On target newsletter, Winter 2007

Newsletter for the Georgia Department of Transportation's Office of Planning

Winter 2007 "Planning Georgia's Future Today"

In This Issue:
Safe Routes to School Project Prioritization Page 2
Bike/Pedestrian Conference
I-285 Strategic Implementation Plan
Update Page 3
Office of Planning Welcomes
New Employees Page 4
Statewide Truck Lanes Study Update Page 5
Project Cost Estimating Guidelines Study Page 6

Georgia's Ninth State

Scenic Byway Designated

By Lisa Safstrom lisa.safstrom@dot.state.ga.us

T he State Transportation Board has designated the Ocmulgee-Piedmont Scenic Byway in Jones County as Georgia's ninth Scenic Byway. The Georgia Scenic Byways Program is a grassroots effort designed to preserve, promote, protect and interpret treasured corridors throughout the state. A Georgia Scenic Byway is defined as any designated highway, street, road or route which features certain intrinsic qualities that should be protected or enhanced. The Ocmulgee-Piedmont Scenic Byway encompasses four intrinsic qualities: scenic, natural, historic, and recreational.

The 21-mile route begins in

downtown Gray on Highway 11

and continues north for approx-

imately nine miles, passing

through the communities of

Bradley, Wayside and Round

Oak. The route then proceeds

west on Round Oak-Juliette

The Whistle Stop Caf was the central set for the Road for twelve miles, traveling

movie, Fried Green Tomatoes. The caf is located through the Piedmont National

in Juliette in Monroe County.

Wildlife Refuge and ending at

the Ocmulgee River.

The Ocmulgee-Piedmont Scenic

Byway traverses 200 years of

Jones County history as well as

the pre-historic and historic sites

of the Creek Indians that lived

there in the 17th and 18th cen-

turies. What is now SR 11 was

formerly an Indian trail and a

major north-south route

Juliette Mill is located on the west bank of the between Hillsboro in Jasper

Ocmulgee River in Juliette.

County and Clinton, Jones

County's 19th century county

seat. In 1864, during the Civil War, opposing forces met along this road at the

Battle of Sunshine Church, and later that year General Sherman followed this

Continued on page 7

Page 2

ON TARGET

New Members Named to Transportation Board
Five members of the State Transportation Board were recently elected to their seats in voting by State Legislature caucuses from the Second, Third, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth congressional districts.
State legislators whose House or Senate districts are within a Congressional District select a representative to the State Transportation Board. Congressional redistricting led to the elections on Thursday, January 11.
In District 2, Mr. Billy Langdale of Lowndes County won election to the position. He has served on the board for 19 years, including service as chairman. Mr. Sam Wellborn of Muscogee County was elected to serve on the board representing District 3. A banker, Mr. Wellborn was elected to his fourth term. Mr. Garland Pinholster of Cherokee County was elected by District 6 legislators. He has served on the board since 2004 and currently serves as vice chairman. He is a former educator and small businessman. Mr. Rudy Bowen of Gwinnett County was elected to serve on the board representing the 7th Congressional District. Mr. Bowen, of Suwanee, is president of Bowen Family Homes. His five-year term will begin immediately. Mr. Larry Walker of Houston County was elected to serve on the board representing the 8th Congressional District, effective immediately. Mr. Walker, an attorney, served in the Georgia House of Representatives beginning in 1972, where he became House Majority Leader.
Continued on page 4

