About Us

The purpose of Georgia Road Reform is independent advocacy for the advancement of unique roadway transportation solutions for the state of Georgia designed to fix a large variety of problems across the state.   This site is also related to the "State And Local Road Reform" blog except that it is specifically tailored to propose novel solutions for roads in Georgia in many areas beyond the scope of that site including a significant emphasis on roadway planning ideas that have a broader focus than the goals of the other site while zeroing in on the transportation issues that affect the Peach State.

The gist of this site is that state leaders have become apathetic in terms of planning and efficiency and that many substantial reforms are needed.  Since these are not being discussed by public officials, they need to be presented to the public in a fashion that can open dialogue and debate when these ideas would otherwise not be looked at or considered.  Some of the ideas presented here have fallen completely flat when proposed to elected and non-elected state and local officials, and the author feels that they are common sense ideas that should have far more exposure so that perhaps they may no longer be ignored.  Many changes are needed statewide.

The list below attempts to summarize the numerous reforms that are needed to make the system actually work for the best interests of the people in Georgia instead of working as a solely political function that does the least possible.  Many of these have already been discussed in the State And Local Road Reform website.  They include:

• Restructuring the local highway system in a way that develops a more engineer-driven approach through transferring engineering oversight and eventually maintenance from a local level to a regional system composed of 12 separate districts including:
• Regional traffic control (multiple counties and cities in a geographically specific region combining oversight and maintenance of traffic operations and safety improvements in lieu of separate county roads and city streets)
• Regional DOT's (an expansion of regional traffic control into a full-service DOT with engineering oversight of county roads and city streets in a geographically specific region.
  
• Regional routes (a highway system supplemental to the state highway system receiving state-aid and managing roads within 12 separate geographic regions based on planning regions
• Discuss options for restructuring of the state highway system to better reflect usage and importance, including:
  
• Splitting the system into two parts: a fully state-controlled system where the state both constructs and maintains major routes while lesser state routes become roads built by the counties/cities but maintained by the state
  
• The first approach would add system mileage, but would reduce construction costs while relieving counties of costly maintenance of a greater proportion of roads
• With regional routes, the state could reduce the state highway system to where they only maintain interstates, urban principal arterials, and rural arterials transferring collector roads and urban arterials to the regional network resulting in a three-tiered network (state/regional/local)
• Removing all low importance, low volume state routes while adding all principal arterials and expressways currently under local control to the state highway system 
• The highway system currently does not line up with function nor traffic volumes meaning that there are a large number of state routes that should be on a local system (supervised by a regional highway agency) or regional route system while many local roads that are principal arterials need to be state routes (e.g. Barrett Parkway in Cobb, Pleasant Hill Road in Gwinnett, Harry Truman Parkway in Chatham)
  
• Rationalizing the state's mileage cap into a fairer proportional ratio cap
• The current cap does not allow the system to grow with population and overall road mileage forcing counties and cities to horse trade for roads that are too expensive and technical for them to manage
• The replacement creates a sliding cap that allows the state highway system to grow in proportion to overall road mileage so that state responsibility and local responsibility maintain a fair proportion and badly needed state routes can be added to the system without always requiring the removal of another state route
  
• A restructuring of GDOT to better streamline services through the following methods:
• Removing duplication of services and reducing direct GDOT responsibility for many operations (can be done through a regional approach)
• Develop a state MUTCD supplement to better define state standards and to improve on existing standards
  
• Proposals for new road projects that are not currently being proposed that are designed to improve mobility in not only congested areas but also poorly connected areas of the state.
• An example includes the construction of a pair of tolled tunnels to connect Dalton to LaFayette in NW GA
• Completion of the farm-to-market road network that was left incomplete in the early 80's
• The creation, renumbering, and relocation of many state and U.S. routes across the state with detailed descriptions of each route and where they would go
• An example involving existing routes includes establishing U.S. 72 across North Georgia along GA 48, 140, 20, 369, and 72.
• An example involving realigning and adding onto an existing local road is the development of a new by-pass route for U.S. 19 and GA 60 following existing county roads east of Dahlonega
  
• Elimination of unneccessary, excessively costly and confusing state highway overlaps with U.S. routes (e.g. U.S. 41/State Route 7)
• These route duplications cause massive confusion, waste taxpayer money, and reduce the quality and comprehension of route signage assemblies adding signs that are of little to no use to the traveling public
  
• Elimination of confusing bannered routes of state highways replacing them with easier to understand designations (e.g. Spur 60, Connector 5)
• A large-scale renumbering of bannered routes to single route designations would greatly improve regional travel
• Short spurs and connectors could be unsigned with special reference designations (e.g. GA 905-Section 4 for what is now GA 5 Connector)
  
• Elimination of mostly secret 400 series interstate designations replacing them with either four digit designations or realigning the state highway system so that interstate and state highway designations are the same.  This will allow the 400 series routes to be freed up for use on other roads
• This should include removal of even well-known designations such as GA 316, 365, and 400 signing them with their corresponding US route numbers only (US 29, 23, and 19).
  
