1 1 IN RE: ) 2 ) 3 GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION ) 4 HEARING - MACON, GEORGIA ) 5 ) 6 7 8 9 November 16, 1999 10 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. 11 12 13 The following comments of Nick Pietrzak 14 were taken at The City Auditorium, Macon, 15 Georgia; given before Diane Dorsey, Certified 16 Court Reporter, B-1708, at approximately 4:05 17 p.m. 18 19 20 21 22 23 DORSEY & ASSOCIATES 24 Certified Court Reporters 1360 Fieldcrest Court 25 Buckhead, Georgia 30625 706/342-9121 2 1 MR. PIETRZAK: I live in the neighborhood 2 there. They need to do something to address 3 the sound and the noise level. They are bad 4 now. If they do anything in this project, they 5 got to put a sound barrier up all along that 6 highway with Riverside Drive. The trucking 7 noise is getting outrageous there. I have 8 lived there 25 years. It is worse now every 9 year. It is worse every year and I would hate 10 to see them improve this and make it even worse 11 yet. 12 (Comments concluded.) 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 3 1 C E R T I F I C A T E 2 3 G E O R G I A: 4 MORGAN COUNTY: 5 I hereby certify that the foregoing 6 comments were stenographically recorded by me, as 7 stated in the caption. The comments were reduced to 8 typewriting under my direction and supervision; and 9 the comments are a true and correct record of the 10 comments given. 11 I further certify that I am not a 12 relative or employee or attorney or counsel of any 13 of the parties, nor am I a relative or employee of 14 such attorney or counsel, nor am I financially 15 interested in the action. 16 This 27th day of November, 1999. 17 18 ____________________________ 19 DIANE DORSEY 20 Certified Court Reporter 21 (B-1708) 22 23 24 25 1 1 IN RE: ) 2 ) 3 GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION ) 4 HEARING - MACON, GEORGIA ) 5 ) 6 7 8 9 November 16, 1999 10 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. 11 12 13 The following comments of REGINA 14 MCDUFFIE, were taken at The City Auditorium, 15 Macon, Georgia; given before Diane Dorsey, 16 Certified Court Reporter, B-1708, at 17 approximately 4:15 p.m. 18 19 20 21 22 23 DORSEY & ASSOCIATES 24 Certified Court Reporters 1360 Fieldcrest Court 25 Buckhead, Georgia 30625 706/342-9121 2 1 MS. MCDUFFIE: I am the general manager 2 at the Macon Centreplex which is right at the 3 I-16 Martin Luther King exit or interchange. 4 My comments basically are in reference to that 5 particular interchange as well as the 6 accessibility of the highway coming east on 7 I-16, because during our events we have a lot 8 of congestion. Sometimes traffic is backed up 9 to the I-75 interchange. There needs to be a 10 better access off of the highway at I-16 at 11 that exit, maybe two turning lanes to the left, 12 one to the right, something to that effect, as 13 well as making that particular interchange more 14 pedestrian friendly, because we are trying to 15 be more connected to the downtown area and 16 right now we basically have that interchange as 17 I guess an inhinderance (sic) from people 18 actually walking from the Music Hall of Fame to 19 our building or from the building to those 20 attractions. 21 Also, there is an access road that was 22 began out at the Second Street at our parking 23 lot, out to Second Street, but we've asked 24 permission to open it, but it hasn't been 25 granted. I think that may be one of the things 3 1 that is looked at to see if egress from our 2 parking lot could be better using that exit 3 rather than coming back out to Coliseum Drive 4 or it is Martin Luther King Drive to come down 5 by our building. 6 Let's see, what else. I was concerned 7 about the encroachment on our property if there 8 was going to be any and how wide the highway 9 was going to be at that point where the 10 building and the parking lot site is. And I 11 think I said something about the traffic flow 12 during events and the backup. That needs to be 13 addressed as well as the ingress and egress of 14 events, and that's about it, I think. 15 (Comments concluded.) 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 4 1 C E R T I F I C A T E 2 3 G E O R G I A: 4 MORGAN COUNTY: 5 I hereby certify that the foregoing 6 comments were stenographically recorded by me, as 7 stated in the caption. The comments were reduced to 8 typewriting under my direction and supervision; and 9 the comments are a true and correct record of the 10 comments given. 11 I further certify that I am not a 12 relative or employee or attorney or counsel of any 13 of the parties, nor am I a relative or employee of 14 such attorney or counsel, nor am I financially 15 interested in the action. 16 This 27th day of November, 1999. 17 18 ____________________________ 19 DIANE DORSEY 20 Certified Court Reporter 21 (B-1708) 22 23 24 25 1 1 IN RE: ) 2 ) 3 GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION ) 4 HEARING - MACON, GEORGIA ) 5 ) 6 7 8 9 November 16, 1999 10 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. 