The Safe Routes to School Program (SRTS)
by Adrienne Gil adrienne.gil@dot.state.ga.us
Less then 40 years ago, walking and biking to school were commonplace. In 1969, roughly half of all 5 to 18-year olds either walked or biked to school. Times have changed, and today, nearly 90 percent of our youth are driven to school either by bus or by car. This change in transportation mode has contributed to traffic congestion, a reduction in air quality in some areas and the reduction of physical activity for children. As much as 27 percent of the country's morning traffic is made up of parents driving their children to school.
Safe Routes to School is a new federal program, created in SAFETEA-LU, to enable children, including those with disabilities, to walk and bicycle to school; to make walking and bicycling to school safe and more appealing; and to facilitate the planning, development and implementation of projects that will improve safety, reduce traffic, fuel consumption and air pollution in the vicinity of schools with grades K-8.
The Georgia Department of Transportation has hired Adrienne Gil as the new State Safe Routes to School Coordinator. Ms. Gil has assembled the Safe Routes to School Advisory Committee, which is a multi-disciplinary team that represents fields such as transportation, safety, law enforcement, public health, education, local and state government, nonprofit and advocacy organizations. The SRTS Advisory Committee held its first meeting on October 5. The advisory committee is charged with recommending policies and procedures for the SRTS program to Georgia DOT, which will have final approval.
The federal SRTS program has allocated approximately $16.8 million to Georgia DOT over five fiscal years. Under the federal guidelines, the SRTS program is a comprehensive initiative which includes the 5 E's: Education,
Encouragement, Engineering, Enforcement, and Evaluation.
Georgia DOT is currently drafting the program policies and procedures, and anticipates the first call for applications will be in the summer of 2007. Please check the Georgia SRTS website http://www.dot.state.ga.us/srts/ for program updates and to sign up for the Georgia SRTS quarterly newsletter.

ON TARGET

Page 3

Georgia DOT Hosts State Bicycle and Pedestrian Conference
by Amy Goodwin amy.goodwin@dot.state.ga.us
The Georgia Department of Transportation hosted its first Georgia Bicycle & Pedestrian Conference at the Holiday Inn in Decatur on October 24-25. The conference was a great success and provided a valuable opportunity to bring together professionals from diverse disciplines working toward a common goal - to improve bicycle and pedestrian access and safety throughout the state and to make Georgia a healthier, more sustainable place to live.
The conference was attended by 160 planners, engineers, public health professionals, law enforcement officers, local government officials and non-profit organizations. Attendees came from all over the state, including a few from neighboring states.
Forty-one speakers over two days presented material on a wide range of subjects, including bicycle, pedestrian and multi-use trail facility design; travel demand management; education strategies for improving bike/ped safety; innovative planning practices; data collection, analysis and mapping; Safe Routes to School programs; public health and the built environment; funding; and more. The program also included a walking tour and a bicycle tour to evaluate bicycle and pedestrian facilities in Decatur. Copies of all the presentations are available on Georgia DOT's Web site
Continued on page 8

I-285 Strategic Implementation Plan Update
by Daryl Cranford daryl.cranford@dot.state.ga.us
The two-year effort to develop the I-285 Strategic Implementation Plan is drawing to a close. In October, 2004, the Georgia Department of Transportation initiated a study to develop a strategic implementation for I-285. The study included the development of special tools to analyze the impact on regional travel of a variety of scenarios for I-285 that included truck only lanes, managed lanes and transit options.
The study team is currently analyzing three scenarios using the traffic simulation, VISSIM. The analysis of I-285 will provide a holistic view of improvements proposed for I-285 and its approaches. Based on this analysis, a program of projects will be identified and prioritized and cost estimates will be provided for each project. The recommendations from the I-285 Strategic Implementation Plan will be used in the update of the Atlanta Regional Transportation Plan in 2008. The recommendations and the information from the study also will be used by the Revive I-285 team.
Recommendations from the study will be presented at public information meetings during February 2007. Information on the locations, dates and times for these public information meetings will be announced on the I-285 website located at: http://www.dot.state.ga.us/dot/ plan-prog/planning/studies/i-285/ index.html

