Op Ed in Rome News Tribune
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Handel supports building 411 connector ‘right’ way I read with interest the recent Rome News- Tribune article on my comments about the U.S. 411 Connector and felt I needed to respond. I am a big supporter of connecting U.S. 411 to I-75 and easing traffic and travel for the residents of Rome, Cartersville and the region. That is precisely why I oppose the route that GDOT is currently pursuing. Quite simply, GDOT’s illogical insistence on their proposed route is a stone-cold guarantee that the road will never be built and the desire for eased mobility will be not be satisfied for decades. The so-called “D Route” was priced at $398 million when first proposed — double that of some other routes. It is more expensive for the same reasons it is illogical; it is miles longer, requires about 18 bridges and has to run through Dobbins Mountain at a per-mile cost that boggles the imagination. It doesn’t take a road expert to know that blasting and excavating a deep notch through Dobbins Mountain will be a very costly engineering effort. It is much more expensive than a route that follows the natural topography of the area. One of my biggest concerns is that this is an example of GDOT arrogance and mismanagement. They have wanted this route since it was seen as a part of their beloved Northern Arc and have ignored other, better, cheaper alternatives. Now they have cut the cost – on paper anyway. In doing so they have planned a less safe, steeper grade through the mountain, narrowed right of ways and medians and cut out much of the erosion control, guardrails, and retaining walls envisioned by the original plan. This is called “value engineering” and it is being used here to make the D route appear to be no more expensive than the other routes. Value engineering is an old GDOT trick. Once they have started construction, they will begin to issue what they call “change orders” to cover the cost of undoing their value engineering. The cost of the road will skyrocket back to and beyond the initial $341 million. For too long GDOT has been allowed to operate in this way. As a gubernatorial candidate, I am going to fight them. As Governor, I am going to end their way of doing business. I want Floyd County and Bartow County residents to have a completed U.S. 411 connector. I want it done right and completed quickly. I also want it done in a way that provides an appropriate value for the taxpayers of Georgia who are footing the bill. Route D does none of this. KAREN HANDEL, Atlanta Editor’s note: Karen Handel recently resigned as Georgia Secretary of State to campaign for the Republican nomination for governor. |
Your opposition to the 411 connector demonstrates your insensitivity to the people of NW Georgia. We have been trying to get this connection for the last 30 years and you know good and well that a change like you propose would extend that wait by many more years. A single wealthy family has stymied the economic growth of our region for years by cutting us off from the economic lifeline of I-75 . I have voted Republican since I was first eligible to vote in 1972( even though my family was democrat; my uncle was a State Representative and State Senator from Rome and later was the state budget director) but if you win the Republican primary and you persist in your opposition to the needs of our area, I will vote for a democratic Governor for the first time in my life.
Thank you for you comment. I too want that connector built but this is a bad route which will cost more, take longer and quite likely never be built. It is also less safe and more environmentally destructive. There are shorter, safer, cheaper routes begging to be built. If GDOT can show me this is the best way, I will pour the first load of asphalt.