Experts Warn Floyd and Bartow Residents in for
‘Rude Awakening’ if US 411 Connector is Built
Engineers doubt GDOT’s proposed Route D will provide the relief GDOT promises and see traffic jams on I-
75; environmental experts see troublesome impact in Bartow
May 19, 2010 02:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time
CARTERSVILLE, Ga.--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--The US 411 Connector is so poorly designed it could
actually exacerbate traffic between Floyd County and Atlanta while causing irreparable harm to the environment in
Bartow County. That’s the assessment of experts who detailed substantial deficiencies in Georgia Department of
Transportation (GDOT) plans for the proposed highway from Rome to I-75 during presentations for concerned
community and business leaders and elected officials.
Professional engineers (PE) showed that the design of the US 411 Connector alignment currently championed by
GDOT – Route D – does not fulfill GDOT’s promise to build a freeway for the residents of Rome and Floyd County
that will provide quick, safe access to I-75. Rather, Route D’s complicated interchange requires multiple traffic
lights, would not alleviate stop-and-go travel from Rome to I-75, and will actually increase traffic jams on I-75 itself.
“If the goal is to provide direct and efficient access to the interstate from Floyd County, then Route D isn’t it,” said
Lee C. Davis, an attorney for the Rollins family, whose Cartersville ranch would be bisected by Route D.
“Meanwhile, the residents of Bartow County would see Dobbins Mountain destroyed with collateral damage to
aquatic resources while the enormous expense of the project (to blast the mountain away) will siphon money from
other needed road projects. Everyone loses with Route D – so you have to wonder why GDOT continues to insist
on it.”
Davis notes that in addition to the inferior interchange design, GDOT has inexplicably planned Route D to go through
Dobbins Mountain, requiring an 800 foot wide, 125 foot deep gash to be blasted through the Bartow Co