Email Comments on MACORTS TIP

The Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) outlines planned transportation improvements for the next six years.  The first tier projects (2010-2013) have funding already allocated to them.  A few projects stand out to provide needed improvements to our diverse transportation infrastructure and livability of Athens.

BikeAthens supports these existing TIP expenditures for ACC projects:

1. Greenway Extension to College Station Road (R-9):  $3,000,000. 
2. Athens Rail Trail (EB-17):  $7,648,000.
3. College Station Bridge over North Oconee River (B-1):  $1,960,000.

BikeAthens opposes these existing TIP projects:

1. Widening of Mars Hill Road to four lanes between SR 316 and Hog Mountain Road. (R-26, $53,066,000)
2. The extension of the Jennings Mill Parkway road widening project (to four lanes) to a 3.1-mile section in Athens-Clarke County (R-7, $2,500,000)
3. The Simonton Bridge road widening from the Athens-Clarke line to Watkinsville (R-27, $4,000,000)
4. The four lane flyover roadway connecting Daniel's Bridge Road to Jennings Mill Parkway at Home Depot in Oconee County (R-21, $4,100,000)

These road widening projects detract visitors and area residents from the historic downtowns of Athens and Watkinsville, and they make it less appealing to walk or cycle in these areas due to increased auto traffic from wider roads.  These TIP projects, listed above effectively create a circle around the intersection of GA10 loop and GA316, with a four-lane corridor that feeds into that circle.  Rumors exist about a new mall behind Lowe’s in Oconee County, when an existing suburban shopping destination already exists near the Georgia Square Mall.  Spending one-third of TIP money to fund the suburban Oconee county transportation needs for a 2nd regional mall at the expense of downtown Athens and Watkinsville pits county against county in a battle for business. 
BikeAthens requests TIP expenditures for the following ACC projects:

1. Supplemental funding for the Sidewalk Improvement Program on state roads. 
2. Supplemental funding for revising the Bicycle Master Plan on state roads. 
3. From the LRTP:  Reconstruction of Tallassee Road Bridge (B-2):  $3,226,000.  Allows for 2 standard travel lanes, plus bicycle and pedestrian facilities.
4. From the LRTP:  Tallassee Road improvements, including bicycle and pedestrian facilities.  BikeAthens does not support the widening from 2 to 4 lanes (R-5):  $4,511,500. 

BikeAthens asks, again, for the following changes to be made to the public involvement process:

1. Develop more comprehensive and creative advertising for input opportunities from the public at large. 
2. Establish an explicit procedural framework of standard operating procedures to solicit and present to the Committees public comment, and recommend tangible changes based on this wealth of community knowledge and sentiment.
3. Seek out populations currently underserved by and underrepresented in the planning process
4. Direct staff, or contract with outside groups, to undertake region-wide comment solicitation efforts
5. BikeAthens and the TCC  
   Our repeated requests over the past three years for a seat on the MACORTS TCC deserve a serious consideration, but have yet to receive any response.  We have aided MACORTS for years, raising public awareness of transportation issues and generating public comment for transportation plans.  Most important, BikeAthens represents a user group with a clear active interest in transportation issues, and is at least as deserving of being a part of Committee deliberations as are many current member organizations such as the Athens Downtown Development Authority, the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce, the Oconee Rivers Greenway Commission, and the U.S. Navy Supply School.
6. Unlike many other Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) across the country, MACORTS has not established a Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee or a Citizens Advisory Committee to obtain the user's point of view about how the non-motorized transportation system operates within the MACORTS boundary.  Such a committee(s) could suggest low-cost projects such as bike lane transitions at intersections or Safe Routes to School improvements and also provide regular feedback on how newly-implemented projects are working or not working for the community.

The comment period ended on Wednesday October 21, 2009 at midnight; contact your commissioner with comments.

Thanks for your advocacy.