This afternoon, while I was perusing my various sources for some road-related info, I decided to see what info Georgia DOT (GDOT) had regarding its share of Federal stimulus money.

One thing that piqued my curiousity was a proposed new Automated Traffic Management System (ATMS) for Columbus-Muscogee County (a.k.a. Columbus Consolidated Government), an area that is expected to see more growth due to the U.S. Army relocating its armor (tank) school and associated personnel from Fort Knox, Kentucky, to Fort Benning.

GDOT project IDs 323000 and 323005, which include plans for both an ATMS and a GDOT Regional Traffic Control Center (TCC), have been allocated Federal stimulus safety category funds of $1,816,795 and $1,068,559, respectively.

After learning about this, I contacted Rush Wickes, a fellow road enthusiast from Columbus who also works for the Columbus Consolidated Government's Traffic Engineering office.

When I asked Rush if there was any work being done to install the ATMS apparatus in Columbus, here is what he had to say...

"No installations yet other than antenna receivers on signal poles along Veterans Parkway. VMS (variable message signs) is not currently planned, but the system will have the ability to support it."

Thanks to Rush for the info and I look forward to touring the future traffic management facility.

Hopefully, state and local officials in the Columbus-Phenix City Metropolitan Area will take good note of what Metro Atlanta experienced in its growth and the resulting "growing pains"... especially traffic. If they use any "lessons learned" from our experience, then it is my hope that they can mitigate the negative effects of growth and Columbus and its residents can further prosper for years to come.

That's it for now. Thanks again to Rush for his input and to you for reading. Have a great weekend.

 

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