According to an article in the Rome News-Tribune and a blog from Chuck Shiflett's "The Backroom Report", Georgia gubernatorial candidate (and former Secretary of State) Karen Handel is alleging that the long-awaited and long-delayed US 411 Connector is part of a plan to resurrect the controversial Northern Arc.

Mrs. Handel, who is running in the Republican primary, had released a statement against this much needed link between the current US 411/GA 20 4-lane and I-75, had allegedly been spurred on by the Northern Arc Task Force (NATF), who recently placed ads in Atlanta and North Georgia newspapers stating that this project is an attempt to resurrect the Arc. If ever built (which I seriously doubt would happen at least in my lifetime), it would run from I-75 in Bartow County to US 29/GA 316 in eastern Gwinnett County.

U.S. Representative Phil Gingrey, a Republican who represents the district where the Connector will be built and who helped secure Federal funding for the project, and Georgia DOT board member David Doss, are saying that the claim as made by Mrs. Handel and the NATF is "hogwash" (so to speak). Even otherwise Republican-leaning voters in Bartow and Floyd Counties are now saying that Mrs. Handel will not be getting their vote due to her perceived insensitivity toward their transportation needs.

While I do not intend to use this blog to endorse any political candidate, I will say that, IMHO, Mrs. Handel lacks serious guidance on this issue and does not seem to understand how long the people of Rome and Floyd County have been waiting for a decent highway connection to I-75 and Atlanta. Why would anyone running for any statewide office, especially Governor, want to act in such a "knee-jerk" way as to alienate any group of voters... especially those in parts of the state who otherwise would support a candidate of your own political party?

Mrs. Handel, if you happen to be reading this, then I respectfully urge you, ma'am, to issue an apology to the people of Bartow and Floyd Counties. Right now, they unjustly have to endure a "dogleg" route from the eastern end of the US 411/GA 20 4-lane to I-75 so that they may travel to and from Atlanta and points southward on I-75. If you don't believe them, then please take a drive along this route during weekday rush hours. To see pictures for yourself, I invite you to click here.

Finally, "kudos" to fellow Georgian Chuck Shiflett for calling out Mrs. Handel on this important matter and thank you, sir, for reading my blog from last August, "Let's Get The US 411 Connector Built".

That's it for now. Thanks for reading and please come back again.

SOURCES:
- "Gingrey, Doss, Decry Attempt To Link 411 Connector To Controversial Northern Arc" - Rome News-Tribune, March 4, 2010.
- "Karen Handel May Have Just Overplayed Her Hand" - The Backroom Report, March 4, 2010

        

 

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