Citizens Coalition for

Common Sense Interstates Macon

 

Macon Community Call to GDOT and FHWA for an

Environmental Impact Statement and Regionally-Appropriate,

Context-Sensitive Redesign of the I-16 / I-75 Interchange

 

            We, the undersigned, preserve, protect, articulate and interpret Macon’s culturally and historically vital assets and are charged with maintaining and enhancing Macon’s quality of life. We call for the reconsideration and a more context-sensitive redesign of the I-16 / I-75 interchange in the heart of our community as currently proposed by the Georgia Department of Transportation.  There is no doubt that the existing interchange was poorly designed and needs improvement.  However, the planned redesign for this interchange will so negatively impact our community that it is not an acceptable solution.  We contend that the needs and wishes of our community, as well as the ebb and flow of the interstate, should be equally considered when re-working and improving the transportation system through our city.  The current redesign gives very little accommodation to Macon as a vital and enduring community and, in fact, will irreparably harm many of our most important cultural and historic assets and neighborhoods.

 

            The connection of I-16 and I-75 in the heart of Macon has played an important economic part in our prosperity.  However, that connection came at a heavy community cost.  It severed, physically and psychologically, the heart of Macon from its body.  The interstate’s extensive construction in the Ocmulgee’s floodway, coupled with the project’s raising of the Macon Levee, increased the likelihood of more frequent and more damaging floods in our community.  The Ocmulgee National Monument and Ocmulgee Old Fields Traditional Cultural Property, as well as historic Rose Hill, Riverside and Linwood Cemeteries, were severely impacted and the proposed redesign will increase ongoing degradations.  I-16 / I-75 wiped out entire neighborhoods, isolating the remaining areas and causing widespread deterioration in our central city.  Historic East Macon (including the historic districts of Shirley Hills, North Highlands and Fort Hill), historic Pleasant Hill, the historic Vineville / Ingleside area, Winship Hills and the Ocmulgee River, itself, were separated from the historic Intown neighborhood, and from downtown, with expansive swaths of concrete.  Much of Macon’s historic and important connectivity was lost forever.  A half-century later we are just beginning to address the problems associated with the initial building of these interstates.  The interchange redesign, as now proposed, will do nothing to enhance our community.  It will, instead, do further physical, visual and audile damage to the fragile historic neighborhoods which will be impacted by this mammoth construction project. It is of paramount importance to the future of our community that any and all future remedies are well-thought-out and comprehensive in approach so that further harm is not done.

 

            One of Macon’s most important economic engines is heritage and cultural tourism.  Our cultural and historical assets make Macon unique and appealing to residents and tourists alike.  Our community is widely admired for its connection with its past and is nationally known for its historic preservation successes.  No small part of this is our ongoing efforts to revitalize our historic downtown, its adjacent neighborhoods and our riverfront.  These revitalization efforts are at a critical juncture and enormous amounts of private and public funds are being invested. In addition, our important museum-district, as well as our several house-museums, are facing difficult times.  Now is not the time to sabotage them with the building of such an ill-conceived impediment.    The building of a massive, 12-lane (or more),

interchange, at dizzying heights, with a huge footprint, adjacent to and, in fact, at the entrance to many of Macon’s historic and cultural assets is not compatible with these long-term plans and aspirations. The excessive design and size of the proposed interchange is anathema to the identity of Macon as a progressive and historic community.  Instead of improving access to our resurgent downtown it will, by design and because of the length of time our roads will be in turmoil, make it substantially more difficult to get there.  Instead of promoting tourism, with appealing and appropriate access to our many struggling museums and events, this over-built design will serve as a defacto “detour” sign driving visitors away, figuratively and literally.

 

            We, therefore, ask for a new and thoughtful approach to our regional transportation needs.  The current approach to solving the design problems of this interchange is too focused on the ill-conceived interchange itself and should be broadened to include regional, long-term solutions to the transportation systems in and around Macon. This new approach should focus on improving the connectivity of the road systems without overbuilding, without unnecessary and insensitive destruction, without endangering our historic and cultural assets, and without further damaging our historic neighborhoods.  The solutions should enhance our community, rather than diminish its quality of life.  The solutions should no longer turn a blind eye to the issues of environment and environmental justice. The new approach should include comprehensive regional planning for future harmonious growth in Middle Georgia.  And, the concerns of Macon’s citizens should be given full consideration instead of the short-shrift that has been cynically offered thus far.

 

            The interstate system is an important element in the American way of life and contributes immeasurably to it.  However, the needs of the interstate-traveling public cannot outweigh the needs of the local communities through which the highways are routed.  A balance must be found which accomplishes the interstate’s through-connection in a manner which does not further harm our community.  We respectfully request reconsideration and redesign of these projects, with a full, federally-mandated, Environmental Impact Statement.  We believe that a new, thoughtful and context-sensitive regional approach, combined with better and more progressive transportation thinking, will result in more fairly-balanced solutions for the needs of the interstate system and for our community.

 

            What we seek is a win-win outcome.  And we call on all those involved, on all levels, to address this situation with the respect our community deserves.

 

Altamaha Riverkeeper

A T Long and Son Contractors

Big House Foundation

Big “O” Foundation

Bragg Jam

Brown’s Mount Association

Cannonball House

Caution Macon

Changing Macon Social Club

Cherry Blossom Festival

Citizens Advisory Committee / MATS

Douglass Theatre

Eleventh Hour   

Federated Garden Clubs of Macon

Friends of Fort Hawkins

Georgia Chapter of the Sierra Club

Georgia Children’s Museum

Georgia Music Hall of Fame Foundation

Georgia Sports Hall of Fame

Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation

Hay House

High Street Unitarian Universalist Church

Historic Macon Foundation

Historic Rose Hill Cemetery Foundation

Huguenin Heights Neighborhood

I-16 / I-75 Improvement Project

   Advisory Committee of GDOT

Intown Macon Neighborhood Association

James and Jodi Palmer, Publishers

Junior League of Macon

Keep Macon-Bibb Beautiful Commission

Macon Arts

Macon-Bibb NAACP      

Macon Cemetery Preservation Corporation

Macon Civic Club

Macon Film and Video Festival (MAGA)

Macon Independent Restaurant Association

Macon Symphony Orchestra

Macon Tree Commission

Madison / Poss

Museum of Arts and Sciences

North Highlands Neighborhood

Riverside Cemetery

Rosa Taylor Area Neighborhood Watch

Shirley Hills Neighborhood

Sidney Lanier Cottage    

Sierra Club- Ocmulgee Chapter

St. Peter Claver School

Temple Beth Israel

The Black Pages

Theatre Macon

Vineville United Methodist Church

Vineville Neighborhood Association

We Care Group

Winship Hills Neighborhood