Page 4

ON TARGET

Office of Planning Welcomes New Employees

by Joel North joel.north@dot.state.ga.us

The Office of Planning would like to acknowledge new staff members who recently joined us.
Office Head
Angela T. Alexander is our State Transportation Planning Administrator. Angela began work in the Georgia DOT Office of Road Design. She later worked in the Office of Urban Design where she served as a Group Leader and the Assistant Office Head. Angela then served as the Executive Assistant to the Chief Engineer where she has worked for the past three years before coming to Planning.
Administrative Branch
Brendalyn Ellis is from Griffin, Georgia. Brendalyn has been with the Office since summer. Lisa Richard-Johnson joined the Office in September. Lisa is from New Orleans and a graduate of Southern University. She has since been promoted to a new position within the Department.
Atlanta Planning Branch
Ulysses Mitchell is our new Atlanta Planning Branch Chief. Henry Green has been with the Atlanta Planning Branch since May. Henry is responsible for coordinating with the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC). Henry is from

Vidalia, Georgia and attended Morehouse College. Henry came to us from the State Road and Tollway Authority (SRTA).
Jennifer Hibbert comes to us from the Office of Environment and Location (OEL). Jennifer's areas of responsibility are southwest Atlanta and Dalton. Jennifer is from Rome and she attended BYU and Georgia State.
North Georgia Planning Branch
Tim Kassa is our new North Georgia Planning Branch Chief.
Anie Bassey came to the Office in March. He has been with Georgia DOT since 1998 and was formerly with the offices of Construction and Asset Management. His area of responsibility is northeast Georgia.
Central Georgia Planning Branch
Dave Cox has been with the Office of Planning since July. Dave is responsible for planning in the Augusta and eastern-middle Georgia areas. Dave comes to us from the Georgia DOT Office of Intermodal Programs where he worked for more than three years. Dave is a native of south Florida and attended FSU.
Air Quality Branch
Michael Bradley is the newest mem-

ber of the Air Quality Branch. Michael attended Florida State University. His responsibilities include the CMAQ program, alternative fuel programs and air quality related activities.
Special Projects Branch
Adrienne Gil is the Georgia DOT Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Coordinator. SRTS is a new program created under the Federal Highway Bill signed into law by President Bush in August 2005. Adrienne has written an article about the SRTS program for this newsletter. Adrienne has previously worked in public health and has worked as a project manager in survey research.
Carleton Fisher is the newest member of the Special Projects Branch. Carleton Fisher came to the Office of Planning in October as the Transportation Enhancement (TE) Coordinator. Carleton is from Los Angeles. He attended Morehouse College and Georgia State University.
New Board Members Continued from Page 2
Board members ending their service are Mr. Ward Edwards of Taylor County and Mr. Johnny Gresham of Marietta. Redistricting put Mr. Edwards and Mr. Langdale in the same district, as it did with Mr. Gresham and Mr. Pinholster. Redistricting also resulted in the switch of two district designations: District 9 is now represented by Mr. Evans; District 10 is now represented by Mr. Bill Kuhlke of Augusta.

ON TARGET

Page 5

Statewide Truck Lanes Identification Study Remains on Schedule

by Michelle A. Caldwell michelle.caldwell@dot.state.ga.us

The Office of Planning's Statewide Truck Lanes study continues onschedule since its kick-off last April. From north to south, east to west, Georgia DOT has canvassed the state asking for input from truck drivers, shippers, city, county, and state representatives, business owners and other interested individuals on the prospect of truck-only lanes on Georgia interstates. The study team has been busy collecting and analyzing data, as well as conducting outreach activities.

Over the summer

of 2006, origin-

destination surveys

("O-D") were conducted that have

TRUCK ONLY LANE

yielded important

insights on where

trucks are coming

and going. The

surveys were con-

ducted at interstate weigh stations,

truck stops, intermodal facilities and

at Georgia's Atlantic ports. By ask-

ing truck drivers questions about

their destinations and commodities

they are carrying, travel patterns

were identified across the state.

