Fairburn Road Bridge Detour
Yesterday’s post was about the tree clearing going on at the Interstate 20 and Fairburn Road intersection, as preparations are being conducted to build a new 10 lane bridge to support the widening of Fairburn Road and the I-20 HOV Project. Foliage on both sides of the existing bridge has been removed, while some businesses in the area were demolished earlier last year.
Losing Georgia has come across a document that displays the temporary detour for the Fairburn Road Bridge, stretching for a half mile as it crosses over I-20. Beginning after the Captain D’s going eastbound, the detour will begin curving to the right affecting the front parking lot of K.F.C. Moving forward the temporary roadway will cut through the lots that formerly housed Burger King and Island Flavas.
The westbound on-ramp will shift slightly to the left into the Island Flavas parking lot, taking out some shrubs behind the fence line. Vehicles will proceed over I-20 intersecting the current eastbound off-ramp, moving through the vacant lot that used to have a Shell station, to relinquish with the existing roadway just past Shawnee Trail.
It looks as though the eastbound off-ramp will shift 150 feet to the right where Slater Mill Road originally intersected Fairburn Road. The eastbound on-ramp looks undisturbed for the time being, however there is no connection between the detour and the on-ramp. There are no details about how wide the detour will become, but the diagrams illustrate between 2 and 4 lanes.
To find out more about the detour, Losing Georgia has prepared a small tour in Google Earth that displays the businesses that will be/have been affected and overlays of the diagrams for viewing. Also check out the I-20 HOV Project document folder for more information.
Downloads
- Fairburn Road Bridge Detour - PDF (2 MB)
- Fairburn Road Bridge Detour for Google Earth - KMZ (2.8 KB)
Cannibalization of businesses at its best. The sheer irony of it all. Thank you, Douglasville, Douglas County and the state of Georgia for allowing this **** to happen.
January 30th, 2007 at 11:52 amThink long-term, Anonymous. In the long-term, this widening will create more businesses than it is taking in the short-term. The fast-food chains will return and so will the gas stations. Trust me.
I’m more worried more about the effects of the already-visible Hwy. 92 widening south of I-20. That widening, along with the 10-lane bridge could spell trouble. I live nearby and don’t want it too become over-developed. It’s been in need of some development for quite a while, in my opinion.
G
January 30th, 2007 at 1:50 pmI agree with Gingle. The overall tone this website projects seems more often than not be of what’s being “lost”, rather than what will be gained. Or, more accurately, what things are shifting to rather than what they were.
Progress, in terms of infrastructure and business development, has its costs. With the growth of metropolitan Atlanta over the past decade, one would really have to be living in their own closed-in world to not EXPECT that a town ONLY 20 MINUTES FROM DOWNTOWN that sits on A MAJOR INTERSTATE would not soon be directly affected by surburban sprawl. It’s crazy.
There isn’t a single town (or city) within 20 miles of downtown that sits on one of the major highways that hasn’t “blown up” (development-wise). Douglasville just happens to be one of the last affected.
So instead of “doom and gloom”, and getting people to think negative of the changes that are going on, why not spend more time and effort focusing on how best to adapt to the growth and changes that ARE going to take place (whether it’s under the current political regime or future ones)?
As a rather long-time resident (9 years) who was here before Arbor Place Mall, I love the growth and development. It’s just the schools I’m a little nervous about. And I’ve actually been rethinking my position on that, and am much more opportunistic than I was.
I believe that this county has the opportunity to become a model for the rest of the sprawled counties in metro Atlanta (Cobb, Clayton, Dekalb, Gwinnett). Despite it’s challenges the county does have many things going for it now that it didn’t have before the surge in growth (including a much larger tax base). Be a little more optimistic moving forward, LosingGeorgia. Because there are no shortage of “doom and gloom” old-timers in this county as it is.
