Newspaper Page Text
The ADVANCE, June 23, 2021 /Page 2A
Stye Ahumtce
MOCO Commission
Discusses Change in Roads
By Makaylee Randolph
Contributing Writer
A recent traffic study
to set speed limits and in
Montgomery County was
presented to the Mont
gomery County Commis
sion in a June 17 work ses
sion.
The study was con
ducted in early spring by
a EMC Engineering Ser
vices of Statesboro, and
supervised by consulting
engineer Jeremy Harp and
senior inspector Melvin
Johnson. In a phone con
sultation, commissioners
discussed findings and
proposed speed limits on
county-maintained roads,
including Thompson
Pond Road, Taylor Springs
Road, and North Old Kib-
bee Road.
At the beginning of
the call, Harp and Johnson
explained that their recom
mendations for the roads
are a result of the study of
the geometry of the road,
width of the lanes, radiuses
of curvatures, surrounding
environment, and on-site
inspection. The pair also
shared that all discrepan
cies are solved through the
review of traffic incident
reports of the area online.
Harp and Johnson
suggested that Thompson
Pond Road remain at a 45
mph speed limit because of
the road only spanning 7.46
miles yet having 21 curves,
12 side roads branching off
from the main road, and
several residences. The pair
shared that their recom
mendation was also based
on the report of four major
accidents on the road this
year, as well as the Toombs
County section of the road
being set at 45 mph.
Montgomery County
Sheriff Doug Maybin did
not share this perspec
tive. He felt that because
the road is among the best
paved roads in the county
and many branching roads
are set at a 55 mph speed
limit, Thompson Pond
Road should be set at 55
mph. Harp and Johnson
were not opposed to this
speed limit and agreed it
could be plausible because
of the road’s low traffic
count and width. The road
has recently been widened
through the county’s first
TSPLOST project to 24
feet, which is the standard
state route width.
Commissioners Gin
ger Morris and Tim Wil
liamson remained skepti
cal about the benefits of
increasing the road’s speed
limits and shared their
concern that young drivers
would continue to increase
their speeds and create a
dangerous situation.
Taylor Springs Road
was also suggested to con
tinue with a 45 mph speed
limit, even though the road
dead ends into North Old
Kibbee Road. Old Kib-
bee Road currently has a
55 mph speed limit but
has been recommended to
lower to 45 mph. Harp ex
plained that Taylor Springs
Road, although recently re
paved, is very narrow at 21
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says she isn't going to
the border (which has
been assigned to her
by Biden) because
she hasn't been to
Europe. The Ameri
can people aren't
paying her to fix the
problems in Europe."
"Thanks to our lo
cal country music sta
tion Y101. I'm glad it
plays the old favorites
and gospel songs,
too."
“As children we
were constantly told
not to pick at scabs
because they would
get infected and not
heal. This constantly
"picking at" racism is
only making people
sicker. Of course, that
is just what the culture
manipulators in
league with our ene
mies are trying to do.
Americans need to
get on with life being
good Americans."
“If Barney came
back and listened to
his radio station, he
wouldn't believe
what he was hearing.
It's turned into a talk
show, 80s and 90s
rock show, and I even
heard a racist joke
last week. Lyons is
better than that."
“Kamala Harris
“As I travel around
and see how the
price of gas is going
up, I truly hope all you
democrats are happy
because people who
are retired are not
making any money.
They're not getting
these stimulus checks
where they can stay
out of work because
they have reached
that age where peo-
“It’s a great plan.
Close down the
country and the world
with a dread disease.
As you open back up
a little at a time,
change the rules and
the laws so that when
it is all open, you have
a different country.
Then keep everyone
under control by
bringing out new vari
ants of the virus and
new vaccines period
ically. Scared people
will swallow any
thing."
Alamo
continued from page 1A
feet wide. It has a straighter
path but more hills with
limited view, and has a
large amount of traffic from
nearby residents, which
makes it more hazardous at
55 mph.
Commissioner Chad
Kenney, who is the com
missioner of the area in
which these roads are lo
cated, stated he agreed
with the lowering of the
speed limit on the section
of North Old Kibbee Road
between the four-way stop
where the road crosses
Hamilton Road and the
area where Hamilton Lane
branches off. Kenney ex
plained the area has a lot
of residences and curves,
and that a church is not far
from the intersection; thus,
the decreased speed limit
seems appropriate.
Harp and Johnson
will continue to review
the roads and make sug
gestions in preparation for
the county adoption into
law after applying for a
safety grant to pay for such
in April 2022. The study
will provide commission
ers with recommended
speed limits and a list and
summary of signs needed.
