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Mayor Reichert instructs (Letter to) GDOT to re-start the FHR Project on 7-6-2009.  

Bibb Chairman Hart and Mayor Reichert
- are still pushing to Do The Road - - - letter to Congressman Marshall.  - July 14, 2010




   
 Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009


Forest Hill Road widening back on, to the surprise of many

http://www.macon.com/local/story/951519.html
By TRAVIS FAIN - tfain@macon.com

The widening of Forest Hill Road, thought to be a casualty of local controversy and the state’s budget crunch, is moving forward again with the support of Macon Mayor Robert Reichert and Bibb County Commission Chairman Sam Hart.

Local project coordinators are again buying land to widen the road into three- and four-lane sections. No firm date is set for construction, but the plan is to be ready for the project to move up on the Georgia Department of Transportation’s funding list, said Van Etheridge, an engineer for Moreland Altobelli Associates Inc., the firm overseeing the project.


At the moment, no funding for construction is planned until 2014, according to local DOT project manager Clinton Ford.

News that the project is moving forward again after the DOT suspended it last year surprised several local politicians. Said Bibb County Engineer Ken Sheets: “I thought it was dead for good.”

But Reichert and Hart traded letters this summer with Gerald Ross, the DOT’s chief engineer. Though Reichert noted in his letter that “some citizens are still not satisfied with the design,” both he and Hart expressed support for the project as is.

“Rather than lose the project, I am in favor of completing it (as it’s currently designed),” Reichert wrote. “Please accept this letter as my personal support for this project.”

Wrote Hart: “Your expediency in reviving the project will be appreciated.”

With that support in hand, the DOT told Sheets and Etheridge to start buying rights-of-way again, roughly in October, Sheets said.


The revival had seemed unlikely, because the project was suspended last fall as the DOT grappled with a massive funding shortfall. Also, the decision to suspend work closely followed a failed mediation attempt among road designers, area residents and activists unhappy with the design.

Three Macon City Council members represent this area, and two of them ­ Nancy White and Erick Erickson ­ were surprised last week when The Telegraph told them the project was moving again. A third, Councilwoman Lauren Benedict, said she’d heard “rumblings” about it.

Said Erickson: “I hadn’t heard anything about it and don’t know anyone locally who is agitating for it.”

State Rep. Allen Peake, a House Republican who represents the area, was also surprised. Peake said he’d rather see turn lanes added along the existing road, instead of the more expansive changes planned. Bibb County Commissioner Elmo Richardson said he knew the project was moving again, but he didn’t request it.

Activists have repeatedly argued that the project’s four- and three-lane sections are too large, will destroy too many trees, will cause too much stormwater runoff and will encourage speeding. They also question traffic counts put forward by road designers. A 2006 Telegraph analysis of traffic and runoff predictions found wide variations in the numbers used to justify the project.

Still, proponents say Macon needs the wider corridor on the north side of town. They point to the road’s cracking pavement, twisting curves and the poorly aligned intersection at Forest Hill and Old Lundy roads, arguing that Macon needs to support the plan as is, lest the DOT pull funding for any improvements at all.

To contact writer Travis Fain, call 744-4213

http://www.macon.com/local/story/951519.html


  
  


Reader's Online Comments


Comments:

otherwiser wrote on 12/13/2009 00:51:29 AM:

Good plan Mr Peake: "Peake said he’d rather see turn lanes added along the existing road,"

Reichert & Hart are pushing to waste $26 million in State Taxpayer dollars during the most serious budget crisis since the great depression?

One can look at the Zebulon Rd history to see how that widening has helped $250,000.00 houses go on the market for $65k and bring all sorts of crime to the area.

2 miles of Riverside Drive was widened and resurfaced WITH A NEW BRIDGE" for $13 million and they are wanting us to sign off on $26 million for 2 miles for Forest Hill Road???

