Last week: How should Ga. 20 traffic be improved?
With growing population in northern metro Atlanta, traffic congestion is only getting worse. Virtually no one would argue that one of the most frustrating areas is Ga. 20 between Canton and Cumming. GDOT has discarded all but two options; either widen the road or widen it AND build localized bypasses around a number of small communities and congestion points.
Reaction tended to fall into two categories- just widen the highway all the way through, to heck with a bypass here and a bypass here-or build a freeway, an option GDOT has discarded. Other responses were more far afield. Do nothing said one respondent, while another proposed self-driving cars zipping down the highway.
Here’s a sampling of responses from readers:
Most residents support widening the existing Ga. 20 corridor, keeping 20 on 20 and avoiding alternative routes that would negatively impact thousands of homeowners…..We are anxiously awaiting the result of the GDOT survey. — V. Bochicchio, Cumming
The answer is, it shouldn't. The low-density, developer-driven growth-dependent policy perpetrated by the exurban government officials involved is an unsustainable Ponzi scheme. Anybody who proposes widening or bypassing Ga. 20 should first answer this question. 'Who's going to pay for it?' It sure isn't going to be the local residents with acre-sized lots and no industry in their bedroom communities. No, it'll be imposed on the rest of us urban taxpayers. — Jack Gruendlich
This should have been a major freeway years ago. It needs to be now for sure. It needs to be a major connector between 785 and 85 to take traffic away from I-285. Bypasses are not just a convenience, they're a necessity. — Jim.
The most humane way to relieve congestion along Ga. 20 is to widen it. The localized bypass option would destroy the Hampton Station neighborhood, Magnolia neighborhood, impact Macedonia Elementary School and isolate the Kroger shopping center from many of their customers. — Camille Shea
Years ago, then-Governor Roy Barnes tried to get the northern arc of the outer perimeter built. It did not pass… Unfortunately progress has continued to move forward and Forsyth and Cherokee counties today are where many affluent people have chosen to move to. The area population has exploded. An outer perimeter, if done right and above-board, would probably have a better chance of becoming a reality today and would keep the traffic down on Ga. 20. — Jim Martinez
History has been made in Stockbridge. As a result of Tuesday’s elections, in 2016 the five-member city council will be 100 percent black – the first time ever in Henry County for a governing body. Mayor Tim Thompson, who is in the middle of his term, is white.
Totally unrelated to race, however, is the plain old bickering that has plagued the mayor and council for most of the past two years. Last month Thompson called out the entire council and publicly endorsed three specific challengers in the eight-person at-large race, a clear sign that he wanted to see Mayor Pro Tem Alphonso Thomas and Councilmember Regina Ward Lewis defeated (Robin Buschman did not run for re-election).
Two of his choices – Neat Robinson and John Blount – were elected along with Elton Alexander, who has been critical of the current administration on several occasions.
Four days before Election Day, Thomas signed a settlement agreement the city reached with its Downtown Development Authority, which Thompson sought to dissolve almost from his first day in office and with which the city has been in litigation for more than a year. The agreement was reached while the mayor was out of the country on vacation, and some of those involved have said privately that a settlement would have been unlikely had he participated.
Many citizens have complained that the city has accomplished nothing – aside from significantly higher legal expenses – the past two years. Now the council will convene in two months with three new members.
What do you think? Can this new body move forward together and work with the mayor? Will things be better, worse or remain the same? Send your comments to communitynews@ajc.com.