Commissioners plan to
base their execution of ac
tion on the recent Candler
County sign project, where
the same grant paid for
all of the new signs, total
ing $30,000 from Middle
Georgia Signs. The new
traffic laws will not go into
effect until the safety grant
is received.
and, of course, a grand
fireworks presentation at
dusk, are part of the fes
tivities. The event, tradi
tionally held in Alamo a
week prior to The Fourth,
is being staged in the park
in downtown Alamo and
is being sponsored by
the Alamo Volunteer Fire
Department, the City of
Alamo, and the Wheeler
County Chamber of Com
merce. Proceeds from the
festival will benefit the
Alamo Volunteer Fire De
partment.
Every year (except
during the COVID-19
pandemic of 2020), the
holiday celebration has
drawn thousands of at
tendees from as far away
as Atlanta and Jackson
ville, said event coordi
nator Shelia Chaney. The
little town comes alive
with people visiting ven
dor booths, enjoying rides
at the carnival, and wit
nessing the spectacular
fireworks display hailed
as one of the biggest and
brightest in the area.
Headlining the list of
performers who will be
entertaining from a plat
form in the town square
are Hank Byrd and the
Borderline Band from At
lanta. With its high-ener
gy, rocking country blues
music, the band has been
Atlanta music fixture
an
for the past 20 plus years
playing around 100 shows
a year.
Also performing will
be Eric Smith of McRae,
who will entertain the
crowd with a variety of
tunes on the venue stage.
The fun starts at 2 p.m.
on Saturday when vendors
open up to serve food and
offer their wares. Also, for
the first time this year,
the Lions Clubs of Alamo
and Lyons are banding
together to offer free eye
screenings at the Wheeler
County Chamber of Com
merce building on Rail
road Avenue, just across
the street from the festival
venue. Screenings will be
conducted from 3 until 5
p.m. and 6 until 8 p.m.
Runoff
continued from page 1A
off. Hagan received about
43% of the vote, while Sapp
pulled in about 42%. Gres
finished third in the con
test with nearly 15% of the
vote.
Unofficial Voting
Breakdown (Secretary of
State’s Website):
Districtwide: Hagan,
43%;
42%;
15%.
2,068 votes,
2,031 votes,
702 votes,
4,801 votes.
Toombs
Hagan, 1,368,
Sapp, 293 votes,
Gres, 310 votes,
Sapp,
Gres,
Total:
County:
69.41%;
14.87%;
15.73%.
Total: 1,975 ballots cast;
16,558 total registered vot
ers.
Montgomery County:
Hagan, 539 votes, 60.02%;
Sapp, 213 votes; 23.72%;
Gres, 146 votes, 16.26%.
Total: 898 ballots cast;
5,535 registered voters.
Jeff Davis County:
Hagan, 50 votes, 22.62%;
Sapp, 163 votes, 73.76%;
Gres, 8 votes, 3.62%. Total:
221 ballots cast; 1,959 reg
istered voters.
Appling County:
Hagan, 111 votes, 6.49%;
Sapp, 1,362 votes, 79.60%;
Gres, 238 votes, 13.91%.
Total: 1,712 ballots cast;
8,976 registered voters.
How to Vote
Early voting will be
held June 28 through July
9, Monday through Friday,
8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. at
the Elections and Registra
tion Offices in Toombs and
Montgomery Counties.
Saturday voting will be
held July 3, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Offices will be closed July 5
to observe the July Fourth
holiday. On Election Day,
July 13, voters can vote at
their respective precincts
from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
An absentee ballot can
be requested, but with the
new election laws taking
effect, the application must
be received byjuly 2.
Vote
continued from page 1A
pie don't want them
to work. My wish is
that all you demo
crats would go
broke."
“We badly need a
light on Hwy. 280 at
Lowe's and Optim.
It's a very dangerous
place to pull out. I
had an accident
there myself."
Vidalia finished first with
43.07% of the district
wide vote while Baxley
businessman Wally Sapp
was close behind with
42.30%. The lone Demo
cratic contender Wright
Gres of Appling County
amassed 14.63% of the
total vote. Since no can
didate reached 50% of the
vote, Hagan and Sapp will
face off in the July 13 run
off.
Turnout in Toombs
County lagged far behind
other parts of the District,
which is why elected of
ficials from around the
county are encouraging
everyone to vote. Ap
pling County had the larg
est percentage of voters
with over 19.07% voting.
Montgomery County was
next with over 16.22%
turning out, and Jeff Da
vis and Toombs counties
essentially tied for voter
participation, with 11.28%
and 11.92% respectively.
“We need to make our
voice heard in this elec
tion. As the largest county
in this District, we should
have a say about who our
state representative is go
ing to be. We lose our
voice if we don’t vote,” said
Toombs County Commis
sioner Wendell Dixon.
Vidalia City Coun
cil member Jennifer Ev
ans noted, “It is vital for
our community to have
strong, effective leader
ship in Atlanta. We need
everyone to come out and
vote for our next state rep
resentative!”
“I have discovered
I can go to Swains-
boro Walmart, buy
everything I need
and get back to Vi
dalia before my fam
ily shopping in Vidalia
is just getting home.
The service in Vidalia
is really pathetic."
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