Elmo needs to have "his" Bass Rd widened before he gets back into destroying the tree lined Neighborhood of the FHR area.



otherwiser wrote on 12/13/2009 00:59:19 AM:

And if you don't read the AJC and review GDOT's actions with an auditor-steward's eye, you're part of the GDOT, culture of corruption & graft problem:

www.ajc.com/news/feds-freeze-gdot-s-108396.html

"News of the federal review comes just a week after the state auditor and the state inspector general issued scathing reports on the DOT’s financial practices. Those reports said the former DOT treasurer abused his authority in making the agency’s accounts look better off than they were."


Google AJC and GDOT and if you aren't in the good ole boy network, you will be in fiscal-conservative-shock at how they operate...



hulahanawinkle wrote on 12/13/2009 06:26:26 AM:

They know Macon is a poor, uneducated, passive town and, therefore, they can do anything they want to do.



dhisrael wrote on 12/13/2009 07:23:32 AM:

Isn't it funny; we are bankrupt in Macon and in the State: we can't pay our state employees, we can't pay our teachers, everyone is laying-off employees and cutting back jobs...but we are going to make Forest Hill Road look like the rest of Macon; abandoned, dilapidated and depressed. We need new leadership. "Smiley Jack" Reichert just isn’t cutting it anymore. Sam Hart turned on us in North Macon. Richardson can't hear. Bums! All of them! Bums. Throw them out!



dhisrael wrote on 12/13/2009 07:27:26 AM:

"A 2006 Telegraph analysis of traffic and runoff predictions found wide variations in the numbers used to justify the project." Have you the courage to tell us who is lying?



intown wrote on 12/13/2009 07:32:23 AM:

Well, votes will be scarce in that area.



fourthestate wrote on 12/13/2009 07:39:24 AM:

Every person in Bibb County should be extremely interested in this matter. In 1991, city and county leaders (ALL democrat) asked citizens to pass a SPLOST (sales tax) for transportation improvements. The 'keystone' project was a parkway which would connect the northwest side of the city to the southwest side. Since that time, the 'southern' portion of the parkway has been completed, from Pio Nono Ave. to Mercer University Drive. The 'northern' portion, though, has gone NOWHERE. All property owners along the improved roadway and, possibly, all citizens of Bibb County may have standing for a class action lawsuit for this breech of promise. Citizens should remember this when the same 'leaders' come to them for another SPLOST. But will they? Maybe 'hula' is right.



Doc wrote on 12/13/2009 07:43:33 AM:

Citizens will hold a public meeting TBA in January to reveal details of widening designs proposed by Mr Rick Chellman - the international expert hired by Forest Hill Mediators. The Mayor and Chairman will be invited to view this much-improved plan with the citizens and taxpayers. We will explain how to win GDOT support for this better plan - that will benefit Macon, Bibb and Middle Georgia.



dhisrael wrote on 12/13/2009 08:19:22 AM:

Back when this project got footing we were trying to "Save the Macon Mall" by getting the North Macon folks out to the mall. Macon Mall is a now a "goner!" Traffic patterns have changed. Now we don't need a corridor down Forest Hill Road as Northside Drive is now not a merchandising area due to the shift to River Crossing. Macon leaders have a pattern of develop and abandon for greener pastures. They leave blight and poverty in their wake. Look at Northside Drive with it's empty retail areas, "low rent" apartments, overgrown right-of-ways, sidewalks covered in weeds. Look at Houston Road where the neighbors pulled back from the road, built fences and left the eyesore that the state DOT created. Remember it took eight years to finish the project and the state flooded the area with their inadequate planning and redesign. As I remember, Mr. Richardson's engineers had a hand in messing up the drainage and runoff. Did the state retrieve any money from his insurance or did the tax



macont wrote on 12/13/2009 08:48:30 AM:

The mayor needs to resign! He just does not work for the residents of the city or understand fiscal responsibility.



DJDC wrote on 12/13/2009 12:00:50 PM:

Thats a pretty neat plan. Let the road deteriorate to the point of there being a tire damaging pothole every 10 feet and then throw this one back on us. This is one of the last decent neiborhoods in Macon. Inner city Macon dosent need access to River crossing.



