Is Interstate 14 Dead? (Savannah: transporting, construction, safety)

[Stars&StripesForever]

Originally Posted by 912

Your responses show me you didn't understand the salient points I made. Also, US 301 does not lead to Augusta.

Really. How so? My point is that interstates serve not only for trucking and commerce, nor also for military movement, but also for the general movement of a population, for whatever reason. You're acting as though the military supersedes any other purpose.

You're right, 301 doesn't go to Augusta, but you need to get on 301 so that you can get to US 25 to get to Augusta. I simply left off US 25.

The fact that you don't understand why it would be named "I-3", even though I just described why, makes me question your ability to understand simple concepts. I mean, seriously...IS there a valid need for anyone to drive from Augusta to Macon?

I specifically told you why it's absurd to name it I-3. North South interstates begin in the single digits at the Pacific Coast, and they ascend to the nineties on the Atlantic coast. All interstates roughly follow this pattern. Putting an I-3 on the east coast would not match this pattern. Furthermore, I could care less whatever historic reason is given for an I-3 designation. Doing so not only delineates from this pattern, but it also makes navigation (for those without an atlas) slightly more confusing.

I didn't say that there was a valid need for a link between Macon and Augusta, as my argument is that I prefer to keep forested lands in-tact. However, a link would likely spur some additional economic development throughout the state, and it would link cities which aren't currently linked.

[River_Dawg]

Savannah Augusta and Knoxville arent linked. But I do agree that I-14 would be important for those who a faster way to South Carolina or Alabama.

[Southernbill]

Originally Posted by Stars&StripesForever

makes more sense than connecting all three of the fall line cities. To go from Columbus to Augusta, there is no interstate connection, unless you travel north to Atlanta and then east to Augusta. The Fall-Line cities would "possibly" benefit economically from a set-up, and it would "likely" bring greater investment into the state.

I doubt it would bring in more investment than the propose I-3 interstate. #1 I-3 would eliminate alot of the thru traffic on I-75 bound for the east coast of Florida also alot of the thru traffic of passenger vehicles. example (a trucker that starts in Indy bound for Jacksonville Fl. would have 2 choices #1 is I-65 south to I-24 east to I-75 south to US 82 east either to I-95 south or US 25 South to Jax. # 2 is I-74 east to I-75 south to I-40 east which in the winter is very treturous due to rock slides, mountainous terrain, and heavy snows and usually is impassable due to shutdowns so many continue on I-75 south.)

This is the same for traffic that originates in the following states Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, parts of Michigan and parts of Ohio. All of this traffic is funneled right into the heart of metro Atlanta when the alternative I-40 east is closed preventing them from reaching I-26 east to I-95 south. An I-3 connection in Knoxville, TN or to I-75 in North GA would reduce the amount of non local traffic on Metro Atlanta interstates.

#2 The port of Savannah would greatly benefit from being directly connected to all of these regions via interstate access. This would be a huge advantage over other Southeastern ports, i.e Charleston SC, Wilmington NC, and even Jacksonville FL.

#3 Due to the large expected volume along this interstate it would attract millions even billions of investment along the corridor from distribution centers and manufacturers. another example of this would be to look at the region around Greenville-Spartanburg SC with direct connection to the port of Charleston via I-26, the Midwest states via same interstate Northeast and Gulf coast via I-85 has become an attractive hub for these same types of investments.

for these reasons I would suggest I-3 should be more of a priority for the state than I-14. The state should invest in the idea of I-14 but only as a continuation/extension of I-16 use what ever funding sources that would be allocated for the Macon-Augusta portion to build I-3 from Augusta to Savannah saving taxpayers. This would give GA its long sought after East-West interstate across the entire middle GA, also complete almost half of the I-3 interstate at the same time.

Originally Posted by Stars&StripesForever

To go from Columbus to Augusta, there is no interstate connection, unless you travel north to Atlanta and then east to Augusta. The Fall-Line cities would "possibly" benefit economically from a set-up, and it would "likely" bring greater investment into the state.

I doubt it. It would be another I-16. From Columbus to Augusta you could travel I-16 extension to Macon and then US 129 to GA 49 to GA 24 to GA 88 all being constructed to 4 lane capacity though not limited access.
I-3 > I-14 plain and simple.

[mike7586]

I'd rather see an extension of I-185 from Columbus to I-10 in Florida.

[Southernbill]

what benefit would that be to the city of Columbus except to get to the beach faster what would that do for economic development.

[Columbus1984]

Originally Posted by mike7586

I'd rather see an extension of I-185 from Columbus to I-10 in Florida.

I agree. There is a study being done right now about extending it to Tallahassee.

[mike7586]

Originally Posted by Southernbill

what benefit would that be to the city of Columbus except to get to the beach faster what would that do for economic development.

You could route it near Albany and it would open up Columbus and Atlanta to South Georgia and the Florida panhandle/vice versa instead of having to drive through Alabama to get there.

[Columbus1984]

Originally Posted by mike7586

You could route it near Albany and it would open up Columbus and Atlanta to South Georgia and the Florida panhandle/vice versa instead of having to drive through Alabama to get there.

Exactly!

[midgeorgiaman]

These are all nice and as a Maconite I would love to have interstate access to Columbus and Augusta, BUT I honestly don't think there is a real need for an interstate. I drive to both regularly and the Macon to Columbus route, the completed Fall Line Freeway is awesome and I doubt converting it to an interstate would save more than 10 minutes. Not really a good use of funds in my opinion. The part of the Fall Line Freeway from Macon to Augusta will be finished eventually and I bet that it will be just as nice as the part from Sandersville to Augusta is done and nearly empty.

The cost vs the benefits of i-14 just isn't there. Spend the money building an outer loop toll road around the west side of atlanta similar to what Houston has. During rush hour, it would be worth every dollar of the toll amount to avoid Atlanta.



My vote is to put I-14 to bed. A 4 lane divided highway from Columbus to Macon to Augusta will meet the state's needs for at least the next 20+ years. Upgrading to interstate quality is extremely expensive and will save, what 20-25 minutes. Not exactly a good trade off for the money in my opinion.

[cwkimbro]

The east to west and north to south numbering system is primarily set up for roads ending in '0' and '5,' respectively.

One thing people should look at with many of these proposed routes... ultimately the real economic driver for building these routes isn't even to connect GA's cities (That is a sell to the public and an important local impact/byproduct of the projects). It is to connect truck traffic to and from Georgia's busy ports without going through Atlanta. In a weird sense... think of an Atlanta by-pass that is far enough away it won't become Atlanta. The busiest corridor for freight is I-16 and then northwest of Atlanta on I-75. So all of these concept plans are designed to move freight from the lower midwest towards GA's coast cheaply.

This is also one of the reasons why routes between Columbus and Augusta haven't really taken off. I know that isn't what people like to hear, since they are usually in the...where I want to go as a person mindset.

The southern Appalachian Mountains are a real barrier though. The reason Atlanta is built where it is was to be southern logistics hub around the Appalachians as opposed to through. It is that northern most point you can pass through without running into mountain obstacles for trucking or rail.

I'm not sure where that I-22 map came from (looks like Brunswick port/Birmingham boosters). If we went down that route... I think we need to make two changes. Connect into I-16 south of Macon. That road frequently used below capacity and Savannah is a much larger port. There is no reason to spend alot of money making a parallel route towards the coast.
On the northern section... don't terminate into Birmingham. Go between Birmingham and Atlanta and connect with I-59. Don't let the growth from these two cities bog down the road, which is primarily designed to make freight movement cheaper and more efficient.