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Gray officials ask GDOT for help managing former state routes, truck traffic and signals
Summary
At a June 16 Streets/Sanitation Committee meeting, Gray officials asked the Georgia Department of Transportation to review agreements and consider signage or other support for roads that moved from the State Route system to city maintenance; GDOT said formal agreements govern any change and it cannot ban trucks on state highways.
Gray officials urged the Georgia Department of Transportation to help ease the city’s maintenance burden for roads that were formerly on the State Route system during a Streets/Sanitation Committee meeting on June 16.
Mayor Ed Barbee opened the meeting and introduced GDOT district engineer Tyler Peek and other state representatives. Councilman David Tufts said the city wanted to voice concerns about “old state route roads” that are now classified as city streets and have increased maintenance costs. Police Chief Adam Lowe told the committee that initial bypass paperwork indicated the city had been listed as willing to take responsibility for some roadways, but that the paperwork “was not brought before the City Council” for official approval. Lowe said the additional upkeep has strained the city’s budget and that a recently adopted no-through truck route ordinance has generated complaints.
Tyler Peek, GDOT district engineer, said the department must review the original agreement between GDOT and the city and that no party can amend that agreement without a new formal agreement. Peek also said that GDOT, as a department, cannot restrict truck traffic on a state highway. He recalled that a full upgrade of the downtown traffic signals would carry a substantial cost and said GDOT could investigate available grant money for traffic signals not on the state route system.
Mayor Barbee and other elected officials sought practical steps the state could take. Peek said GDOT could review signage approaching the city to determine whether additional truck-route signage would help; Senator Rick Williams specifically asked about truck-route-ahead signage, and County Commissioner John Wood expressed support for working with the state to find a solution. Peek also noted that the bypass project added “about seven or eight miles of four lane divided highway” to the state’s maintenance program and said he would pull the files of correspondence between GDOT and the city and follow up by the end of June.
The discussion remained procedural: no formal motion or vote was taken to change maintenance responsibility during the meeting. The committee adjourned after GDOT agreed to review records and report back to the city.
