Houston Road
Residents of the Houston Rd. and the Rutland Community are very opposed to the widening of Houston Rd. to 5 lanes.
In 1994, the citizens in the Rutland Community were asked to vote yes on a 1% local option sales tax for road improvements. Prior to the vote, all information regarding Houston Road stated that it would be "improved" to 12’ lanes with turn lanes as needed. The members of the community agreed that Houston Road needed improvements; however, were opposed to a new road (Gap Road project) which would cut through a residential community. Opposition was voiced and an advertisement was placed in The Macon Telegraph that the new road would be deleted in it’s entirety.
After the vote, many changes were made to the original road improvement program which was "sold" to the public. The improved 12 ft. lanes were increased to four 12 ft. lanes with a 14 ft. median and 2 sidewalks!!!!!! The minor widening project went from 22 ft. to 70 ft of concrete!!!!! The Gap Road project was reinstated under a new name. It is now called the Sardis Church/247 Connector. Imagine our surprise when we questioned these changes and were told that it was a "done deal" and that it was the "right thing to do".
Previously documented traffic counts do not dictate the widening to 5 lanes. We asked that another traffic count be taken since serious flaws in the previous ones were discovered. Post Buckley was hired by the road improvement officials to redo the traffic counts and lo and behold the counts increased to almost 20,000 cars per day. These new figures were gotten by feeding the same old incorrect data into a computer and projecting into the year 2025!!
Environmental issues are the most serious issues that we must address with the widening of Houston Rd. Severe drainage problems continue to plague downstream neighborhoods. A 50+ acre detaining pond is being constructed west of Houston Rd. However, the majority of the drainage problems lie east of Houston Rd and water from the road will not flow to the detention pond but straight to the already overburdened drainage systems.
Air quality is also a very important factor that should be a concern to all Bibb County and adjoining communities. Macon will reach non attainment status within the next year. We do not want to become like Atlanta and lose all opportunity to improve transportation.
The environmental assessment has many serious flaws. The most blatant flaw was the omission of Heard Elementary as a significant historic property. A recent review by the Department of Natural Resources granted Heard School national historic register status and forced the redesign of Houston Rd. Based on this review, the current let date has been changed to September 17, 1999.
A final request to the Technical Advisory Committee asking for Walter Kulash to review Houston Rd. was granted. Upon presentation to the Executive Committee this request was denied. Mr. Joe Street of the Georgia Dept. of Transportation said that all funding would be lost if the project was further delayed. We have since learned that funding for the project could be rolled over to another year and would not be lost. We wonder why Houston Rd is the single exception in Mr. Kulash’s review. Continuous threats of "we will lose this money" has been heard since June, 1999. Why didn’t all members of the Executive Committee check to see if this was true?
Since our pleas and documented evidence has been ignored, legal action is pending.
Debbie Varnadore for the Citizens of Rutland Community
Editorial: A lawsuit make Woodgeard worry about delays
News: Law suit to be filed to stop Houston Road widening
News: DOT Awards Contract for Houston Road
News: Road Program OKs five lane Houston Road: Officials push ahead despite residents, consultant's objections
News: Executive Committe and County Commission clash over allowing Kulash to review Houston Road
News: Kulash calls Houston Road a bad design and refuses to participate in it.
Editorial: Another shot in the foot, by Charles Richardson