Doc wrote on 12/13/2009 12:16:37 PM:

Bendrr is misrepresenting the "no roads" crowd - this is a "staw-man" argument. He's wrong about Roundabouts. Bendrr is obviously ignorant about the several "experts" involved here. Hope he does better research before typing here again.


The traffic projections used to plan/engineer this project have PROVEN to be Greatly Overstated:
www.macon-bibb.com/FHR/traffic.htm

Citizens have asked repeatedly for a repaving, plus the addition of turn lanes at Wimbish and at Ridge Ave. This is doable if the Mayor and Bibb Chair want it to happen. It was discussed at MATS Policy meeting last April:
www.macon-bibb.com/MATS/Policy20090401.htm



bigjames wrote on 12/13/2009 01:45:50 PM:

Willing to bet the most mouthy rude folks posting here don't live in the area nor drive on Forest Hills Road. Well, I do live there. The vast majority of folks who also live around it see this project for the boondoggle that it is. I really don't understand why folks still use it to go anywhere but the neighborhoods it runs through, but DOT has a vision, a nasty vision IMHO. The insanity of it is that they keep referring to Old Lundy intersection and fail to see that could fix the major complaint. Make it one way down the hill, Forest Hill one way up the hill, linked by Wimbish...leaving the trees and neighborhood intact, leaving the section between Wimbish and Vineville for DOT destruction. A turn lane from Old Lundy to Northside is more than enough. We don't need a 4 lane road running through our neighborhood and don't want it! I do know a mayor and county commission chairman who will not get my vote next time...before pushing something, ask the folk who live around it first.



DougMac wrote on 12/13/2009 01:49:50 PM:

This isn't about need. It's about pork and the incestuous relationship between GDOT and Moreland Altobelli. Reichert and Hart should be ashamed of themselves. They've sold out and sided with the corrupt.

The original plans were based on data that was flat wrong. It's woefully out of date and does not reflect the new reality of a major shopping center to the north and continued deterioration of the Macon Mall. Also, the population of the Forest Hill area has stagnated or actually declined. BTW, Forest Hill Road was never a major thouroughfare and shouldn't turn into the horror of Zebulon Road or Northside Drive.

Those who have called for a more reasonable approach have been vilified and demonized by GDOT and Moreland Altobelli, who have become stubbornly entrenched and determined to ram this stupid project down the throats of the residents of the area just because they had the audacity to question the project's wisdom.


Doc wrote on 12/13/2009 02:35:18 PM:

Mayor Reichert might tell us why (and how much) Macon is paying those ###$ dump trucks up and down Forest Hill Rd to Durr's Lake Park site for over six months. These trucks have put FHR in much worse condition. Who is getting paid to fill Durr's Lake Park up like a Landfill Dump? Is this a foreshadowing of Macon/Bibb's next "Recreation" SPLOST ?


weeniebug wrote on 12/13/2009 02:38:26 PM:

Not that my opinion counts for anything, but I agree with bigjames - 3 lanes is enough, and would do little to damage the area. What IS damaging the area (and I DO live in it) is the condition of the road itself - I swear that they filmed the pothole commercial on that stretch of road. As far as it being one of the last decent neighborhoods in Macon, one only has to look at the amount of for sale signs and rental properties to know that this neighborhood isn't what it once was...


MaconWard1 wrote on 12/13/2009 03:00:07 PM:

Forget Forest Hill Road, move the funds to widen Bass Road. What a nightmare ALL the time with traffic. Build roads were the growth is not where stores are closing. Why build a road from a 1950's plan for Macon? Why not look towards the future. How will Bass handle the traffic from a new Target?


carpepm wrote on 12/13/2009 03:25:07 PM:

Just say NO to the newly proposed SPLOST which is supported by both Reichert and Hart. The Macon-Bibb County Road Improvement Program (RIP) has been the most mismanaged and wasteful expenditure of millions of taxpayer dollars in the history of this county. If the county, with the help of Reichert, can't oversee our taxpayer dollars any better than they have with the RIP, the proposed SPLOST won't get my vote and shouldn't get yours. The Executive Committee of the RIP has not even met in 5 years! Talk about mismanagement! Traffic counts don't justify widening Forest Hill Road. Actual traffic counts....not what you want them to be- to justify widening the road. Fixing the intersections will fix whatever perceived congestion any of you might think we have on this road. When is the last time you drove in Atlanta? I am not going to entrust any more of my hard earned tax dollars to these fools than I have to. Just VOTE NO to the proposed SPLOST.


