The read

From my Sunday column in the Athens Banner-Herald ...

However, thanks to a recommendation from the Madison Athens-Clarke Oconee Regional Transportation System, Simonton Bridge Road is on a slate of expansion projects that could result in it being expanded from two lanes to four. The proposed widening would alter forever its historic nature by wiping out vast portions of downtown Watkinsville, including parts of First Christian Church at the corner of Main Street and Simonton Bridge Road.

So much for serenity.

Of course, such a proposal doesn't make any sense given that the widening wouldn't extend across the county border. The four-laning of Simonton Bridge Road would end at the Athens-Clarke County line where the project would funnel back into just two lanes at Whitehall Road.

In addition, the Watkinsville City Council voted unanimously to oppose the project with Mayor Jim Luken and Councilman Brian Brodrick formally registering their disapproval during the official comments period offered by MACORTS.

Furthermore, as Luken noted at a recent council meeting, the Georgia Department of Transportation notified the city's officials that Simonton Bridge Road did not meet the state's criteria to qualify for the widening, thus potentially making the entire issue moot.

To be sure, why an unwanted road expansion project that doesn't meet state requirements and would occur only in the less populated, less congested county rather than in the urban hub of Northeast Georgia was approved in the first place is a puzzling question.