Widening Old US 41 North: It's Back, for $8 million T-SPLOST!

Lowndes County wants $8 million T-SPLOST to widen Old US 41 North from North Valdosta Road to Union Road, and the map shows the entire road to the center of Hahira as part of the plan.

Back in 2009, a local citizens group called car41no managed to fight off widening Old US 41 North all the way into Hahira, at least temporarily. Well, it's back! This time, instead of asking for general GDOT money, Lowndes County is asking for funds from the proposed T-SPLOST one cent sales tax.

What is in the plan for old US 41 North between Union Road and Hahira?

It is proposed to construct bike lanes and possibly sidewalks throughout the project for the residents of this area to use.

I suspect "construct bike lanes" means paint lines on the pavement, and note that sidewalks are just "possibly".

So what is this plan really for?

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Over the past 15 years with the installation of Lowndes County Water and Sewer in this area, nine residential subdivisions, a private K-12 school, and numerous commercial developments have developed throughout this corridor. Commercial development includes a restaurant, convenience stores, car dealership, numerous doctors` offices and a hospital. Lowndes County also has a fire department and solid waste collection facility located in this area. With the future plans for further development in this area both commercially and residentially, future traffic models indicate traffic counts will exceed 20,000 vehicles per day.

Translation: Lowndes County put in water and sewer to promote development in this area, and now it plans to promote further development by widening the affected road. Here's a rare forthright acknowledgement that road work is intended to work hand-in-glove with water and sewer to promote development.

It would be very interesting to see those future traffic models. I wonder if those are like the criteria in the county's Thoroughfare Plan that got passed in November 2009 with numerous changes that didn't match the plan's own criteria. Does anybody know where that Thoroughfare Plan is on the County's web site now? I can't seem to find it there anymore....

Meanwhile, here's the detailed writeup Lowndes County submitted for T-SPLOST funding, extracted from the 171 page PDF.

Project Sheet

Project Number: RC11-000095 Project Name: Old US 41 Widening from SR 7 to Union Road GDOT ID:   Project Description: Widen Old US 41 to a 5-lane urban section roadway from SR 7 to Union Road. Regional Commission: Southern Georgia Unconstrained List: Yes County: Lowndes County Phase Total Project Cost Total Amt Requested PE $650,000 $650,000 ROW $850,000 $850,000 CST $6,500,000 $6,500,000 Total $8,000,000 $8,000,000 Comments: Old 41 is a major collector that extends from SR 7 or North Valdosta Road to SR 122 in Hahira. At SR 122 in Hahira, Old 41 turns into SR 7 again to travel north into Cook County. Old 41 is used as a main artery for residents to travel from Hahira, North Lowndes County, and Cook County into Lowndes County and Valdosta for school, work, and entertainment. Over the past 15 years with the installation of Lowndes County Water and Sewer in this area, nine residential subdivisions, a private K-12 school, and numerous commercial developments have developed throughout this corridor. Commercial development includes a restaurant, convenience stores, car dealership, numerous doctors` offices and a hospital. Lowndes County also has a fire department and solid waste collection facility located in this area. With the future plans for further development in this area both commercially and residentially, future traffic models indicate traffic counts will exceed 20,000 vehicles per day. The majority of the development has occurred in this area and the continued growth is also anticipated in this proximity. It is proposed to construct bike lanes and possibly sidewalks throughout the project for the residents of this area to use Public Benefit Notes Ensuring Safety and Security This project would benefit the public by potentially reducing the incidence of crashes along this roadway segment, corridor, and/or intersection. Maximizing the value of Georgia's Assets This project could potentially maximize the full utility of an existing transportation facility(s). In some cases, bypasses will be necessary. Example benefits could be: mitigating congestion (e.g. operational improvements) and optimizing capital asset management (e.g. resurfacing, rehabilitation). The impacts would apply to this roadway segment, corridor, and/or intersection. Supporting Economic Growth/Competitiveness This project could assist in having a positive impact on the economic vitality for this region, and in some cases possibly for the entire state. Its impact could also be observed along the roadway segment, corridor, and/or intersection. Example benefits could be: improved access to jobs; improved travel times for drivers; increased lane capacity; improved efficiency and reliability for freight cargo/goods movement; providing border to border and inter-regional connectivity; and improve local connectivity to statewide transportation network. Project Location

Comments

[Southern Georgia Regional Commission]

Thank you for noticing this error on the map for this project. It has been corrected and we will be uploading a new version of th Unconstrained Project List Report later today to our website at www.sgrc.us/transportation. Let us know if you have any other questions.