A new episode of the controversial 25-plus year saga, “As Highway 44 Turns,” has been scheduled from 5-7 p.m. May 7.
Signs went up this week promoting a Public Information Open House at the Putnam County Administration Building on Putnam Drive.
Since the mid-1990s, the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) has been discussing widening State Route 44 – also known in Greene County as Lake Oconee Parkway – from two lanes to four lanes. Traffic caused by residential and business growth in the area was the big reason for the project.
The current plan is a 10.9-mile project starting near Willow Run Road, north of I-20 in Greene County, to Harmony Road in Putnam County.
GDOT’s Public Information Open Houses customarily put the current plans, with any changes, on display with representatives available to answer questions. This is followed by a comment period where interested parties can submit comments.
Contacts at GDOT could not provide any details about the May 7 meeting by press time.
Over the decades, the project has taken many turns, often caused by fierce public opposition. In 2012, it was a 22-mile project from I-20 in Greene County to just north of Eatonton where it turned to intersect with US Highway 441. By 2019, it had been cut in half to its present 10.9-mile route. Still, there was much negative feedback from residents at the lake and businesses along the entire route.
Businesses are worried that a four-lane highway with a center median would make it more difficult for customers to access their stores.
They pushed for eliminating the median, only adding a third lane that would be a center turn lane. They also supported roundabouts rather than streetlights to better handle traffic.
In 2021, GDOT announced that it would take the suggestion and put a roundabout at the intersection of Linger Longer Road near Publix.
More negotiations led to the addition of four more roundabouts along the route, but GDOT refused to cut the four-lane project down to two lanes and a center turn lane.
The project cost has exploded as the start of construction has been delayed by public, business, and political pressure.
In 2020, during COVID, GDOT posted plans on the internet and solicited feedback in what it said at the time would be the last time formal feedback would be accepted.
It is unclear what prompted the new public meeting.