January 31st, 2007 at 9:01 amLFE,
I’ll be honest with you, I have lived here all my life (25 years) and do not consider myself an old-timer or one of the “good ole’ boys”. Maybe I do dwell on the negative, make controversial posts and put light on issues that feel forgotten about, but does that make me a bad person?
Douglas County can become a role model for West Georgia, I certainly wish it would, but I have very little say in that matter. I have no opposition to development, but the practices in which development has occurred over the last few years. Then there are issues about the environment, buffers, school system, transportation system and history.
I have created this website by my own volition to make people aware of what is happening in Douglas County, provided resources like a development tracking system, statistics on growth, a tour in Google Earth that the Development Authority uses in-house, a document database and a place were people can converse. I don’t know if any of those resources have been helpful to you, but I hope they are.
There will always be positives and negatives in a booming community, I understand that because it is a fact of life. No one asked me to do this project of mine, I just took some initiative for a change instead of sitting around on the coach gloating about how things could be better. There are always positives events occurring in the county being reported in the Sentinel, Neighbor and other media, but when I want more of the story I can’t find it.
I’m trying my best to give out information in multiple mediums, no matter the content, to make awareness and hopefully educate some residents. I’ve been threatened about my documentary, been warned to stop and move away, yet residents e-mail to keep going. What should I do?
January 31st, 2007 at 9:57 amI understand your position. Whether or not you intended, you must realize that you’ve entered the highly divisive and emotionally sensitive world of politics. That is clearly evident by the diverse responses you see here.
What I try to do when visiting a site that deals with local issues, and makes commentary on the decisions of local politicians, I try to see if I can discern the mission. Is it to just give the news as it is, or does the site take a position? Is it to steer opinion one way, or encourage people to critique/research the content and form their own opinion. The latter is GREATLY missing from any internet blog site. Especially when involving issues of political origin.
I think it’s safe to say that you’re not very happy about what you see happening to your native county, and you’re free to post your opinion about that. After all, it’s your website and you can post whatever you want. But with the increasing attention that “losinggeorgia.com” is getting, and the influence it has (and will continue to have) on people’s opinions, I see this website as a wonderful opportunity to help facilitate and make the MOST of the changes.
You haven’t called for any protests, haven’t asked the citizens to take any actions, or anything. And I see much more disgust in the articles, than inspiration.
I personally think that with your concerns you would at least try to gather people with like concerns to “take up arms”, if you will, against the powers who are “destroying” the quality of life in your home county. Call people to action, have people to do a “losinggeorgia.com” luncheon somewhere so they can exchange ideas and prevent some of this stuff you’ve complained about. Otherwise this will just be a place where people will gather and b*tch about their problems, blame others who aren’t the root cause of the problems and, in the end, nothing will improve.
February 1st, 2007 at 5:28 pmI think most of us realize that development can’t be given a blanket characterization. It isn’t necessarily bad or good - it depends on the circumstances. Ideally each project is evaluated on its merits.
Probably like most any other place on the map, Douglas residents have varying opinions and levels of concern about development and exactly what constitutes quality of life. Some of those opinions will lean toward one extreme or the other.
My personal opinion is that we ought to have appropriate development at a reasonable pace with the least possible environmental impact. I get as excited when I see dollars being invested in projects in long-neglected areas (e.g., Fairburn Road) as I get upset when I see a builder take the easy way out and clear cut an entire subdivision-sized area of land. But what in my opinion is appropriate development might be raping the land to the next guy, and my concern over water pollution might be dismissed as a typical tree hugger overreaction by someone else.
My point is that even though they have differing opinions, because of this web site people are starting to talk. We are starting to exchange opinions. Those on the extreme ends may never get their way, but I bet they bring up some food for thought even if many others don’t agree with them. In the end I think everyone can have some impact on the discussion if they make a genuine effort to do it intelligently and respectfully.
