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The Henry County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously at its Jan. 20 regular meeting to approve a resolution of “non-support” for the idea of an inland port being located anywhere within the county. Calling it a “massive freight operation” that would involve the loading and unloading shipping containers, the resolution stated that such a development “would subject Henry County residents to harmful emissions and noise, including increased roadway congestion and environmental concerns.”
While reaffirming their support for transportation options that reduce freight traffic on county roads, the commissioners said they do not support any rezoning or issuance of development permits that would allow inland port use, and they asked the Georgia Port Authority not to attempt such a project in Henry County.
A new interchange with Bethlehem Rd and I-75 was in their SPLOST IV (They are on V now) package several years back for $5m local match with GDOT. This has been on the regional transportation plan for some time.
GDOT has moved ahead with the project and they have even engineered it into the Truck only lanes being built, so there will be a truck exit.
The area around this exit is zoned to be industrial and has little to no existing residential built on the road and is mostly greenfield development.
And now there is a local partisan gridlock stopping Henry's payment into this from the already voted on SPLOST plan.
The Norfolk Southern railroad tracks are a short-proximity to the interchange and Norfolk Southern happens to own 300+ acres in that exact area between I-75 and the railroad tracks directly where the new interchange would go. No one has plans to do anything there, but there is speculation that an intermodal terminal from Norfolk Southern could be in the long-range plans on their end. However, it actually looks like a great potential idea that doesn't need to affect existing residents of Henry Co. much at all.
Even though there are no plan's, it actually seems like the best possible way to build an inter-modal facility. No trucks driving through local roads, located right at an interchange and located right at an interchange with direct ramps to truck-only lanes.
To me this whole thing is silly, because it likely won't affect the existing residents of the county much at all. It's a new interchange on a road situation to be a connector, not a thru-traffic road. It will get a dedicated exit to truck only lanes and if an in-land port was ever built, it would be right next to that exit and the new interchange.
This area being industrial could easily be segregated from residential areas and have net-positive impact for residential commuters in other areas. The industrial growth in the area is a huge tax benefit for the citizen's of Henry County. These are the things that helps fund the government and schools.
What I feel ls really going on is Henry County in the last 5-15 years has done a horrible job near McDonough in allowing new residential neighborhoods to be built in the industrial zoned area. It should be highlighted that much of the problem area's are land being annexed by the City of McDonough along I-75 as developers want to build. This in-turn is created an anti-industrial development backlash.
The reality is Henry County and McDonough need to get their act together. They have good plans. They just need to move forward with them and not sabotage their pre-existing planning. They can't stop growth demand. It is coming and it is a fool's errand to assume otherwise. What they can do is make sure it is built for the future better.
If they were smart, they can get the benefits of both world's, create a good contained industrial district with an exist at Bethlehem Rd and keep residential neighborhoods and commercial areas away from that development and exit.
If they are smart they can get the job and tax benefits of future industrial development, while keeping other areas segregated. You couldn't ask for a better set-up to reap the rewards of industrial development.
Also, this isn't just a North vs. South Atlanta thing. The largest industrial corridor in town is still the Northeast, barely, which is North Dekalb, Gwinnett, and into Hall County. Gwinnett has plenty of white-collar jobs, a couple of Fortune 500 companies, and maintains higher median household incomes. However, it is full of industrial and related hybrid uses. If anything they play it as a strength as operating light development/manufacturing facilities for engineering-based tech companies.
Dont know what to feel about that, I personally wouldn't be rejecting business growth at a time like this though.
Turning down lucrative economic development opportunities (one of the very few economic development opportunities remaining at all after March 2020) during a severe economic downturn?
It appears official that Henry County government leaders have officially lost their minds.
It’s probably worth noting that at the same meeting Henry County commissioners gave the green light to the rezoning of a 96-acre plot of land to be the site of a large residential development containing both detached single-family homes and condominiums.