11 12 13 The following comments of Stephen Taylor, 14 were taken at The City Auditorium, Macon, 15 Georgia; given before Diane Dorsey, Certified 16 Court Reporter, B-1708, at approximately 5:00 17 p.m. 18 19 20 21 22 23 DORSEY & ASSOCIATES 24 Certified Court Reporters 1360 Fieldcrest Court 25 Buckhead, Georgia 30625 706/342-9121 2 1 MR. TAYLOR: I am very concerned about 2 making sure that this project does not cut off 3 opportunities for preservation and enhancement 4 of downtown. I want to make sure that any 5 changes that are made along I-16 are done with 6 an eye to promoting downtown business. And I 7 also want to be careful not to disrupt 8 neighborhoods east of the river. 9 (Comments concluded.) 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 3 1 C E R T I F I C A T E 2 3 G E O R G I A: 4 MORGAN COUNTY: 5 I hereby certify that the foregoing 6 comments were stenographically recorded by me, as 7 stated in the caption. The comments were reduced to 8 typewriting under my direction and supervision; and 9 the comments are a true and correct record of the 10 comments given. 11 I further certify that I am not a 12 relative or employee or attorney or counsel of any 13 of the parties, nor am I a relative or employee of 14 such attorney or counsel, nor am I financially 15 interested in the action. 16 This 27th day of November, 1999. 17 18 ____________________________ 19 DIANE DORSEY 20 Certified Court Reporter 21 (B-1708) 22 23 24 25 1 1 IN RE: ) 2 ) 3 GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION ) 4 HEARING - MACON, GEORGIA ) 5 ) 6 7 8 9 November 16, 1999 10 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. 11 12 13 The following comments of David Thornton, 14 were taken at The City Auditorium, Macon, 15 Georgia; given before Diane Dorsey, Certified 16 Court Reporter, B-1708, at approximately 6:30 17 p.m. 18 19 20 21 22 23 DORSEY & ASSOCIATES 24 Certified Court Reporters 1360 Fieldcrest Court 25 Buckhead, Georgia 30625 706/342-9121 2 1 MR. THORNTON: I get on every afternoon 2 5:30 or 6:00 at Hardeman Avenue on 75 3 northbound. I have to get up to 65 at least 4 before I can blend with the traffic. Then when 5 I get to the 16-75 splint, trucks pass me at 75 6 miles per hour or better, and then try to race 7 me to where the lanes choke down and the lane 8 ends on 75. I gladly yield, but there is no 9 place to go. I think that DOT in their 10 original design may compound curves at these 11 splits thinking that people would sense the 12 danger and slow down. It seems to stimulate 13 them. And frequently what happens with the 14 trucks, they hit that compound curve at speeds 15 that they cannot correct or that they 16 overcorrect, the load shifts, and they lose the 17 load in the highway which has happened 18 frequently and it takes out the guardrails. 19 I don't have a solution, I'm just saying 20 this is my view of the problem. You got to cut 21 across four lanes to get into that northbound 22 traffic lane on 75. Then inbound where 16 and 23 75 split going eastbound on 16, the traffic on 24 75 merging with eastbound 16 traffic does not 25 sense the danger and hit that merging traffic 3 1 at speeds that are dangerous, extremely 2 difficult to get over into the right lane if 3 you want to exit at Spring Street. I would 4 think as a temporary measure that lights saying 5 "too fast when flashing" should be installed 6 at these danger points and these high-accident 7 points, and I would think cameras on that first 8 place I mentioned with ticketing might slow it 9 down, it might help. 10 The police are helpless. The shoulders 11 along there are only about 6 or 7 feet wide, 12 and it would endanger the life of an officer. 13 There is no place to pull them over safely and 14 ticket them. They just come through Macon 15 knowing that there is not anything that anybody 16 can and will do. I think the accident reports 17 and your guardrail replacement schedule at 18 these locations will verify what I'm saying. I 19 don't have a solution, I'm not an engineer, but 20 I think temporary measures should be taken to 21 slow the traffic until these things can be 22 redesigned and rebuilt which I would guess is 23 three to five years away. 24 (Comments concluded.) 25 4 1 C E R T I F I C A T E 2 3 G E O R G I A: 4 MORGAN COUNTY: 5 I hereby certify that the foregoing 6 comments were stenographically recorded by me, as 7 stated in the caption. The comments were reduced to 8 typewriting under my direction and supervision; and 9 the deposition is a true and correct record of the 10 comments given. 11 I further certify that I am not a 12 relative or employee or attorney or counsel of any 13 of the parties, nor am I a relative or employee of 14 such attorney or counsel, nor am I financially 15 interested in the action. 