The joint Bulloch County and Statesboro Long Range Transportation Development Planning process is nearing completion, with the draft Master Plan now under review and the final public open house meeting took take place on Thursday, September 19, 2024.
A series of four public meetings, starting September of 2023, has given citizens the opportunity to share their input with city staff and developers from Goodwyn Mills Cawood (GMC) planning and engineering firm, regarding the current and future transportation needs in the community.
Glenn Coyne, Senior Planner GMC, presented the updates on the planning process to the council during the September 17 work session.
Expertise from the Technical Advisory Committee and public involvement has led to the identification of 87 potential improvement projects, with the current fiscally constrained plan spanning from 2025-2029, identifying 28 projects to be funded through LMIG (Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant) and TSPLOST (Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax).
Projects were ranked on a 23 metric, eight category Prioritization & Evaluation Criteria scale. The Travel Demand Model, which shows the results of alternative scenarios of changes in transportation patterns in the future, was used to help assess the priority of the projects based on the following categories:
1. Congestion & Connectivity
2. Roadway Operations
3. Roadway Conditions
4. Active Transportation
5. Regional Mobility & Economic Development
6. Transit
7. Environment & Equity
8. Feasibility
TDM developed by experts, Modern Mobility, and Coyne emphasized that the transportation plan is about more than cars, trucks, and roadways; it includes bikes, pedestrians, sidewalks, and trails.
Local stakeholders urged for the inclusion of the regional mobility and economic development category, while federal funding for the project dictates that developers must asses needs based on the environmental impact, equity, and feasibility of the projects
City Manager Charles Penny says that the city intends to implement the transportation plan before the end of the year, and so far, they are on schedule.
After Thursday’s meeting, edits will be made to the Draft Long-Range Transportation Plan, before a final Master Plan will be adopted.