So in one breath the Henry County Board of Commissioners green lights a large new residential development and in the next breath sends yet another very strong statement rejecting one of the very few economic development opportunities remaining during a continuing economic crisis... A lucrative economic development opportunity that would help Henry County to financially support the large residential development that Henry County commissioners just approved immediately before the inland port.
It must feel really great for a governing body like the Henry County BoC to be so completely divorced from reality.
Maybe instead of demonstratively rejecting one of the very few lucrative economic development opportunities remaining during a transformative economic crisis, the Henry County BoC should be formulating a plan to handle the increased traffic that an inland port would generate.
But this fixation on chasing white-collar corporate headquarters and office development during an era where new office development is no longer even viable just seems to be economic malpractice at best and just plain outright economic suicide at worst.
Do Henry County commissioners not understand that there basically is no new office development being built at all right now?
Heck, many commercial property owners are asking what they are going to do with the tons of nearly-worthless existing office development they do have.
And yet Henry County commissioners seem to have deluded themselves into thinking that they have the luxury of turning down all new industrial development so that they can chase the loads of new office development opportunities that no longer exist.
I have mostly remained neutral in this discussion, bit I do think it's time to finally speak up and offer a more nuanced perspective.
First of all, regarding the Georgia Inland Port, I absolutely believe that Henry County is in the right to soundly reject the proposal. It is an initiative that the State of Georgia is pushing for, thus it's also a burden that the State of Georgia should bear 100% of the cost for. If the state thinks they can just arbitrarily impose this idea on Henry County without paying for the infrastructure to address the significant increase in noise, pollution and semi-truck traffic it will bring, then frankly they should go pound sand.
Getting back to the broader discussion, I'm not suggesting the leaders in Henry County are entirely blameless here. At one point in time, they were rubber stamping these logistics projects left and right under the guise of becoming "the next Gwinnett County" while only seeing the IMO marginal amount of additional tax revenue they brought in (given the disproportionate strain they have put on the county's infrastructure). I do think Henry County would interesting case study in textbooks about why growth simply for the sake of growth is not always a good thing. I actually hope other counties in Metro Atlanta and across the country will be wise enough to not repeat their mistake, but I can think of one another place that's headed the same direction any way.
That said, I also think the state of Georgia deserves just as much blame here for the problems Henry County currently face with the heavy intensity of logistics developments.
The reality is as things stand now, Georgia has the 2nd lowest per-capita expenditures in the country for roads. This shows BTW with Atlanta consistently being ranked as having amongst the worst traffic in the country despite only being the 9th largest metro in the country.
The state's constitution also makes it virtually impossible for counties to generate sufficient funds themselves to pay for necessary improvements to their roads to accommodate growth. TSPLOSTs for example require a voter referendum, which almost always get voted down (that's why as of 2018, Fulton County was the only place in Metro Atlanta with a TSPLOST). This is also why Henry County already has amongst the highest property taxes in all of Metro Atlanta. And individuals in the state legislature have been dead set on adding insult to injury by passing a cap on property tax increases.
Despite all of this, Georgia continues to do its part to exacerbate the strain on infrastructure by encouraging *MORE* logistics growth and subsequent freight traffic with ambitious plans such as major expansion of the Port in Savannah (whose traffic bleeds directly into Henry County) and tax policies that are excessively favorable towards industrial projects.
All of that said, the idea that the taxpaying citizens of Henry County should just grin and bear further degradation of their QOL for the sake of looking "business-friendly" to specific interests who have already proven they're not good stewards is hogwash, especially when they have a neighbor just to their west that gets praised for being especially picky about the type of development that occurs in their county. A slow down in break neck growth is not always a bad thing.
BTW, as far as residential developments, that's really a strawman argument as well as an apples vs. oranges comparison. Subdivisions don't generate the semi-truck traffic and noise/air pollution that logistics developments do.
Last edited by citidata18; 02-07-2021 at 07:12 AM..
I have mostly remained neutral in this discussion, bit I do think it's time to finally speak up and offer a more nuanced perspective.