carpepm wrote on 12/13/2009 03:28:37 PM:

Sorry, I ran out of space on my last comment. Look at a map folks, if you want to get to the "new" mall, go Wesleyan Drive, which is a straight shot directly to the mall, or widen Bass Road which drops off at the rear of the mall. Forest Hill Road doesn't even go there, at least the parts Hart and Reichert want widened. Destroy a neighborhood for this...Give me a break. Incompetence....total arrogance, egoism, and ineptness by our top two elected officials.


Doc wrote on 12/13/2009 03:35:48 PM:

Problems with the Forest Hill Rd project start with the original SPLOST (1994). The campaign for the SPLOST was directed and financed by Moreland Altobelli, Inc. (MAI), the firm who was promised the contract to manage the projects funded by the SPLOST. Public officials, including the county engineer, were actively involved in the campaign, resulting in a complaint from a local attorney observing that government employees were banned from such participation. No public hearings detailing the actual projects and scope thereof included in the SPLOST were conducted (a GDOT official who recently learning of the lack of public hearings expressed surprise, as this is not the norm). The SPLOST was sold to the public as “Pennies for Potholes,” a now laughable statement that disguised the true intent and scope of the program. . . see more:
www.macon-bibb.com/FHR/Mediation_20080228.htm


Doc wrote on 12/13/2009 03:43:23 PM:

Bibb County Commissioners continue to re-hire Moreland-Altobelli on a year-to-year basis to "Mis-Manage" the 1994 SPLOST with NO Oversight for the past 4-5 years. Bibb Commissioners need to Clean-Up this mess. Taxpayers need a full audit of where our Roads SPLOST money has gone.


gamule wrote on 12/13/2009 05:24:02 PM:

Actually the FH road is not a bad project. Five nice lanes will be nice for drag racing on Sunday morning while the sheriff is in church. Zebulon Road is same ol', same ol'. Not a bump in the whole thing from Forsyth Road to I-475. Now with FH being upgraded....with all the curves....it will indeed be exciting. Bring on the dozers and let's get it done.


TwoLateNow wrote on 12/13/2009 05:26:15 PM:

As one poster stated, it will turn in to a horror like Zebulon and Northside. Zebulon and Northside are racetracks and our Bibb Sheriffs Department looks the other way unless they are on one of the connecting side roads stopping cars for driving 40 in a 35 zone that is not clearly marked, while 3/4 miles away on Zebulon, speeders are driving 60 & 70 in a 45 & school zone. Forrest Hill get ready for the speeders and don't expect any help from our law enforcement to control speeding.


TwoLateNow wrote on 12/13/2009 05:28:38 PM:

Doc you have my support and I thank you for standing up for all of us living in the Forest Hill area.


Elvin wrote on 12/13/2009 07:09:03 PM:

I have to agree with maconward1 .. the logical choice would be Bass ....of course the bridge at 75 should have already been under construction. As usual, we react, rather than be proactive. Rivoli/Bass backs up to where the old fire station was ... that's ridiculous and obviously the growth in both the Zebulon and Bass areas would warrant the need.


DJDC wrote on 12/13/2009 07:42:21 PM:

Has anyone considerd the bamboo forest that stands just south of old lundy? This is sacred bamboo.