• Elimination of 500 series GRIP corridor designations due to the confusion they cause (e.g. SR 515/520) freeing up 500 series designations for use on other routes
• GRIP corridors at present are assigned only in multiples of five meaning that only 20 designations are even available yet a whole route number series is blocked off for use on other routes.
• The construction of far more limited access roads including upgrades of existing at-grade intersections with full interchanges on major routes.
• This includes both full freeways and partial freeways with interchanges at major intersections
  
• All of these may be constructed with toll financing
  
• This includes upgrading many GRIP corridors to full interstate highways including:
• GA 540/Fall Line Freeway
• GA 515 from Nelson to Blue Ridge
• GA 21 and US 25 from Savannah to Augusta
• Existing road upgrades include conversions to freeways for portions of:
• US 278 from Lithia Spring to west of Dallas
• GA 400 north of Cumming
• GA 92/GA 140 from I-75 to I-85
• US 41 from Marietta to Emerson
  
• Recommendations for new interstate highways that are not currently proposed including:
• I-30 cutting across North Georgia connecting Huntsville, Gainesville, Athens, and Savannah
• A new interstate route tying together Macon, Athens, and Lavonia
• I-81 extension from Chattanooga to Columbus
• The creation of a numbered local highway system to better line up numbered routes with roadway function and to better manage traffic patterns
• These would work much better if managed as part of a regional route system and not by each county and city
• These would include re-using may or most former state route numbers as corresponding county route numbers (e.g. State Route 371 becomes County Route 371)
• This would work well along decommissioned portions of an existing route or along gaps within a route
• E.g. GA 70 in Fulton County could become County Route 70 in lieu of its current convoluted rerouting)
  
• The creation of "OLD" routes along functionally important old alignments of routes (e.g. portions of Old US 41 become "OLD US 41")
• New local route designations assigned on a statewide plan or regional plan (numbers or alphanumerical)
• If routes are assigned per region in the regional roads plan, route numbers could use any available state route numbers 200-399 that are not otherwise used within that same region or are extensions of state routes within that region meaning that there would be duplication of these route numbers in 12 different regions
• Route numbers 600-999 could otherwise be used
  
• For example, in the Northwest Georgia Region, a Regional Route 201 could be an extension of GA 201 but 382 could not be used unless it becomes a regional route also.
  
• Issues with traffic signs and other traffic control issues that need to be corrected statewide 
• Problems with examples are frequently discussed in these posts with solutions offered as frequently
• At the very least, a good roads culture needs to be fostered that encourages GDOT to become directly involved in local traffic operations work while local agencies should be given a stronger incentive to meet and exceed state and federal standards
  

At one point in time, GDOT was a far more proactive road agency continuously reforming to provide a better road system.  While GDOT and the legislature have both provided well-constructed and smooth roads, they have not been good managers in terms of traffic management nor in utility in terms of the state highway system.  The signage is terrible on both state and local systems, the routes are cluttered with too many numbers and are not laid out logically, important roads off the state highway system are not properly identified, connectivity is still poor in many parts of the state, and new limited access road construction has not kept up with population growth.  Neither GDOT nor the local agencies have adequate accountability, state-aid to local governments (who keep up 85% of the roads) is inadequate, and coordination between jurisdictions is nearly non-existent.  It has been either too much or too little, and this needs to change.  

The last significant reforms in terms of the state highway system occurred under the leadership of Tom Moreland in the early 1980's.  In those years, many roads were rerouted, many badly needed upgrades were constructed and local assistance was greatly improved.  Since then, major changes have been rare with a half-baked strategy that leaves local governments with too much responsibility while the states routes that do exist are outdated and overwhelmed with useless route designations that confuse motorists while other roads that need route numbers do not have them.  This coupled with a lack of state highway system expansion onto better routes in high growth areas is disrupting traffic patterns.  Lastly, an inadequate investment in high speed roadway connections is amplifying traffic problems. While expectations for government control of roads have traditionally been low in Georgia, that does not mean it should remain that way.  A high quality, highly efficient road system involves more than just asphalt and earth moving machines.

This blog is designed to lay out in semi-regular posts problems that leaders are not recognizing with solutions that are independent of any undue influence from business or political interests.  Having the best road system in the country isn't just about asphalt.  It requires a properly laid out, consistently maintained functional system that benefits everyone and provides the highest standards at the lowest cost with the greatest efficiency.  While no highway system is perfect, GDOT and the Georgia State Legislature need to look beyond asphalt and start seeing the bigger picture.  If leaders in Georgia are willing to embrace any of the ideas presented on this site it just might be possible to have both a well planned and well maintained statewide road system.