16 This 27th day of November, 1999. 17 18 ____________________________ 19 DIANE DORSEY 20 Certified Court Reporter 21 (B-1708) 22 23 24 25 6 1 1 IN RE: ) 2 ) 3 GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION ) 4 HEARING - MACON, GEORGIA ) 5 ) 6 7 8 9 November 16, 1999 10 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. 11 12 13 The following comments of Lindsay D. 14 Holliday, were taken at The City Auditorium, 15 Macon, Georgia; given before Diane Dorsey, 16 Certified Court Reporter, B-1708, at 17 approximately 6:45 p.m. 18 19 20 21 22 23 DORSEY & ASSOCIATES 24 Certified Court Reporters 1360 Fieldcrest Court 25 Buckhead, Georgia 30625 706/342-9121 2 1 MR. HOLLIDAY: First thing, what I would 2 like to get is an electronic copy of the 3 transcripts of tonight. I would prefer them to 4 be E-mailed to me within the body of an E-mail 5 letter or any other reasonable type of 6 transmission form that anybody could read on 7 their E-mail. I'm saying that specifically 8 because I have in the past asked the Georgia 9 DOT to give me text files or transcripts of 10 public hearings, and they have been reluctant 11 and have actually frustrated my efforts to get 12 these public documents. 13 I would also like to get the newsletters 14 in the form of E-mail. I look forward to the 15 website, and I hope that all the text on the 16 website is accessible as plain text instead of 17 pictures of text which is the way that HDR 18 Atlanta has so far displayed most of their text 19 material about the Fall-Line Freeway slash 20 Eisenhower Parkway extension. 21 I'm showing some of my concerns about 22 this project are the river channel which is 23 already very narrow at that area. It needs to 24 be widened because three times in the past 10 25 years this narrow channel there has caused 3 1 water to back up onto Riverside Drive and flood 2 houses and businesses at Pierce Avenue. 3 Second, I think we need a full 4 environmental impact study because of this -- 5 because of the environmental disaster of which 6 I have just spoken, the flooding, the flooding 7 which is caused by the narrow river channel. I 8 guess I ought to say here that river channel is 9 narrow because I-16 was built right beside the 10 east and north side of the Ocmulgee and it 11 squeezes it against the Macon levy, which is on 12 the west and south side of the Ocmulgee River. 13 Also, I think we need to consider 14 constructing a Macon bypass on the east side of 15 Macon which would be like I-475, except on the 16 east side. This would pull a lot of traffic 17 off of the intersection which we're planning to 18 upgrade. This bypass could also be used as 19 part of the Fall-Line Freeway. This bypass 20 would also help us attain cleaner air in Macon 21 as many of the diesel trucks would use the 22 bypass instead of coming all the way downtown 23 to Macon to continue on through. 24 I would like a copy of the Purpose and 25 Needs Statement of this project, and I would 4 1 prefer that this document be E-mailed to me in 2 plain text file. I would like to see the 3 signage improved immediately to save people's 4 lives and property, specifically the signage on 5 I-75 South towards the intersection of I-16. 6 And I am including in my written comments a 7 diagram of the type of picture gram sign which 8 would give people adequate time to get in the 9 correct lanes to avoid the dangerous 10 last-minute weaving that they do as they try to 11 exit onto I-16 from 75. 12 E-mail address is teeth, T-E-E-T-H, @ 13 mindspring.com. My website, this will continue 14 on the record here, I have a website concerning 15 the Eisenhower Parkway extension Fall-Line 16 Freeway, and you can get to it from a link from 17 my home page which is WWW.hollidaydental.com. 18 And the Holliday is spelled with two L's, 19 Hollidaydental one word. And on that -- on the 20 home page, you can also click on letters to the 21 editor to find a letter which was published in 22 the Macon Telegraph concerning the Georgia 23 Department of Transportation's refusal to send 24 me a public transcripted record from a previous 25 hearing about the Eisenhower Parkway 5 1 extension. 2 (Comments concluded.) 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 6 1 C E R T I F I C A T E 2 3 G E O R G I A: 4 MORGAN COUNTY: 5 I hereby certify that the foregoing 6 comments were stenographically recorded by me, as 7 stated in the caption. The comments were reduced to 8 typewriting under my direction and supervision; and 9 the comments are a true and correct record of the 10 comments given. 11 I further certify that I am not a 12 relative or employee or attorney or counsel of any 13 of the parties, nor am I a relative or employee of 14 such attorney or counsel, nor am I financially 15 interested in the action. 16 This 27th day of November, 1999. 17 18 ____________________________ 19 DIANE DORSEY 20 Certified Court Reporter 21 (B-1708) 22 23 24 25