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Macon, Ga Trees Marked
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Forest Hill Road - return to Homepage
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Macon, Ga Trees Marked
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| Posted on Thu, Oct.
19, 2006 page 1A http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/15792857.htm Some trees on Forest Hill Road living on borrowed time Residents worry cutting for widening will go too far By Travis Fain TELEGRAPH STAFF WRITER For the past several weeks, survey crews have been marking trees along Forest Hill Road, scheduled for a major widening in the next couple of years.  Residents have expressed concerns that the widening project will change the character of the road and that too many trees will be lost. "The trees are marked almost up to my front door," said Alice Boyd, who lives in the 500 block of Forest Hill Road. "(They marked) everything within a 77-foot radius of the median." More than 2,000 trees have been marked, but that doesn't mean they all will be cut down, said Tim Lake, whose company is handling the landscaping along the project. "We know that some of those are going to have to come out," Lake said Wednesday. "Don't have any idea how many yet."  People are being urged not to remove the flags marking the trees, because "that's how we know which (tree) is which," he said. It could be December before planners know which trees will come down to make way for the planned three- and four-lane sections of the road, new sidewalks and new power lines planned between Vineville Avenue and Northside Drive, Lake said. In the meantime, Lake said he and other planners are cataloging the trees and taking inventory of what's in the project's right-of-way. Boyd and others along the road continue to feel the new Forest Hill Road will be overbuilt - particularly considering that Vineville Avenue, which connects to Forest Hill Road, allows only one lane of traffic to turn off the road for much of the day. "Where is the traffic going?" Boyd asked. But planners have said repeatedly that expected traffic increases along Forest Hill Road necessitate the widening. Several attempts to force a redesign have failed, and the project is moving forward. Land is being appraised now and rights-of-way purchases needed for the project will be negotiated soon, said Van Etheridge. Etheridge manages Bibb County's sales-tax financed roads improvement program for Moreland Altobelli, a private engineering firm paid to run the county's program. Construction is slated to begin sometime next year, according to the project schedule. Etheridge, who came out of retirement to manage the roads program after engineer Joe Wood left Moreland Altobelli, promised that road crews will "only clear what we need" along Forest Hill Road. "Any tree that can be left will be left," Etheridge said. "Plus, we're going to plant a lot back out there. All kinds." Many along the road are happy with the trees they have now. "Please ... let us keep our trees," Boyd said. Troy Edwards, who lives in the 600 block of the road, said he's more concerned about the overall project than he is with the trees. Like others, he said he fears the widening will worsen the road's problem with speeders. "The whole thing, I think, is just a disaster for this area," he said. To contact Travis Fain, call 744-4213. |
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