Watkinsville strikes back

A little while back, I penned a column on the proposed widening of Simonton Bridge Road that ended with the following observation ...

In all likelihood, the Simonton Bridge Road project won't survive. Leaving aside the practical reasons for not pursuing it, there is ample community opposition to four-laning the corridor. However, the fact it was left on the list of projects by this representative body is troubling enough and a testament to the need for local citizens to be actively engaged in the process.

Well, color me wrong.

Apparently, MACORTS has bumped this project up its list of priorities and have it slated under their 'TIPS' program for implementation by 2013 ... this despite ample community opposition to the project and the lack of a formal request from the locals for the widening.

In turn, the Watksinville City Council has responded. At their meeting last night, the council designated eight homes along the road as historic properites. In addition, George Rodrigues, the current representative on the Oconee County Planning Commission, will also begin attending MACORTS meetings and report back to the council on decision that impact the town.

I emailed Brian to get his thoughts on the process, and he responded with the following ...

The city council reaffirmed its commitment to preserving the Simonton Bridge Road corridor within the city last night, and intends to work to preserve the character of the road outside the city as well by all means necessary. When we developed our long range land use plan, Watkinsville citizens highlighted Simonton Bridge Road as one of their favorite roads in the city. While we are not opposed to limited widening of existing lanes for safety and to accommodate cyclists, the majority of our citizens enjoy what is currently an historic and efficient corridor into town, and don’t want to see it change. We are also hopeful that we can get more regular and accurate communication from MACORTS and its representatives on projects that impact Watkinsville, and Tuesday night’s hearing was a good first step in that direction.

Both are savvy moves as the first dramatically impacts how any type of widening program could begin - or be executed - within Watkinsville city limits. It complicates the logistics of the widening, which is what I would assume they intended to do.

The latter is a solid strategic move, particularly considering that Watkinsville has five county roads and three state roads that bisect the town, yet, like other Oconee County municipalities, lacks representation on MACORTS.