First of all, regarding the Georgia Inland Port, I absolutely believe that Henry County is in the right to soundly reject the proposal. It is an initiative that the State of Georgia is pushing for, thus it's also a burden that the State of Georgia should bear 100% of the cost for. If the state thinks they can just arbitrarily impose this idea on Henry County without paying for the infrastructure to address the significant increase in noise, pollution and semi-truck traffic it will bring, then frankly they should go pound sand.
Getting back to the broader discussion, I'm not suggesting the leaders in Henry County are entirely blameless here. At one point in time, they were rubber stamping these logistics projects left and right under the guise of becoming "the next Gwinnett County" while only seeing the IMO marginal amount of additional tax revenue they brought in (given the disproportionate strain they have put on the county's infrastructure). I do think Henry County would interesting case study in textbooks about why growth simply for the sake of growth is not always a good thing. I actually hope other counties in Metro Atlanta and across the country will be wise enough to not repeat their mistake, but I can think of one another place that's headed the same direction any way.
That said, I also think the state of Georgia deserves just as much blame here for the problems Henry County currently face with the heavy intensity of logistics developments.
The reality is as things stand now, Georgia has the 2nd lowest per-capita expenditures in the country for roads. This shows BTW with Atlanta consistently being ranked as having amongst the worst traffic in the country despite only being the 9th largest metro in the country.
The state's constitution also makes it virtually impossible for counties to generate sufficient funds themselves to pay for necessary improvements to their roads to accommodate growth. TSPLOSTs for example require a voter referendum, which almost always get voted down (that's why as of 2018, Fulton County was the only place in Metro Atlanta with a TSPLOST). This is also why Henry County already has amongst the highest property taxes in all of Metro Atlanta. And individuals in the state legislature have been dead set on adding insult to injury by passing a cap on property tax increases.
Despite all of this, Georgia continues to do its part to exacerbate the strain on infrastructure by encouraging *MORE* logistics growth and subsequent freight traffic with ambitious plans such as major expansion of the Port in Savannah (whose traffic bleeds directly into Henry County) and tax policies that are excessively favorable towards industrial projects.
All of that said, the idea that the taxpaying citizens of Henry County should just grin and bear further degradation of their QOL for the sake of looking "business-friendly" to specific interests who have already proven they're not good stewards is hogwash, especially when they have a neighbor just to their west that gets praised for being especially picky about the type of development that occurs in their county. A slow down in break neck growth is not always a bad thing.
BTW, as far as residential developments, that's really a strawman argument as well as an apples vs. oranges comparison. Subdivisions don't generate the semi-truck traffic and noise/air pollution that logistics developments do.
That’s a good point that the State of Georgia deserves much of the blame for not spending more on transportation infrastructure over the past several years and past few decades.
Though, like was mentioned earlier, the State of Georgia does have a $2 billion project on the books to build truck-only lanes between McDonough and Macon on Interstate 75... A project that (while far from perfect) does at least begin to address the issue of the growing amount of truck traffic that is being generated by Interstate 75’s connections to the exploding Port of Savannah and the perennially fast-growing population centers to the south in neighboring Florida.
I agree that the State of Georgia’s plans to further massively expand the Port of Savannah are very much likely (if not most assuredly) exacerbate the strain on transportation infrastructure by generating even more freight truck traffic along the I-75/I-16 corridor between Atlanta and Savannah, including through Henry County.
But what is the State of Georgia supposed to do? Not pursue the opportunity to expand one of the world’s busiest international seaports at the Port of Savannah (and the industrial development projects that comes with it) that has been a massive economic generator for metro Atlanta’s and Georgia’s economy?
Even if the State of Georgia has been far from perfect in their funding of and investment in ground transportation infrastructure (often at the behest of what very often has been and continues to be a tax-averse and infrastructure-averse voting public), the state would be wholly incompetent to not pursue an easy and obvious major (massive) economic development opportunity, just simply because some observers think that the economic development opportunity is weighted too heavily towards blue-collar/industrial development and not enough towards white-collar/office development (which as has been repeatedly noted, is mostly not viable right now and looks to remain unviable for the foreseeable future).