Close to 5,600 surveys were com-

pleted and revealed that over one-

third of trucks (by tonnage of

freight) are "through" trips, having

no origin or final destination in the

state of Georgia. Further detailed

findings on truck movements were

mapped and are posted on the project

Web site:

www.gatrucklanestudy.com. Included on the site are presentations, meeting minutes, data, maps and other information.
The study's data collection is now complete and includes crash analyses, analysis of truck parking availability and a warehouse survey. Currently, the policy framework and a computer model is being used to predict future truck traffic volumes as well as routes these truck volumes are most likely to drive. Next steps will include conducting a
needs assessment to determine locations that would benefit from truck-only lanes, and development of a preliminary list of candidate projects selected for input by all study stakeholders including the public.
Public involvement activities to date have included three rounds of advisory committee meetings and one round of task force meetings. In addition to watching for updates in this newsletter, public meetings to present information and preliminary recommendations will be scheduled in April and August of 2007. These will be announced in upcoming additions of this newsletter and on the project Web site: www.gatrucklanestudy.com.

East Georgia Multi-County Study
by Daryl Cranford daryl.cranford@dot.state.ga.us
In August 2006, the Georgia Department of Transportation initiated the East Georgia Multi-County Study, including Greene, Jasper, Morgan and Putnam counties, which will develop a transportation plan for each of the four counties. The study is being conducted by HNTB, a consultant firm under contract to the Department.
The four-county study area is influenced by four metropolitan areas, Atlanta to the west, Athens-Oconee to the north, Macon to the south and Augusta to the east. The focal point of much growth in these four counties is the Lake Oconee and Lake Sinclair recreation areas. These counties are experiencing increased residential growth generated by their proximity to the urban areas, and by an influx of retirees and the development of residential and recreational homes. The resulting development is ex-urban in nature, mixing higher residential densities with rural development patterns and infrastructure.
The purpose of this study is to develop individual transportation plans for each county that will provide policy guidance and project recommendations to improve the transportation infrastructure needed to serve future travel demand. However, the four counties need to
Continued on page 7

Page 6

ON TARGET

Project Prioritization
It's no secret that there is a vast shortfall in funding for the transportation needs statewide for the coming years. It is reported that this shortfall could be as much as $7.7 billion, yes billion with a "B", dollars over the next six years. There are many ongoing efforts to address this shortfall, both inside and outside of the Department of Transportation. One effort is the Department's project prioritization study.
Because funds are limited, it is imperative that we spend available dollars on the most beneficial projects that give us the "biggest bang for our buck." The project prioritization study will help Georgia DOT by developing and documenting a benefit-cost methodology that is both quantitative and qualitative in identifying new projects and in prioritizing existing projects. This effort will also develop a quantifiable process that can be used as one tool in determining how projects should advance through the implementation process. The methodology will primarily be based on the recommendations developed in conjunction with ARC, GRTA and SRTA following the conclusion of the Governor's Congestion Mitigation Task Force.
Specifically, the work included in the study will consist of the following:
1. Development of a quantifiable methodology to prioritize transportation projects;
Continued on page 7

Project Cost Estimating Guidelines Study
The Georgia Department of Transportation has hired the consulting firm of Wilbur Smith Associates (WSA) to conduct a study to determine guidelines to be used for estimating project costs.
The goal of this study is two-fold. First, Wilbur-Smith Associates has been charged with developing a handbook documenting the steps necessary to formulate accurate planning level cost estimates for projects. The handbook will determine a full list of cost-impacting variables associated with a particular type of project, in addition to the widening and right of way acquisition costs. Then, in detail, the handbook will explain how to estimate the costs associated with constructing those needs. The handbook will factor regional costs across the state as construction costs will differ depending on the topography of the project's location. The handbook's guidelines for how to formulate cost estimates will encompass 18 work types. These work types cover the majority of the work types the Department plans, designs and constructs. WilburSmith Associates also will evaluate and recommend a process on how to complete cost estimate updates in the future. As an accompanying feature to the handbook, a spreadsheet for cost estimating with explicit, easy to understand directions on how to enter information and how often an update of the spreadsheet is needed will be created. WilburSmith Associates will provide training courses and training materials to the Planning, Design and District staff that will be responsible for the maintenance and updating of the handbook and spreadsheet. Using the handbook and spreadsheet they created as their guide, Wilbur Smith Associates will update the PE, ROW and CST cost estimates of nearly 600 projects in the Department's database that either do not have PE authorized or else the PE phase of the project is inactive.
The most anticipated outcome of this study will be the ability to standardize planning-level estimates statewide. Begun in December 2006, this study will take approximately 18 months.
If you have any additional questions or comments, please feel free to contact the Georgia DOT project manager, Radney Simpson at 404657-6689.

