Parkway meetings to begin soon

Web posted June 29, 1998

By Jason B. Smith
Columbia County Bureau

Georgia Department of Transportation officials hope to begin public information sessions about the route of River Watch Parkway by early 1999, three years before the extension is scheduled for construction.

Joe Wheeler, a Georgia Department of Transportation design group manager overseeing the design of Riverwatch Parkway, said state planners have studied aerial photos of the area around Washington Road, Owens Road and Towne Center Drive since March, designing alternate alignments of the parkway.

``We are probably still a few months away from a public hearing,'' Mr. Wheeler said. ``We have to get our concept studied and approved, and with more than one possible route that could take a couple of months.''

Much of the initial design work will focus on two potential routes. The first is the original DOT extension, which would take the road across undeveloped land owned by the Mullins family to intersect with Owens Road at Washington Road.

Since that design was planned in the mid-1980s, however, extensive development has reshaped the area. Columbia County officials prefer a longer route that would intersect with Towne Center Drive, also known as Hereford Farm Extension.

Both proposals call for Riverwatch to extend along Old Petersburg to Old Evans Road. From there, according to DOT's original plan, the road would extend across undeveloped land and meet Washington Road at Owens Road. Columbia County officials want a lengthier route that would extend along Old Evans Road and intersect with Hereford Farm Road extension near Publix, about a mile west of the state's preferred plan.

After the public sessions in 1999, designers will choose one of the routes and finalize plans for the road. That process could take two years, but would still leave the road on schedule for 2002.

``As of right now, it is still on schedule,'' Mr. Wheeler said.

Earlier this year, Columbia County taxpayers were spared the expense of acquiring right of way to extend the parkway when DOT agreed to finance the entire project. Officials estimate the cost, which could involve more than 300 parcels of land, may exceed $20 million.