Residents give thumbs-down to three-lane proposal

Published 4:49 pm Tuesday, May 1, 2018

THOMASVILLE, Ga. — Residents who attended a listening session on South Pinetree Boulevard proposals were overwhelmingly in favor of not turning the road into three lanes.

Nearly 60 people turned out for the meeting at the Community Resource Center and those who spoke Monday issued concerns about the road’s safety.

Respondents backed either a widened two-lane road or leaving the road alone and having it resurfaced. 

Currently, the road occupies a 70-foot right-of-way with two lanes and open ditches. One design calls for a continuous center lane from West Jackson Street to Magnolia Street. All three lanes would be 12 feet wide, with a multi-use trail on the north side of Pinetree, which would require a 10-foot right-of-way acquisition. There also would be a roundabout.

The other design proposed keeps the two current lanes and adds four-foot-wide shoulders, along with turning lanes at West Jackson, Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and also at the entrance to the old Southwestern State Hospital.

“We could simply resurface it,” said Chris White, the city assistant utilities superintendent. “But you don’t get multi-use trails. You don’t get the aesthetics.”

But many who spoke were worried about safety on the road. 

Chris Bynum said in the 35 years she has lived there, there have been 15 accidents in her yard.

“If it wasn’t for the trees I try to keep planted, there would have been more than three deaths that have occurred,” she said. “I have had cars wind up upside down in my yard. My safety is more important. If those trees don’t stop them, they are in my bedroom.”

Bynum also said traffic is a problem from 7:30-8 a.m.

“From 7:30-8, it is frightening,” said Mary Williams-Scruggs.

Scruggs said she preferred having the widened two lanes and endorsed resurfacing the road. 

“Many roads in Thomasville need attention,” she said. “If we have the money, we ought to resurface and take care of the traffic.”

Scruggs also called for a traffic light.

“Otherwise, we are going to have a fatality, especially at night,” she said. “We can hear the cars zooming through.”

Mike Dye said he has counted 23 semis traveling on South Pinetree in the early afternoon. He urged the city to enforce the speed limits and the no large truck rule on that road.

“The road needs to be resurfaced,” he said. 

Will Sheftall said that if the semis and tankers are kept off the road, the pavement will last longer. He also asked for more police patrols to keep enforce the 35 mph speed limit.

“That will improve safety,” he said. “If we three-lane it, we increase the traffic flow and increase the traffic load. If we had a little slower traffic, that would make it safer.”

Marcia Millere said she is in favor of a plan that includes sidewalks.

“I do travel that way and there are pedestrians out there,” she said. “There are bike riders out there and they need to have a safe place. It is a mode of transportation.”

The possible right-of-way acquisition needed also worried residents.

“When that much land is taken from the sidewalk, I don’t have a buffer,” said Stephanie Tillman. “There is a row of trees that separates my house from the yard. I am concerned the moment that buffer is reduced, there is not much that separates me from what happens on the sidewalk. I am deeply troubled that we are not solving a problem. I wish somebody would tell me there was a problem. I am all for resurfacing roads. I don’t want to give up that sort of barrier.”

Kevin Fuchs, who lives on South Pinetree, said he had contacted several city council members but had not gotten any response as to why the city was going to do the work.

“Sidewalks and wide streets all sound very good until you realize this project is going to cost $83 an inch,” he said. “When was the last time the government came in or under budget on anything?”

Former city engineer and assistant city manager Jerry Pionessa, who lives in the area, lobbied to resurface the road and not to pursue the two design options currently offered.

“I’m recommending we take this gift and use that to resurface the entirety of South Pinetree, all the way from West Jackson to Old Monticello Road,” he said. “And take what’s left over and look at some intersections and some turn lanes. There is no need to add curb and gutter. The city can come back in put in sidewalks and some trails on some sections.”

Pionessa said the road project would not bring in any extra revenue, through either increased property values or through sales taxes derived from economic development, to support expanding the investment in a new road.

Through an intergovernmental agreement between the city and Thomas County, the city took ownership of that section of South Pinetree Boulevard. The state Department of Transportation will provide a $3 million grant toward work along South Pinetree. One of the requirements for the grant, Pionessa said, was either the city or the county had to own the road. 

The city has planned water and sewer lines improvement to coincide with any road work. City officials said regardless of what happens with South Pinetree, the water and sewer work will be accomplished.

“We were trying to time that with this project.” White said. “It needs to be done,”

Funding for water and sewer improvements is expected to come from the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority. 

Council member Jay Flowers said no city council decision has been made on how to proceed with South Pinetree Boulevard improvements. He said he supports leaving South Pinetree from West Jackson to Old Monticello alone and putting in turn lanes where needed. He also backed roundabouts over four-way stops.

“But that is just one opinion,” he said to the audience. “We want to make sure you have in your hands the correct information. Your input should now help mold that decision.”