The Northeast Georgia Inland Port, a regional cargo terminal planned at Gateway Industrial Centre off Ga. 365 and White Sulphur Road, will fundamentally transform the dynamic of transportation and traffic throughout the region.
With the port expected to be fully operational by late 2024 or early 2025, that was the prevailing message conveyed by residents and engineers during a public hearing held at the Department of Transportation’s District 1 office Wednesday.
More than two dozen people from Hall and surrounding counties in attendance pored over renderings of State Route 365 and discussed various aspects of the port with representatives of engineering consultant Arcadis and officials from GDOT, which has begun a traffic study to assess the potential impact of the project on roads throughout the region.
“We want to hear anything and everything from the community about what are problem areas, what would like to see done differently,” Deputy Project Manager for Arcadis and Modern Mobility Partners Kirsten Mote said. “… .we’ve collected data of existing conditions to kind of show the level of congestion, crashes that are occuring in the area, planned developments that’s supposed to be coming, (and) starting to model what the future might look like based on data.”
Mote said that a Norfolk Southern railway running parallel to Ga. 365 will be active with “a lot of transfers from rail to truck” once the port becomes operational, raising the question of whether Norfolk plans to finance needed improvements to that railway infrastructure. Norfolk has so far been absent from discussions with municipalities regarding the Inland Port’s potential impact.
“The Georgia Port Authority indicated that they’re going to make some improvements on a side-track, (where) they pull cars off, and try not to impede traffic,” Mote said.
Engineering consultants are “in the process of estimating future truck traffic” that could be generated by the port, according to Mote.
“Trucks cannot be restricted on state routes,” she said. “… local routes can have truck restrictions. There are several truck restrictions already out there for signage – that is a decision at the local county level, so Hall County will be the one to enforce that.”
Lula, which is expected to be highly impacted by increased traffic from the port, has been “invited as a stakeholder” in the latest study with GDOT, Mote said.
Mote went on to say that there are plans to “look at other ways to route trucks,” and that could be a “potential solution” to increased truck traffic in the area.
Kate Picklesimer, a traffic analyst with Arcadis, said there are ongoing studies of what effect the port could have on three major intersections along Ga 365, comparing data of the number of wrecks at those intersections with the “statewide average rates for similar corridors.” The data being collected, she said, will determine the best approach for ensuring the public’s safety on the roadways.
“Overall, the rates of crashes weren’t that high on the (Ga. 365) corridor, but we’re hearing from a lot of people about how there are some severe crashes, so that’s something else we’re looking into,” she said. “… (the study) helps us when we get to the step where we’re coming up with alternatives … maybe we signalize intersections that aren’t signaled to add safety.”
Transportation Engineer Conor Hill spoke of the long-term repercussions the port could have on roads in Hall County “if nothing is done.”
“If nothing were done … by 2050, along (Ga.) 365, the conditions are worsening to basically more congestion … you (will) also see sideroads like Cornelia Highway and White Sulphur having an increase in congestion,” Hill said. “We’re trying to figure out solutions … which is why this public meeting is super useful for us to get the opinion of people here.”
Charlie Fiveash, executive director of Partnership Habersham, a private-public entity thatseeks to promote economic development, described the regional magnitude of the Inland Port on the region as a whole.
“We’re paying close attention to the (Ga.) 365 corridor … we’re concerned about the volume of traffic right now and the number of commuters coming into Hall County. It’s become more congested, and so goes that corridor, so goes Habersham County.” Fiveash said. “I think it already has (increased traffic). We’re just starting to see that volume pick up. It’s far worse here in Hall.”