Even when it seemed and appeared to be more viable before the pandemic changed the world last year, white-collar/office development was pretty much only viable in a relatively very limited amount of locations (almost completely in Central and North Atlanta), while blue-collar/industrial development (including logistical development) can be viable almost anywhere there is a relatively close by population and/or base and a multi-lane highway... Especially along a major transcontinental Interstate superhighway route like I-75, and especially in outer-suburban/exurban Henry County where there is lots of land to develop large industrial facilities, including large warehouses and distribution centers.
Neighboring Fayette County does not face the same development pressures as Henry County because Fayette County does not have a major transcontinental Interstate superhighway route come directly through the geographical heart of its jurisdiction (and does not even have an Interstate superhighway enter that enters into the county) like I-75 (which connects the Great Lakes to Florida by way of Atlanta) runs directly through the geographical heart of Henry County.
And while Fayette County often may receive praise from residents who want to live in areas away from heavy commercial development, Fayette County notably struggled coming out of the late-2000’s/early-2010’s Great Recession economic downturn with its lack of direct Interstate superhighway access until the county became a massive hub for television and film production with the opening and operation of Pinewood Atlanta/Trilith studios outside of Fayetteville in about 2013.
With the major transcontinental superhighway route I-75 running directly through the geographical heart of the county, Henry County was always going to be a target for larger-scale commercial development requests, including roadside retail and light industrial development (including warehouses and distribution centers).
... Which is something that has not been anywhere near as bad as some have made it out to be considering Henry County’s history of struggles with poverty and social isolation before the Interstate system and the robust growth of metro Atlanta brought more economic opportunity than ever before to the once largely impoverished and isolated rural county.
No one is advocating “that the taxpaying citizens of Henry County should just grin and bear further degradation of their QOL for the sake of looking "business-friendly" to specific interests” who might not have been the most thoughtful in their approach to the management of growth and development in the past.
But Henry County residents also definitely should not take for granted the economic development opportunities that are frequently offered and afforded to their community because of its extremely advantageous location along a major transcontinental Interstate superhighway route (I-75).
Henry County residents most definitely should not take for granted the economic development opportunities being offered and afforded to them during a time (during a major and possibly even transformative economic downturn) when most other communities are not getting those economic development opportunities which they would love to have.
If Henry County residents are concerned about the possible degradation of their quality-of-life, they need to force their local government leaders to better manage those economic growth and development opportunities by pressuring them to press the state to invest more in transportation infrastructure upgrades to much better handle the increased freight truck traffic that is more than likely going to be generated no matter what with the county’s location on the extremely busy I-75.
Henry County residents also very likely need to press local Henry County government leaders to do a much better job of not permitting residential development so close to industrial development, like cwkimbro mentioned.
But what Henry County leaders and residents alike definitely should not do is start (and continue) actively running away industrial development opportunities because they think that somehow the county is suddenly going to become a magnet for white-collar commercial development (office towers and corporate headquarters) that is going to be on par with Northside business hubs like Buckhead, Perimeter Center, Alpharetta, etc.
That is because thinking that Henry County is suddenly going to become a major hub/draw for office towers and corporate development was not a realistic expectation before the pandemic and is even much less of a realistic expectation after the raging viral pandemic has pretty much rendered new office development completely obsolete for the foreseeable future.
I know that the blue-collar logistics and light-industrial jobs are not perfect and are not the most preferable for many, if not most Henry County residents.
But the blue-collar jobs help to build an economic base that is important, particularly in an extremely challenging economic environment where the desired flood of white-collar office jobs that many Henry County seem to want are not likely to ever really materialize to anywhere near the extent that they want.
