Interstate from Savannah to Knoxville studied

It's been talked about for years, but the idea of an interstate linking Savannah and Knoxville is getting an actual hearing now that the Federal Highway Administration has begun a feasibility study.

Agency spokesman Doug Hecox said the study into the proposed Interstate 3 began in June.

The route could pass through North Georgia, and some critics say it would destroy pristine mountains and forest and wreck the downtowns of small communities along its path.

The Federal Highway Administration is doing the study because a former congressman in the area procured an earmark for it. But it's not a high priority at the cash-strapped Georgia Department of Transportation.

A spokesman for Georgia DOT, which would have to foot part of the hefty construction costs for the Georgia leg of the road if it were approved, said that "it would be very difficult to fund the state share of any sort of construction of this project with existing and predicted sources of revenue. We understand there is a huge potential upside for the port of Savannah, but there are just a host, a vast host, of environmental and funding issues" in taking on the project.

Rep. Paul Broun, who serves there now, said in 2008 that he hoped the highway would follow a route away from the mountains.

The administration will use the study as a “resource that would inform discussion,” Hecox told the Times Free Press, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the interstate is going to be built. The study will look at routes, costs and impacts on tourism, industry and the environment.