I have a suggestion for Georgia Health Sciences University President Ricardo Azziz and for Paine College board members: Why not close the usage roads going through GHSU and Paine?
Go to Macon and see how they closed off College Street, where Mercer University is. When I first moved to Macon in 1984, you could drive through the university, and you were having to keep an eye out for students crossing the street at all hours. After a few years of cars hitting students, they finally closed that part of College Street, and it looks very nice. Go take a look on one of your road trips.
Kathy Wrye
Augusta
Kathy, sorry, your observation will be ignored. It makes too much sense. This is Augusta. There must be a political or racial concern to this issue, and debate will take several years. Too bad too. Because you are so right that it is stupid to not solve these problems quickly and efficiently.
Thank you Kathy for your honest and positive suggestion.
There is another precedent. The western edge of the Georgia Tech campus used to be a commuter thorofare called Hemphill Avenue, NW. In the late 60s, early 70s, Georgia Tech was able to get funding to acquire and raze low-income housing in the area west of Hemphill Ave. and build classrooms, the student activity center, and dorms over there. Students then had to cross Hemphill Ave., much to the ire of the Atlanta rush hour drivers. There were enough commuter/student collisions and near misses that Hemphill Ave. was finally closed and a nice bypass built for the commuters. It was a win-win, and it would be a win-win for Gazoo to close down Laney-Walker inside their campus footprint. I also support Paine College closing down Druid Hills if they need it for safety or expansion. There are plenty of ways for vehicles to get where they are going downtown. We would never miss the loss of those little sections of road.
soapy... .... switch yards are counter productive? with the rising cost of gas Augusta's existing railroad infrastructure will probably prove to be invaluable in the coming years. without them we might as well stop soliciting new industry/ supporting current industry. closing Laney Walker and Druid Park Ave. should not cause an appreciable traffic buildup on Walton Way or Wrightsboro Road.
I'm with onnomnom; railroad switchyards are essential to get goods to their intended markets. The rails are the veins and arteries. The highways are the capillaries. You need both to make markets work.
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