Are they ever going to link some of the smaller freeways in Savannah to I-95? (Garden City: buy)

[Stars&StripesForever]

Are they ever going to link some of the freeways in Savannah to one another, such as linking the Truman Parkway to Veterans Parkway? Why don't they extend Truman Parkway to I-95 and Veterans Parkway? Why not extend I-516 northward to Port Wentworth and I-95? Why not extend I-516 eastward on the sound end to the Truman Parkway?

These kinds of projects would allow easy flow through the Savannah area.

[Padgett2]

Do you men to link them with overhead freeways? Or would you want to just mow everything down and pave over the whole thing?

[DanielAvery]

The single prospect of linking 516 to Truman caused so much sturm und drang among residents, motorists, enviro-types and businesspeople that you'd think the world was coming to an end. No one could agree on a way of diverting some of the traffic off DeRenne, and lord knows they wasted enough time arguing about it. I recall watching some of the meetings on the government channel and remember this spokeswoman frequently on the verge of tears (or a nervous breakdown) as they tied themselves in knots arguing over...what? three miles? of Derenne between 516 and the Truman Parkway. If THAT sort of drama is going to erupt every time someone wants to tinker with the roads, I can't image a fourth of your wish list even making it to a meeting agenda.

[Padgett2]

Don't forget that in the case of Derenne, it was a matter of private property rights. I imagine that if the Taxpayers could come up with enough money, that everyone would be willing to sell. But not until then.

Remember the costs involved. Would such a link be worth the dollars? Many feel that we pay too much tax now. And many feel that there are better things to do with the money than buy up expensive property so traffic can go faster.

[WanderingImport]

The Truman has no good way of getting to I-95 unless it uses Abercorn. In that case, Abercorn would need some serious overhauling to become limited access (which has been talked about in the past few years). Besides that, at some point, if you continued the Truman on it's path westward, it would hit developed areas such as Vernonburg, Berkshire Woods, expansive marsh (south of Veterans) which is a no go for more than just environmental reasons and then, to top it off, Georgetown before getting to 95.

As for 516, yeah, I wish it would connect to 95 too, but if you are familiar with the area, you would know that 516's northern terminus at Garden City begins a VERY developed area. I don't know how the freeway could work with or around that.

[bellhead]

There are a couple of major projects going on that should have been done ten years ago and several that need to be worked on...

1.) The Truman is being completed from Whitmarsh to Abercorn. Not having lived here my whole life, I cannot for the life of my understand why this wasn't done 20 years ago.
2.) There is a 4 lane highway on the fast track from I-16 to the ports at Garden City. This will be done in the next couple of years and greatly reduce truck traffic in and out of the terminals on 21 and local roads.

Wish list..
1.) Move the hunter entrance and exit to the back end of the base or develop a way off of I-16 for these guys. It kills rush hour traffic around Derenne, Abercorn, and White Bluff Rd. It's a parking lot from 3:15 to 6:00 daily.

2.) Flyover for Derenne at Abercorn, There needs to be a one lane flyover to I-16 before the light at Abercorn and from I-16 to Derenne. It would eliminate 80% of all bottlenecks in the Area.

3.) Flyovers for Abercorn to 95. There are two interchanged here that these needs to happen at Georgetown and the other road before it leading to 95.

4.) Abercorn limited access with no stops to Abercorn expressway in front of the mall.

5.) 21 limited access and flyovers to the Ga. Ports new highway for truck traffic. This is needed for industry and just on time production. No delays.

[Padgett2]

Bellhead. You are right.. it took tooooo long. But I thought you might enjoy knowing a little about why.

You see, the plans were are drawn and ready and then they discovered that there was a tree, yes, a TREE in the way of the proposed route. The Tree had an Eagle's nest in it. Therefore, the Tree was protected and couldn't be cut down.

What do we do???? Think again and plan again. Plans were drawn up with a route that zigged and zagged aroung the tree. Millions more tax dollars. It wasn't the best or shortest, but it by passed the tree. I think it was the EPA and the Endangered Species Act that insisted that the Tree be spared.

Plans were all ready, and the dratted Eagles deserted the nest. Now, do we go back to the origianl plans? Or do we go the more expensive route? It was decided to go with the better and less expensive plan. BUT...guess what!!! you have to wait a certain number of years to make sure that the Eagles don't come back to the nest.

And that's why the Truman Parkway took so long! I think half of Savannah would have willingly shot the dratted Eagles and burned the tree.

And this mornings paper had a nice article about how the Eagles have made such a good comeback..

[DanielAvery]

They'll probably settle on either side of DeRenne Avenue.

[WanderingImport]

Originally Posted by bellhead

The Truman is being completed from Whitmarsh to Abercorn.

Actually, the start of the final phase isn't on Whitemarsh Island. It's on the mainland, just a sort of peninsula.

Originally Posted by Padgett2

Bellhead. You are right.. it took tooooo long. But I thought you might enjoy knowing a little about why.

You see, the plans were are drawn and ready and then they discovered that there was a tree, yes, a TREE in the way of the proposed route. The Tree had an Eagle's nest in it. Therefore, the Tree was protected and couldn't be cut down.

What do we do???? Think again and plan again. Plans were drawn up with a route that zigged and zagged aroung the tree. Millions more tax dollars. It wasn't the best or shortest, but it by passed the tree. I think it was the EPA and the Endangered Species Act that insisted that the Tree be spared.

Plans were all ready, and the dratted Eagles deserted the nest. Now, do we go back to the origianl plans? Or do we go the more expensive route? It was decided to go with the better and less expensive plan. BUT...guess what!!! you have to wait a certain number of years to make sure that the Eagles don't come back to the nest.

And that's why the Truman Parkway took so long! I think half of Savannah would have willingly shot the dratted Eagles and burned the tree.

And this mornings paper had a nice article about how the Eagles have made such a good comeback..

That was just ONE reason. There were a few others. They were all dumb.