The Western Parallel Connector has been planned and talked about for more than a decade. County officials are ready for it to become a reality, and they want the Georgia Department of Transportation to step up and get it started.
The Henry County Board of Commissioners voted at its Aug. 6 regular meeting to approve a resolution in support of GDOT funding and starting construction on the proposed road, which would run from Hudson Bridge Road to Jodeco Road just west of I-75.
This item was added to the meeting agenda by Commissioner Dee Clemmons, in whose district the road site lies. She said that GDOT would fully fund the project with Board of Commissioners support.
The resolution calls for GDOT to commence construction of the initial phase of the project and that Henry County “will endeavor to obtain necessary right-of-way, by donation or otherwise, to assist in the project.” It also calls for GDOT to commence construction of the initial phase of the Jonesboro Road widening, with the same right-of way efforts by the county.
When presenting the resolution to the board, county manager Cheri Hobson-Matthews gave a brief history lesson regarding the project as well as the proposed widening of Jonesboro Road. Both have been delayed repeatedly; the Jonesboro Road project was originally scheduled for this year but has now been pushed back to 2035.
Most recently the start date for the Western Parallel Connector has been set at 2023. That is more than 15 years after it was conceived.
The project was an initiative of B.J. Mathis during her term as commissioner for that district from 2005 through 2008. She worked to get it included as part of the county’s comprehensive transportation plan along with a Livable Centers Initiative for the undeveloped land on both sides of I-75. The county received an Atlanta Regional Commission grant for that plan.
The transportation plan, the first ever in the county developed in cooperation with all four cities, was adopted by early 2008.
“That connector is desperately needed for north/south connectivity through a very congested area,” Mathis told the Times last week. “The congestion was terrible when I was in office and it has only gotten worse.
“It is ridiculous that the state has kicked the can down the road. Especially since the tax revenue from the gasoline tax imposed, I believe in 2013, has generated far more revenue than they expected.”
Matthews said that getting the right-of-way donated would save GDOT funds that could eventually be utilized on the Jonesboro Rd. project.
Clemmons said the resolution shows support for the project with a collective voice from county commissioners. “This is a resolution to say that we all realize that this is important. Not just to one city, not to one area, but to this entire area.”
The connector would give county motorists traveling north or south a new four-lane road that would ease traffic congestion. It would run parallel to I-75 as well as Patrick Henry Parkway, a two-lane road on the east side of the expressway. Much of that road lies within the city limits of Stockbridge.
“Not only will it give us a four-lane road, it has multi-use paths and sidewalks in this project. When we get the land donated, it’s going to reduce the amount the state has to pay and we will be able to move forward,” said Clemmons. “And I will be happy to sit down with the city of Stockbridge because the other side of this road is in the city of Stockbridge. We are going to need support, so if the city of Stockbridge would take the same resolution, Stock-bridge and the county can go to GDOT together and get this done.”
Clemmons said that GDOT wants to hear a unified voice from officials and she was proud that the board chose to support this initiative. “I am proud to be sitting here with the five of you and now we have a collective voice.”
