obsolete, the commissioners position would be correct, despite the ill will it's certain to generate. But considering the number of Bibb voters this project impacts, the resulting issue could equal, or possibly dwarf, the convention center hotel controversy that changed the makeup of Macon's City Council. That's something commissioners might want to consider.

Macon Telegraph Editorial Board

Posted on Wed, Oct. 03, 2007

Residents get course in bad government

After attending Bibb County Commission Chairman Charlie Bishop's "information" meeting about Forest Hill Road, I can only shake my head in disbelief. What a mess.

I attended the forum with City Council and mayoral candidates last Monday, and I was struck with how civil, intelligent and thoughtful they were. I heard plans to revitalize our city that included attention to quality of life, fiscal responsibility, respect and hope. I was especially struck by mayoral candidate Robert Reichert's hearkening back to the times when Macon did great things and built great public spaces. All of them talked about creating a city that our children would be glad to stay in or move back to.

Tuesday night was a different story. There was no clear purpose for the meeting, and nothing was accomplished.

I couldn't quite figure out why we were invited to be there. It was apparently an attempt by Chairman Bishop to distance himself from responsibility for decisions regarding Forest Hill Road prior to the next county commissioner's race. This is what I heard: Even though he is for the road, other people were for the road before he was, and that he is still for the road but he wants you to think that he will act like he is against the road so that you will vote for him, so he is against the road, but he is really for the road, and in the end it is all City Council's fault.

I have no idea why Bishop refuses to hold a public meeting in a room big enough to hold the public (he claims he invited more than 100 people and issued an open invitation) and to reveal the so-far secret plans for Forest Hill Road. No one has seen the plans for many years. Last week, residents went to Moreland-Altobeli's office to look at the plans and was told they were not public information. He returned the next day with an open records request and was given a copy for which he paid $30. At the meeting last night, Van Ethridge from Moreland-Altobeli told us that this was not the current plan.

A lot of confusion, suspicion and distrust would evaporate if affected residents were afforded the luxury of actually seeing the plan. Bishop said that Moreland-Altobeli would meet with individual homeowners to describe how their property would be affected but refused a request to hold a public meeting to reveal the plans to all interested parties. "The plan" was not available at the latest stakeholder's meeting or Tuesday night. If they are so proud of what they are doing for us, why won't they show us? How can informed discussion proceed in a vacuum?

Bishop's attitude seems to be, "I'm going to shove this road down your throats because I want to spend the $28 million, and I'm not going to show you the plans."

We are getting the lab course in bad government. Now that the citizens have made their views clear to city officials, the laser light of public scrutiny is now focused on county officials. Macon's problems were not created by city government alone. Good leadership can negotiate with GDOT to support a revised project that safely accommodates reasonable traffic projections and protects the quality of the neighborhood. Cities and counties around the country accomplish such win-win solutions every day. It doesn't appear that Bishop has the skills or the inclination to make this happen.

Message to the county: Do what the vast majority of the public has asked you to do for years. Drop the irresponsible plan. Put in the turn lanes, fix the intersections, respect the neighborhood and get on with it.

Susan Hanberry Martin, an activist with the organization "Caution Macon," is a resident of Macon.

It is apparent that some commissioners in Bibb County have decided on a path of road building and will not be swayed by any voices in the community or any new developments such as changes in future traffic flow.

It seems we are expected to fall in line with anything that the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) says, regardless of what is best for our neighborhoods and our city. It is crucial that the city of Macon not lose any more established neighborhoods. We cannot afford to lose the tax revenue which will result as people flee these affected areas.

Look at Pleasant Hill as a result of I-75 splitting their neighborhood and the Bloomfield area after the road widening there. Property values have declined and people have left these areas in droves. Burton Avenue, once a tree-lined street with quaint little houses, is now a raceway with mostly rental properties that are declining in value.