Douglas residents do need this forum. There really isn’t a place for discussions like those you’ve sparked here. Not a lot of substance is being reported on in or about Douglas County, unless things have changed significantly since I quit reading the Sentinel. The two local papers are filled with nice, folksy slice-of-life stories and some governmental goings-on, but not anything we can consistently rely on and certainly nothing hard-hitting, despite the fact that it’s on occasion been called for. The AJC doesn’t seem to even consider Douglas as part of the metro area unless someone committs murder or there’s a big drug bust here. It’s time that changed.
I’m sorry you’ve been threatened. You must be hitting a nerve. I don’t always agree with everything you post, but I do appreciate the fact that you have the concern and make the time to do it. I do hope this forum and the rest of your project continue into the foreseeable future.
February 1st, 2007 at 5:49 pmI’m going to take a few days off, walk away from the project to let myself sort out some things. Maybe I’ve become complacent after almost 2 years of doing this project, venting my frustrations and not allowing the better parts take light. And yes, the website is becoming more and more popular - the visitors keep increasing.
I don’t know if I ever will make a difference, all I know is that I tried to do something for a change.
February 1st, 2007 at 9:17 pmI think this is a sign that you’re doing something RIGHT. I think people (possibly the powers that be in Douglas County?) are thinking you’re causing people to rethink all of this progress that the government has been saying is good for the county, good for the local economy, creating local jobs, etc…but it isn’t good for the quality of life. And you’ll have people telling you that you shouldn’t talk about this or that but I think all the more reason to talk about it. Remember, the first amendment is freedom of speech, and no one can ever stop you from telling citizens what the Sentinel won’t–that traffic is bad, we do have crime problems (including a gang problem), drug problems, and road problems. I always thought the local gov’t made a deal with the Sentinel not to publish negative news–ever notice when something has happened on the police scanner, it’s not in the paper? There’s usually a photo of a kid feeding the ducks at the park. We need a newspaper (which is quickly becoming the Neighbor, but needs to be on a daily basis) that isn’t afraid to talk about every issue that plagues the county. And until that happens, we have this wonderful website called Losing Georgia.
Continue with the website. It is NEEDED.
February 1st, 2007 at 10:15 pmI agree that, if at all possible, you should try and continue things, Andrew. Your website has definitely made a difference in my life. My family, who I send many of your updates, say the same. The website design is great, the content and writing are informative and up-to-date. Keep up the good work.
I would think you could round up a few volunteers to help with some of the work associated with updating the site. How about making a plea for some help via the website? Just a thought.
Good luck with whatever you choose, Andrew
Gingle
February 2nd, 2007 at 8:38 pmWe stopped taking the Sentinel several years ago because it appeared mainly to be repeat stories from the AJC; therefore, we welcome this informative website (and we may not always agree with some of the postings, but they are sometimes quite enlightening.) When we moved to Douglas County 32 years ago the only “fast food” was the Dairy Queen so evidently SOME PEOPLE must like the growth, given the vast crowds in all of the local restaurants most of the time. Remember, folks, “No pain, no gain! Keep up the good work, Andrew - SOMEBODY is reading your work!
February 2nd, 2007 at 10:36 pmAndrew, I really appreciate losing georgia. It is clear that you have put an enormous amount of energy into this project. For someone your age to tackle this type of website and care enough about your community is inspiring. I would say you can take any tone you want and express any opinion you have-its your site. You have done enough by having the site, I don’t think you should feel compelled to take it a step further and call “people to arms”. Let others be involved and help. With the enormity of what you have taken on and the negative feedback you sometimes get — sounds like you need some support on a consistent basis. I would really miss the site if it didn’t continue. I think Douglas County needs this kind of forum. Hope you come back from your break with a renewed spirit!
February 3rd, 2007 at 6:36 amThis site is good and so is the project on 92. Lets face it, its extremely congested. Either we need to widen or we need people to move out. I doubt anyone in local gov wants people to move out.
October 8th, 2007 at 9:52 pm