What's the 411?

What’s the 411? The 411 connector is a project that has been proposed by the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT). Its goal is to create a bypass that would connect Bartow country I-75 with the Rome area in Georgia. Aside from the obvious immediate consequences of faster travel and more mobility between both roads, there are also other concerns that have been brought up. The environmental, cultural, and economic consequences of this plan have been used as augment against the 411 connector. This connector should not be built, and instead in its place should be a different plan that would achieve the same goal of mobility and connection, with less economic, cultural, and environmental burden.

The current plan for the 411 connector is called route D-VE. This plan would have an “800-foot wide, 125-foot deep gash to be blasted through Dobbins Mountain” (GA Conservancy). This cultural and historic mountain has many feature that this connector would destroy, such as the Dobbins’ Mines: a series of abandoned mine shafts that date to 1867. That’s historic enough to be worthy of inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places! The current plan for the connector would also have many environmental effects, such as the giant gash that’s being planned to be blown through the mountainside. This gash would be “tall enough to hold a 12-story building and wide enough to comfortably fit four 747 jet planes sitting wingtip to wingtip” (GA Conservancy). This reckless use of manpower and explosions would certainly hurt the surrounding environment and ecosystems, not to mention the noise and air pollution that would be an added distraction for hikers, campers, and bikers that use the many trails in and around the Dobbins Mountain area. And finally that the economic expense that the GDOT would have to muster up and supply for this proposal is immensely more expensive than other plans. The current plan, Route D-VE, would cost the GDOT $280 million of public funds. That is a huge amount of money just to destroy a mountain with cultural and environmental significance.

However, there is another plan that with enough support might be chosen. This plan, known as Route G, would not only bypass cutting through the mountain, but bypass any destruction of the surrounding habitat at all. This plan would be 2.5 miles shorter than the other plan that would be so efficient for mobility and travel: making Route G the most efficient and shortest route to choose. Also Route G would not destroy the Dobbins’ Mines nor the surrounding environment in the area with air and noise pollution. And finally the Route G plan would be $182 million cheaper than the currently proposed route that would be blasting through the mountain.

So, what’s the 411? The 411 is that the Georgia Department of Transportation is recklessly spending money without thinking first. They are going to destroy natural habitat, historic mines, and a beautiful mountain used by hikers, campers, and bikers alike. The GDOT is going to go forward with this absurd plan if no one speaks up. We need you to speak up. Please understand that the alternate plan, Route G, is a better solution. It’s not only shorter and cheaper, but more environmentally friendly as well. Keep updated on the 411 Connector and please sign at the link below to stop the blatant disregard of the better option by the GDOT. Thank you.

GA Conservancy. Web. Oct. 2011. http://www.georgiaconservancy.org/where-we-stand/411-connector.html