ON TARGET
Scenic Byway
Continued from Page 1 route through Jones County on his "March to the Sea." The Round Oak-Juliette Road portion of the Byway was originally an Indian trail and now travels through the pristine pine forests of the Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge, which is inhabited by several species of endangered wildlife. East Juliette, the endpoint of the Byway, is a small late 19th/early 20th century mill village community located on the Ocmulgee River. This town was the setting for the 1991 film, Fried Green Tomatoes. The Jones County and City of Gray Chambers of Commerce are the sponsors of the newly-designated Byway and the Middle Georgia Regional Development Center provided assistance through the designation process, particularly with development of the Corridor Management Plan. For more information about Scenic Byways, please contact Lisa Safstrom at lisa.safstrom@dot.state.ga.us or by phone at 404-463-0001.
Juliette Road within the Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge

Page 7
Project Prioritization
Continued from Page 6
2. Documentation on how projects will progress through the Department's Long Range (LR) Program, Construction Work Program (CWP), and the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP); and
3. Prioritization of existing projects with the developed and approved methodology. There are approximately 5,000 projects.
Consultant selection for this study is currently underway and it is anticipated that a Notice to Proceed will be issued in early 2007. The Department's increasing needs, coupled with limited transportation funding, require a reinforced commitment to improving the efficiency of project selection and project prioritization. The Project Prioritization Study will provide planners and decision-makers with a more efficient process to prioritize projects and make more informed decisions as the Department continues to carry out its mission.
East Georgia MultiCounty Study
Continued from Page 5
be evaluated as a whole in order to address development impacts and infrastructure deficiencies that cross county lines.
Public workshops were held in early November to provide local residents with an opportunity to review data that has been collected and to voice there opinions of transportation issues. The study will be completed in the spring of 2007.

Bicycle and Pedestrian ConferenceContinued from page 3

www.state.ga.us/bikeped/. In addition to the engineering, planning and community workshops, attendees listened to speeches from Robert Callan, Georgia's Division Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration; Robert Dallas, Director of the Governor's Office of Highway Safety; Buddy Gratton, Deputy Commissioner

of the Georgia Department of Transportation; and a keynote address from Bill Wilkinson, President of the National Center for Bicycling and Walking.
The Department of Transportation would like to thank all its attendees and speakers for helping to make its

first bicycle and pedestrian conference a success. The Department would especially like to thank its sponsors and exhibitors for their support: Local Government Assistance Program, the City of Decatur, Moreland Altobelli Associates, Inc., Bicycle South, and exhibitors Flint Trading, Inc. and TranSafe Products Company, Inc.

On Target is a publication of the Georgia Department of Transportation's
Office of Planning.
Please send address corrections to: Karen Quarles
Office of Planning 2 Capitol Square S.W. Atlanta, GA 30334-1002 Phone: (404) 656-6016 Fax: (404) 657-5228 Email: karen.quarles@dot.state.ga.us
Visit our website at: www.dot.state.ga.us

Georgia Department of Transportation Office of Planning 2 Capitol Square S.W. Atlanta, GA 30334-1002