Henry County needs to continue to do what it does best with the opportunities and resources that it has, which is to continue to attract light-industrial logistics development opportunities, particularly in a current economic environment where those basically are the only development opportunities available and more than likely will be the only real economic development opportunities available for the foreseeable future.
I have mostly remained neutral in this discussion, bit I do think it's time to finally speak up and offer a more nuanced perspective.
First of all, regarding the Georgia Inland Port, I absolutely believe that Henry County is in the right to soundly reject the proposal. It is an initiative that the State of Georgia is pushing for, thus it's also a burden that the State of Georgia should bear 100% of the cost for. If the state thinks they can just arbitrarily impose this idea on Henry County without paying for the infrastructure to address the significant increase in noise, pollution and semi-truck traffic it will bring, then frankly they should go pound sand.
The problem is this statement is packed with assumptions that are false. Not a difference of opinion, but false.
You're positing this as merely a thing that the evil state is trying to push costs onto the poor local government to build and inland port and it isn't the reality at all.
1) There are actually no plans for an inland port; Norfolk Southern owns the property, causing speculation. It could be for a future terminal or it might not be. That cost would be on them, unless the Georgia Ports Authority get involved.
2) IF the Georgia Ports Authority gets involved, the state and the railroad mostly funds it. They've built 3 so far, almost completely state-funded with some funds from the railroad.
3) IF a inland port or rail terminal was built there, GDOT is actively planning and paying a great deal for the interchange at Bethlehem RD and has tried to incorporate a ramp to the truck only lanes projects, which Henry Co. delays is sabotaging, likely pushing such a ramp to the next exit.
4) The new interchange will likely cost in the range of $40m-$50m from start to finish, which the previously agreed local match for is $5.5m and covered by the SPLOST IV package voters already voted 'yes' to with this included in that package in the past. This is not something built just for the inland port. It will greatly increase local land values by making land more accessible, so clearly the state and federal government is not ignoring transportation infrastructure costs in this area. This funding style is just how it has occurred across the state. Gwinnett has actually aggressively funded far more than this in similar projects, actually. So it less funding than what some local locations are doing in local areas.
5) The positioning of these assets couldn't be any better for limiting the effects you're concerned about.
6) Lastly, so no one forgets and to re-emphasize. There is no inland port plans for Henry Co. at all currently. This is speculation only. The county should probably welcome the free state funded upgrade, if given the chance.
Quote:
Originally Posted by citidata18
Getting back to the broader discussion, I'm not suggesting the leaders in Henry County are entirely blameless here. At one point in time, they were rubber stamping these logistics projects left and right under the guise of becoming "the next Gwinnett County" while only seeing the IMO marginal amount of additional tax revenue they brought in (given the disproportionate strain they have put on the county's infrastructure). I do think Henry County would interesting case study in textbooks about why growth simply for the sake of growth is not always a good thing. I actually hope other counties in Metro Atlanta and across the country will be wise enough to not repeat their mistake, but I can think of one another place that's headed the same direction any way.
The problem with Henry Co., and we must bring the City of McDonough in this discussion, is they made zoning plans that made sense with industrial areas west and South of McDonough being secluded to areas along the freeway with residential areas further east and west secluded in quieter areas. They're are a couple of industrial facilities that built outside these areas, but not many. The real problem is they are zoning residential areas significantly inside the industrial zoned areas, as well as built schools and parks in the industrial zoning, rather than in the residential zoned areas from their comprehensive planning documents. This places residential homes in the industrial area, but it also causes problems for future industrial growth not having adequate seclusion from residential areas as they have to look for properties further away from I-75 in the future.
They're rubber stamping residential zoning in the industrial area, while pretending they can outright stop industrial growth. The problem is this self sabotage is going to leave them with problems in the future.
Gwinnett isn't perfect, however in this manner, most industrial districts and parks built in the '60s into the '90s when Gwinnett was rapidly being built did keep residential neighborhoods from being built on land where they would surrounded by warehouses on 2 or 3 sides in most areas. There were balanced plans where each land use type was suppose to go, so they could be kept apart more and not as inter-mixed.