This type of massive road project will destroy the very fabric of long-established neighborhoods. We should be doing everything possible to nurture and protect the precious few wonderful neighborhoods around this town instead of steamrolling through projects that seem to benefit only contractors and companies that do business with the GDOT!

Why not pursue a more subtle road improvement similar to Tucker Road. I think almost everyone agrees that some changes are needed, such as resurfacing, a roundabout or turn lanes at key intersections but not a three-and four-lane highway with a concrete divider.

Commission Chairman Charlie Bishop says that if we don't complete this project, all our GDOT money will somehow be taken away like the spoiled child that takes his or her ball and runs home when things don't go their way. I don't buy that. The county attorney has said that the commissioners can stop this project. We deserve a better Forest Hill Road project.

Ron Lemon
 Macon

Posted on Fri, Oct. 05, 2007 

http://www.macon.com/209/story/152939.html

Doing what he should do

Hurrah for Joe Allen! He is doing exactly what an elected official should do: Listen to the people. Your article about the widening of Forest Hill Road has a tone that suggests Allen is being wishy-washy. Being flexible and intelligent enough to change your mind is a good thing, not a bad thing.

Changing your mind because you are listening to the people is a very good thing. Kowtowing to the bureaucrats at DOT and ignoring the citizens most affected by a project, like the other commissioners, is a bad thing. Wasting more money on a boondoggle just because you have already wasted a lot of money on it is a bad thing.

Setting yourself up as "The Decider" and referring to the effort by the people of Macon to stop an unneeded, wasteful and destructive project as a "whim of the crowd" that should be ignored, like Chairman Charlie Bishop, is an insult that should be remembered by every voter in Bibb County.

Jim Sandefur
Lizella

Posted on Thu, Oct. 04, 2007

Value our neighborhoods

I have followed the Forest Hill Road controversy with great interest ever since the SPLOST, which is still used to justify it. Remember, it barely passed a number of years ago. Since that time, many citizens have concluded that this destructive "highway" widening, along with the nationally unpopular, ridiculously expensive Eisenhower Parkway Extension, are glaring examples of old time spend-because-we-can politics. Such projects line the pockets of a few at the expense of large numbers of overburdened local, state and federal taxpayers, divert funding from much-needed improvements, and these in particular will also degrade Macon's quality of life.

Since moving to Macon almost 45 years ago, I've frequently traveled Forest Hill Road. Repaving and turn lanes or roundabouts would be acceptable improvements. However, the problem is not the road; it is drivers who refuse to obey posted speed limits, drive under the influence of alcohol/drugs, or both. By driving lawfully, motorists could relax, enjoy the scenic aspects of the neighborhood, as many of us do, and save many precious tax dollars.

In the long-term, it is far easier to plan thoughtfully, cooperatively, respectfully and with foresight, than it is to correct a mistake once it's made. There are four-lane speedways and strip malls in abundance; but, stable, gracious, tree-lined neighborhoods like Forest Hill are becoming more rare each day. Such assets should be valued and preserved to the greatest extent possible.

Sylvia B. Flowers
Macon

Posted on Sun, Oct. 07, 2007

Make decisions from within

Hear, hear! to Sylvia Flowers for her letter regarding Forest Hill Road.

I wish to point out that there are many other roads in the state that service thousands more cars per day than Forest Hill Road, yet they remain only two lanes.

In Atlanta, for example, West Paces Ferry Road, Lake Forrest Road by Chastain Park, most of Northside Drive, and Peachtree Battle Road are all two lanes. All of these roads are lined by residential neighborhoods, and these roads handle real traffic.

One of Macon's attributes is its tree-lined streets and attractive neighborhoods. Wouldn't it be nice if decisions about the growth and development of our communities came from within, as opposed to being decided in Atlanta, then imposed upon us? Just imagine Forest Hill Road with a wide swath of pavement and many cars rushing past. We have only to look at Zebulon Road for a glimpse of the future.

Come on, citizens of Macon, this is your town that your leadership wants to cover with asphalt.

James Upshaw
Macon