Wednesday, July 17,2019
dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 5A
Ga. Planning Association Honors Rep. Tanner
with Distinguished Elected Leadership Award
From staff reports
State Representative Kevin
Tanner (R-Dawsonville),
Chairman of the House
Transportation Committee, was
recently honored by the Georgia
Planning Association (GPA) with
the Distinguished Elected
Leadership Award. Rep. Tanner
was recognized for his legislative
efforts to improve transportation
and transit in metro Atlanta and
throughout Georgia.
“I am honored to receive the
Distinguished Elected Leadership
Award from the Georgia Planning
Association,” Tanner said. “It is a
pleasure to work alongside the
members of the GPA to imple
ment tactical strategies that
enhance transit and mobility
throughout the state.”
“The Georgia Planning
Association thanks Representative
Kevin Tanner for his continued
commitment to transportation and
transit in metro Atlanta and
throughout the State of Georgia and
is excited to present him with the
Distinguished Elected Leadership
Award,” said a GPA representative.
Tanner was commended for his
29 years of public service and his
leadership of the House
Transportation Committee and the
House Commission on Transit
Governance and Funding. He was
also recognized for spearheading
the passage of House Bill 930
during the 2018 legislative ses
sion, which established the
Atlanta-Region Transit Link
Authority (the ATL), a regional
transit authority for the 13-county
metro Atlanta region.
The GPA seeks to provide lead
ership to plan and build vibrant
communities throughout Georgia.
The GPA advocates for sound
planning and provide its members
with tools, services and support
that advance the art and science of
planning. The GPA has more than
1,000 members from across the
state of Georgia, including profes
sional planners and planning offi
cials who serve in government,
non-profit and advocacy organiza
tions and private sector consulting.
The organization also provides
many services to its members,
including sponsorship of two con
ferences each year (spring and fall)
that offer “Continuing
Maintenance” credit sessions for
those registered with the American
Institute of Certified Planners
(AICP), legislative updates and
engagement opportunities, job
postings, a statewide awards cere
mony, mentoring programs and an
emerging planners group for those
establishing themselves in the
planning community in Georgia.
Representative Kevin Tanner
represents the citizens of District
9, which includes Lumpkin
County and portions of Dawson
and Forsyth counties. He was
elected to the House of
Representatives in 2012 and
serves as Chairman of the
Transportation Committee. He
also serves on the Appropriations
Subcommittee on Education and
the Education, Intragovemmental
Coordination, Rules, Natural
Resources & Environment and
Special Rules committees.
Why you’re being
warned to slow
down on area roads
By Megan Reed
DCN Regional Staff
The Georgia State Patrol
and local law enforcement
agencies will work to cut
down on speeding this
week with the third annual
“Operation Southern
Shield” campaign.
Officers in Georgia,
Alabama, Florida, South
Carolina and Tennessee
will be on interstates and
other major highways
July 15-21 to target driv
ers going well above
posted speed limits.
“The mission for us is the
same in our neighboring
states and that is to save lives
on our roads by preventing
traffic crashes,” Governor’s
Office of Highway Safety
Director Allen Poole said in
a statement. “Working
together in ‘Operation
Southern Shield’ has saved
lives and we want everyone
who is traveling in the
southeast to know that if you
are driving over the speed
limit, you’re more than like
ly going to get pulled over
and handed a ticket.”
Preliminary numbers from
the Georgia Department of
Transportation show there
were 268 speed-related
deaths in Georgia in 2018.
That is an 8% increase from
the 248 speeding fatalities in
2017.
“The goal of Southern
Shield is to not write a lot
of tickets but to show driv
ers how speeding drastical
ly increases their chances
of being in a crash,” Poole
said. “We are warning
drivers now so those who
do not want to see blue
lights in the rearview mir
ror will follow the speed
limit, wear their seat belt,
and drive alert and sober."
During last year’s
Operation Southern Shield,
which also occurred in
mid-July, officers with 224
agencies in Georgia wrote
more than 11,000 citations,
and 75% of those citations
were for speeding. Officers
issued 8,435 speeding cita
tions, 3,070 seat belt cita
tions, 624 distracted driv
ing citations and took 566
suspected intoxicated driv
ers off the road in a seven-
day period.
“Troopers across the state
are preparing to heavily
enforce the laws regarding
speeding and aggressive
driving during Operation
Southern Shield,” Col.
Mark W. McDonough,
Commissioner of the
Georgia Department of
Public Safety, said in a
statement. “We always
enjoy partnering with other
law enforcement agencies
in an effort to make travel
ing on our roadways safer.
This partnership will focus
on reducing speeds which
will ultimately reduce the
number of traffic crashes.”
'Troopers across the state are preparing
to heavily enforce the laws regarding
speeding and aggressive driving during
Operation Southern Shield. We always
enjoy partnering with other law
enforcement agencies in an effort to
make traveling on our roadways safer.
This partnership will focus on reducing
speeds which will ultimately reduce the
number of traffic crashes.'
Col. Mark W. McDonough
Georgia Department of Public Safety Commissioner
Photo by DCN Regional Staff
Traffic navigates the intersection of Hwy. 369 and Ga. 400 on Thursday, July 11. Preliminary work is
set to begin on a new interchange project that will upgrade the existing intersection to a "grade-
separated, partial cloverleaf interchange.'.'
Roadwork scheduled to begin at
Hwy. 369, Ga. 400 interchange
By Alexander Popp
DCN Regional Staff
Over the next months, residents
of Dawson and Forsyth Counties
will begin to see preliminary road
work beginning on a road-widen
ing project of Hwy. 369 at Ga.
400, officials say.
According to a press release
from the Forsyth County govern
ment, roadwork on Hwy. 369 at
Ga. 400 is part of a new inter
change construction project which
will upgrade the existing intersec
tion to a “grade-separated, partial
cloverleaf interchange.”
In addition to the intersection
upgrade, the release states that
approximately two miles of Hwy.
369, from just west of Hwy. 9 to
slightly east of Hwy. 306 (Keith
Bridge Road), will be widened
during the project.
Public input meetings regarding
this project were held by the coun
ty in December 2016, the release
states.
The project is expected to go
out for bid in the fall of 2019, with
the county anticipating to award a
bid in early 2020.
Along with funding from the
Georgia Department of
Transportation, this project will be
funded by the Forsyth County
Transportation Bond, which was
approved by voters in 2014.
Four properties — one residen
tial and three commercial — were
part of right-of-way acquisition
for the project. The county has
closed on agreements with all but
one of the properties, according to
the release.
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