The problem here isn't a 'growth-for-the-sake-of-growth' mentality. It is simply self-damaging permitting that ignores comprehensive planning. The growth is going to come, like it or not, but you have to stick to the existing comprehensive plan that provides balance to land uses. If you allow residential neighborhoods to be built anywhere, while trying to stop industrial growth, later on when Industrial growth demand surges and the county gets involved in more lawsuits over land owners rights, what is going to happen is industrial facilities will be forced to build on land further from the freeway and more inter-mixed with residential areas. It's a bad way to go. If they plan for it and stick to the plans, they can direct the growth in ways that minimize problems. Right now Henry Co. is shooting themselves in the foot and much of it is a side-effect of anti-business populism and indirectly makes things worse in the future as land-uses state inter-mixing more.
Quote:
Originally Posted by citidata18
That said, I also think the state of Georgia deserves just as much blame here for the problems Henry County currently face with the heavy intensity of logistics developments.
The reality is as things stand now, Georgia has the 2nd lowest per-capita expenditures in the country for roads. This shows BTW with Atlanta consistently being ranked as having amongst the worst traffic in the country despite only being the 9th largest metro in the country.
The state's constitution also makes it virtually impossible for counties to generate sufficient funds themselves to pay for necessary improvements to their roads to accommodate growth. TSPLOSTs for example require a voter referendum, which almost always get voted down (that's why as of 2018, Fulton County was the only place in Metro Atlanta with a TSPLOST). This is also why Henry County already has amongst the highest property taxes in all of Metro Atlanta. And individuals in the state legislature have been dead set on adding insult to injury by passing a cap on property tax increases.
This is a whole new topic and you're looking for an excuse to shift blame to another topic. The region is growing and we are major inland hub due to geography. This causes demand for industrial uses, which also provides jobs and tax revenue. You can plan for it well and stick to the plans or you can ignore them.
Henry County has consistently voted for a SPLOST package that funds many transportation improvements. They could get more through TSPLOST, but have not created a single-county TSPLOST to propose. TSPLOST is not the only, 'nor has it been the common funding mechanism for county-level infrastructure improvements in the past in most places in the state past or present.
By you're own source Georgia -was- 5th lowest, not 2nd lowest. However, much of that was changed from the transportation funding act only passed in the 2015 legislative session. Georgia has far more funding coming online -right now-, hence all of the major interchange projects, the truck only lanes, increase HOT lanes, and yes... paying for things like an interchange at Bethlehem Rd @ I-75. The state has been changing and on the Bethlehem Rd interchange project it is Henry Co. causing problems and not the state, even those it Henry County will be the lasting beneficiary of it. Much of this is coming from 'new suburban county anti-development populism.' The funding is there and the state is actively trying to work on that very project and it putting money into that very areas in more ways than one.
Atlanta is also not 'the' worse when it comes to traffic. That is a bit misleading. Truth is most cities over 4 million people are all near the top of the list and consistently have the same problems. We are ranked similarly as our peers in the 4m~8m population range. Through all of the year-to-year shifts Washington DC, Houston, Dallas, Miami, etc... are in the same camp and frequently ranked ahead of us and sometimes right behind us. This isn't to say there isn't a problem, but we can't downplay our peers and ignore the causality of the size of the metro region.
Henry Co. also had the HOT lanes built for them and state funds and will get benfits from thr truck only lanes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by citidata18
Despite all of this, Georgia continues to do its part to exacerbate the strain on infrastructure by encouraging *MORE* logistics growth and subsequent freight traffic with ambitious plans such as major expansion of the Port in Savannah (whose traffic bleeds directly into Henry County) and tax policies that are excessively favorable towards industrial projects.
All of that said, the idea that the taxpaying citizens of Henry County should just grin and bear further degradation of their QOL for the sake of looking "business-friendly" to specific interests who have already proven they're not good stewards is hogwash, especially when they have a neighbor just to their west that gets praised for being especially picky about the type of development that occurs in their county. A slow down in break neck growth is not always a bad thing.