PulpStuff wrote on 12/13/2009 10:11:18 PM:

The next time you drive on Wimbish Road and Forest Hill Road, think about what is missing and very much needed on these roadways, as well as 100s of miles on other streets in Macon. SIDEWALKS. It is hard to believe that in the 21st century, Macon is so far behind other cities in providing sidewalks, curbs and gutters on its streets. Macon can beautify so many roads and streets by simply putting in sidewalks and landscape with appropriate trees. DUH!


otherwiser wrote on 12/14/2009 01:27:56 AM:

Rep Peake has the winning idea:

"State Rep. Allen Peake, a House Republican who represents the area, was also surprised. Peake said he’d rather see turn lanes added along the existing road"

FHR could be resurfaced with turn lanes for less than $2 million and the project could be most likely completed in less than a month. The other $24 million could be used to resurface other streets in Macon & Bibb County.


otherwiser wrote on 12/14/2009 01:41:45 AM:

Oh, and Mayor Reichert needs to recuse himself from all votes and actions regarding FHR as the Bibb property records reflect him jointly owning nearby land with a Development company. One of the principals in the Development company was recently arrested in a high profile embezzlement case.

Up until about a week ago, you could see the jointly owned plot on the Bibb County mapping system but the County Commissioners have let the computer hardware and software degenerate so much that you can't even view a simple property map in Bibb County anymore.

http://www.co.bibb.ga.us/gisonlinenew/Detail1.asp?txtSearchType=1&txtInput1=reichert&RealKey=37780


DJDC wrote on 12/14/2009 08:54:36 AM:

dhisrael says it better than I can so here it is again.... Back when this project got footing we were trying to "Save the Macon Mall" by getting the North Macon folks out to the mall. Macon Mall is a now a "goner!" Traffic patterns have changed. Now we don't need a corridor down Forest Hill Road as Northside Drive is now not a merchandising area due to the shift to River Crossing. Macon leaders have a pattern of develop and abandon for greener pastures. They leave blight and poverty in their wake. Look at Northside Drive with it's empty retail areas, "low rent" apartments, overgrown right-of-ways, sidewalks covered in weeds. Look at Houston Road where the neighbors pulled back from the road, built fences and left the eyesore that the state DOT created


Lassi456 wrote on 12/14/2009 09:35:52 AM:

IF the DOT wants to spend money, why don't they improve the intersection of Eisenhower Parkway and Holley Road in Lizella. So many accidents have happened there and a lot of people have died in these accidents. People have begged for help here and the only thing the DOT has done was put up some little bars and bumps and these things have disappeared and they weren't that much help. A four way stop sign will be good enough.


Lassi456 wrote on 12/14/2009 09:41:37 AM:

Why do beautiful parts of Macon have to be destroyed?????


carpepm wrote on 12/14/2009 11:50:18 AM:

Uh...Oldkartwilltravel,
Please explain how five-laning Houston Road has helped your area. Quail Run Subdivision, valued at $41 Million (that's forty-one million dollars) has gone to foreclosure on December 14, 2009. Nobody wants to live on a dangerous five-lane road (the center turn lane is known as a "suicide lane"). Traffic counts are less than ONE-HALF of what they were projected to be once the project was completed. Typical projections by the Macon-Bibb County Road Improvement Program (RIP) management team and our gullible elected officials who keep falling for their "pie in the sky" projections. Look up the facts OldKart before you pontificate.


whyme1 wrote on 12/14/2009 03:57:42 PM:

This is once again the good ol'boys club. Why don't they make ingeside from ride to pierce ave wider. I will tell you why. They don't want to upset the mighty ficklins. Who cares about the stupid trees when you have to goto one side everytime a car passes by. They should fix and widen that road before messing with anyother in north macon. I swear this town thinks that ficklins walk on water. Stop living in the past Macon.


Clydesdale wrote on 12/14/2009 05:43:56 PM:

Unbelievable! I have driven on this road several times per week for 15 years. I have never once encountered traffic! I can always do the speedlimit if not go a few miles over it. That long downhill will turn into in invitation for teens to do 80 mph if it is widened! The original plan was to help people to go to the mall. That mall is all but closed. Now everyone goes the other way to the new mall. Either way there is no traffic then or now!