You're shooting yourself in the foot here when you take all of your arguments in context.
Industrial Properties -do- pay property tax, as set by the local governments, and they do not get a homestead exemption and it is to the financial benefit of the county and it's citizens.
It is these types of developments that directly allow for lower property taxes for all, while still being able to fund schools and other government services. It is the lack of commercial and industrial growth that can put a financial strain on a county and increase taxes.
Henry County's tax rates are higher due to the lower property values found in South Atlanta. Forsyth and Fayette Counties are unique in that they are mostly homogeneously upper middle income neighborhoods with more value, but people are actually making higher total dollar amount payments, despite the lower rate. This allows them to collect the same tax receipts with lower rates. Here is a good chart that captures this in a snapshot: https://smartasset.com/taxes/georgia...tax-calculator
A single large distribution warehouse commonly carries appraisals in the $25m~$80m range. A few outliers are smaller or larger.
One example I just chose at random, 1 Nestle Ct, is appraised at $38m, assessed at 40% with no exemptions at $15.2m and they paid an annual tax to Henry County for 2020 along at $583,000. The tax policies aren't more or less favorable towards industrial projects at all. They pay the same rates, without exemptions.
Now if the median residential property tax payment is $1,700/year. That means this one warehouse is the equivalent of 343 residential homes at median value for the area. The biggest millage rate is schools. Warehouses produce a great deal of money for local schools, while not increasing their student load at all.
More importantly, if commercial uses don't exist or grow at pace with new residential development, the local tax on residents will have to be higher to handle the new students and further increases taxes.
If you argue against industrial growth, high taxes, and let the residential growth continue to happen, you're arguing for a self-fulfilling cycle that will guarantee a need for higher taxes in the future.
Industrial properties aren't causing all of the burdens and are paying into the system, but the key as Henry Co. is growing now is they need to be cautious on zoning -where-, not trying to dictate away the tax digest improvements. They can take in the advantages of these industrial areas and minimize their effects on residences. They just need to follow the comprehensive plan that places these large industrial facilities along I-75, so trucks do not traverse local roads very far and are mostly contained to industrial areas next to the freeway.
Property taxes account for 57% of Henry County's general budget and almost all of the local spending to the school system's budgets. It is these commercial uses that that commonly fund close to half of the revenue from property taxes into these budgets.
In many ways Henry County is the financial beneficiary of being located on a major truck corridor leading to one of the East Coast's major ports heavily funded by the state of Georgia. This gives them a major tax digest advantage going into the future that some places do not get.
The state of Georgia is actually placing a great deal of money into the I-75 corridor, including in Henry Co. to better handle trucks, and if Henry County is smart they are the beneficiaries of the increased property tax payments for schools and police, thanks to transportation investment mostly from the state.
The Port of Savannah is the 3rd busiest in the nation. I'm glad that Georgia is accommodating the panamax ships and investing down there.
If logistics is a billion dollar industry here, I cannot understand why GDOT has done nothing to nurture that sector over the decades. Trucks back up on -85 Southbound queuing for 10 miles every weekday to get onto I-285 West Bound. That is the only option to go West other than the Southside of I-285.
And I-285 is shared with local traffic and those traveling across the Southeast states.
I realize now that Georgia simply doesn't like to build new roads.
The truck only lanes are fantastic and badly needed. But I-75 itself isn't ideal from Atlanta to Macon. It often get narrow and there's not even adequate space for emergency pull-overs. The pavement quality often has rough top patches that seem not to blend into the main pavement, and that's the one thing the state has been good about, smooth pavement.
It's a shame that they don't see the value in infrastructure for the movement of goods. Atlanta is the nexus of the Southeast. It should have the best connectivity with options.
Truck drivers hate traveling through New Jersey the most, and Atlanta is their 2nd most hated region. You can't blame them.
The Port of Savannah is the 3rd busiest in the nation. I'm glad that Georgia is accommodating the panamax ships and investing down there.
If logistics is a billion dollar industry here, I cannot understand why GDOT has done nothing to nurture that sector over the decades. Trucks back up on -85 Southbound queuing for 10 miles every weekday to get onto I-285 West Bound. That is the only option to go West other than the Southside of I-285.
And I-285 is shared with local traffic and those traveling across the Southeast states.
I realize now that Georgia simply doesn't like to build new roads.
The truck only lanes are fantastic and badly needed. But I-75 itself isn't ideal from Atlanta to Macon. It often get narrow and there's not even adequate space for emergency pull-overs. The pavement quality often has rough top patches that seem not to blend into the main pavement, and that's the one thing the state has been good about, smooth pavement.
It's a shame that they don't see the value in infrastructure for the movement of goods. Atlanta is the nexus of the Southeast. It should have the best connectivity with options.
Truck drivers hate traveling through New Jersey the most, and Atlanta is their 2nd most hated region. You can't blame them.
The normal continued hot-air complaining about all things Georgia and downplay everything that we have done, yet you never leave.
Georgia had a lull of investment beginning in the '90s, but it came after a surge in the '60-'80s and investment didn't entirely drop off or stop. Even during that lull Georgia was investing close to 1% GDP into the transportation infrastructure.
Much was invested into rural areas and much was invested into increasing the size of exurban arterial roadways in the Atlanta area when it from 3 million to 6 million and some capacity enhancements on existing freeways.
Georgia has invested a great deal to invest in itself as the natural inland hub it is for freight. The existing 3 inland port terminals, which are designed to get most traffic closer to our borders and way from I-75 and Atlanta, can carry nearly 50% of Savannah's current container loads.
It set up an expansive doublestack container Railroad network on many RR mainlines in Georgia an the largest amount in the Southeast carrying more intermodal freight than any other southeastern state.
They've also upgraded I-75 to a 3-lane freeway through the entirety of the state, 350 miles worth, and that has largely happened over the last several decades you keep criticizing.
It also was during this same era Georgia placed much funding into the GRIP program creating a large amount of 4 lane barrier separated mostly free flowing road network throughout rural Georgia trying to accommodate multiple routes and industrial investment throughout the state.
It was also during this time that the state heavily invested in the Port of Savannah helping make it what it is. It also helped set up a large amount of immediate rail and roadway connections to the port.
Now I-75 is 350 miles through the state of Georgia from Florida to Tennessee. The whole route is far from what you describe. It is intermixed with new pavement, moderately aged pavement, to heavily used pavement, and there is almost always some stretch that is currently being resurfaced across all 350 miles.
You're continued overreaction to complaining Georgia as all things bad and non-responsive is not accurate and gets old.
It isn't that we can't find agreement on some things, but it is that you're blatantly ignoring what Georgia has done and down play all of its successes and it weakens your credibility by only being negative.
Georgia is also a continual freight bottleneck, because it gets a greater share of freight traffic than most other locations do. That happens despite the greater investment in freight we have made. That comes with the territory of being the northern most inland hub before the Appalachian mountains cause a cost divide between the east and the west from traffic to the South.
Not to sidetrack this much, freight traffic is weaker on Atlanta's I-285 Northend, but it strongest from I-75 North going to I-75 South, which places much of the heavier freight traffic on I-285 westside and to a slightly more moderate extent I-285 eastside. It is the traffic flow linking Florida and the Port to the Midwest and to the Eastern Seaboard that is greatest. We have placed a great deal of investment into these areas.
It is a bit of an exaggeration to say trucks back up for 10 miles every day to get onto I-285 from I-85 Northside. Yes, during heavy traffic periods and during rush hour, like most heavily populated places, it backs up. However, it isn't a continual line of trucks for 10 miles al the time. It is rush hour in a region of 6 million on the heavily developed side of town traffic moves like it is rush hour in a metropolitan area of 6 million people.
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