Elvin wrote on 12/14/2009 09:41:19 PM:

widening forest hill for mall traffic makes about as much sense as reworking the I-16/Ocmulgee East exit for Brown and Williamson. You want to see pure lack of common sense, ride out there and look ...


levi wrote on 12/14/2009 11:59:38 PM:

WHYME1 has the Best solution.make ingeside to pierce ave wider, since Riverside dr. is going to widened. folks will be going to the new mall, Then go with Allen Peaks suggestion on turn lanes and re paving on Forest Hill,, Macon Government needs to take a whole new look at the entire project..VOTE NO ON ANY MORE PENNY TAX;S


dhisrael wrote on 12/15/2009 06:15:40 AM:

...and they want to start a project on Forest Hill Road to fix what isn't broken. Forest Hill Road needs repair which you can't afford now!!!! Mark my words, we care for OUR property but once you take it is YOURS and you will have to send crews out to cut and landscape every few weeks. Remember, we are the ones that complain.
Ask Mr. Bishop, we elect new leaders over such issues, Mr. Hart, Mayor Robert Reichert ! We are your electors that voted for you! Earn the trust we gave you or we will find someone who will. Find better investment property in a commercial zone, Mayor Robert Reichert! ! We live here, it is our biggest investment!


Doc wrote on 12/15/2009 07:04:17 AM:

Sam Hart chairs the Bibb County Commissioners who meet every 1st and 3rd Tuesday at 6pm. This would be a good place and time to raise these issues. Commissioners are supposed to be watching over the Roads Program, but they have not audited the expenses there in many years. They have allowed over $4,000,000 to be spent on FHR design already. It only costs $2M to repave all of FHR and to add the turn lanes at Wimbish and at Ridge Ave. So Bibb could have already solved the real traffic problems twice over.











Thursday, Dec. 17, 2009



Bibb commissioners backing Forest Hill project

By MIKE STUCKA - mstucka@macon.com
http://www.macon.com/local/story/956396.html


Bibb County commissioners have renewed their support for repaving and widening Forest Hill Road.

The commissioners talked after word spread that the state was again moving ahead with reconstruction efforts. Macon Mayor Robert Reichert and Bibb County Commission Chairman Sam Hart wrote letters months ago supporting the project.


Commissioner Elmo Richardson told commissioners Tuesday that the biggest problems on Forest Hill Road are within the Macon city limits.

"The pavement is fairly narrow and there's so many intersections," he said. "I get a lot of calls, a lot of e-mails supporting that project."

Bibb County has bought about half of the properties needed in a stretch that would be converted to three lanes, an engineering department representative said. The county hasn't bought any property in areas that would be converted to four lanes.

Activists have said the expansion of the road would bring speeding and flooding, while cutting down too many trees.

Property acquisition restarted about October.

Hart reminded commissioners that they'd authorized him to write the letter in July.

"I remember that, and I remember supporting the road," Commissioner Bert Bivins said. "That project needs to proceed."

Commissioner Joe Allen said he wants the county to fix Forest Hill Road, Jeffersonville Road and others.

"I support doing Forest Hill," he said. "I think it's needed."

Commissioner Lonzy Edwards said he wants residents and the state Department of Transportation to work together to make Forest Hill Road the best it can be. That cooperation hasn't always worked.

"I have some mixed feelings on Forest Hill Road," he said. "I recognize something needs to be done."

The Forest Hill reconstruction is scheduled for funding in 2014, but it could move up on a priority list, officials have said.

Information from The Telegraph's archives was included in this report.

To contact writer Mike Stucka, call 744-4251





Doc wrote on 12/17/2009 06:17:49 AM:

It is unfortunate the Telegraph did not interview the "Activists", and instead used "NIMBY" language to describe their position. This is not accurate. The Telegraph needs to accurately report the engineering diagrams of the two internationally renowned experts who advised the "Activists" of a safer, more efficient design that can be built quicker, using less of taxpayer's money.




dhisrael wrote on 12/17/2009 06:01:37 AM:

Once again, it looks like our commissioners are insensitive. Let's join together again and elect a new commission before 2014. Getting rid of Bishop was not enough and the rest doubt our influence, our will and resolve.

Their attitude is the exact reason why our government is broke, bankrupt and sliding into the slimy pit of despair. Their attitude is why most new businesses are not coming near Bibb County. Everything and everyone is going to Houston and Peach Counties. Reckon why? Let's elect a new slate!




 




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