Transportation planning in rural Georgia counties promotes economic development

By Aaron Hake
Intern, Community Services Division

What does transportation have to do with economic development? Well, look no further than the state of Georgia, where three counties are setting an example for rural counties looking to give their economies a boost.

Recent successes in Wilkinson, Walker and Polk counties have demonstrated how transportation planning can be a crucial tool for economic development in rural areas. From luring large industrial companies to promoting tourism and diverting traffic from major interstates, these counties are using strategic transportation planning as the key to growth and diversity in a local rural economy.

Wilkinson County
Wilkinson County, an industrial county in central Georgia situated along US Route 441, which runs from Lake City, Tenn. to Miami, is making improvements to its roads and highways to allow existing industries to expand and open new industrial sites that contribute to its economic development.

"Wilkinson County’s greatest resource," said Board of Commissioners Chairman Dennis W. Holder "is its 10,000 plus residents." Wilkinson County has another valuable resource: kaolin, mineral-rich clay used to make ceramics, plastics and paper.

CARBO Ceramics is a major employer in Wilkinson County, with its kaolin surface mining operation that employs 62 workers. In January 2004, CARBO decided to build a new facility in Wilkinson County that would employ an additional 50 people and may require as many as 300 new jobs for construction.

As a result of CARBO’s expansion, Wilkinson County has put together an economic development package that includes a comprehensive road improvement program. "The program includes plans to provide more direct access to state highways," explained County Manager Laura Mathis. "Increased access will help CARBO trucks transport raw materials more quickly and safely and older county roads will also be upgraded to handle heavier traffic resulting from the new CARBO facility."

Wilkinson County has also updated the Georgia Department of Transportation about the project.

"The county has been a partner from the get-go," said Rick Allen, CARBO Project Manager. "The county is helping us provide safe access to our equipment and current construction."

Road improvements for the CARBO project are not the only way that Wilkinson County is using transportation planning to enhance economic development. The county is looking to capitalize on its proximity to the Fall Line Freeway, the new state route that stretches from the Alabama state line to the South Carolina state line and connects some of Georgia’s largest cities: Columbus, Macon and Augusta.

Wilkinson County is participating in a feasibility study for the construction of a possible 1,000-acre industrial park adjacent to the Fall Line Freeway in the northwestern portion of the county.

Walker County
Bebe Heiskel, sole County Commissioner of Walker County, is leading an effort to bring several new transportation corridors to county that will alleviate traffic congestion problems in nearby Chattanooga, Tenn. and open the county to new economic opportunities. Interstate 75 is a major trucking route connecting Chattanooga to Atlanta. Heiskel wants to bring commuters and other drivers heading south on I-75 an alternative route that is less congested and serves as more scenic "gateway" to Georgia.

Among the county’s plans are four corridors running south from Chattanooga at the Tennessee-Georgia border and an east-west corridor connecting existing north-south routes in the county. The corridors will make Walker County more accessible to commerce and industry by providing a main route for traffic to flow through the heart of the county rather than around it on I-75.

The intention of these corridors is to revive the industrial sector of the county, encourage commercial growth and provide commuters with an easier drive to and from work.

"We need these corridors because Walker County is off the beaten path and transportation is the way to provide us with opportunities that we otherwise didn’t have before. We want drivers to have an opportunity to deviate from the big highway and into our part of the state," said Heiskel.

This medium-sized county, with a population of more than 61,000, is looking to promote its natural diversity through establishment of these four corridors. The area is known for a variety of outdoor activities including mountain climbing, rappeling and caving.

Polk County
The expansion of Georgia’s scenic Highway 27 to four lanes has contributed to economic development, by way of increased tourism, for 21 counties adjacent to the highway, which runs along the western edge of the state.

The Georgia U.S. Highway 27 Association was formed in 1994 to promote economic development along the highway and has worked closely with the Georgia Department of Transportation to plan the four-lane projects.

The cornerstone of the association’s tourism promotion is the Historic Courthouse Tour of the 21 county courthouses along the corridor. The association published a travel guide that included a map of the highway and a profile of each county courthouse along the route. Also in the travel guide are coupons and advertisements for local businesses and attractions.

Polk County, located on the northern stretch of Highway 27, has reaped economic benefits from Highway 27 expansion but also the development of nearby Silver Comet Trail, a walking and biking path built on an abandoned railroad line. The trail runs on an east-west route through Polk, Paulding and Cobb counties. The trail attracts bikers, hikers and tourists from across the state and beyond.

Joe Anderson, president of the Polk County chapter of GRITS (Georgia Rails Into Trails Society), said he once met a group of people from England riding on the trail. "People who want to ride on these trails will make the drive, no matter where they live," said Anderson. With the lane expansion on Highway 27 and improvements to nearby Highway 278, the drive is now smoother for tourists and outdoorsmen wanting to visit Polk County and the Silver Comet Trail.

Polk County also has the PATH Foundation, an Atlanta-based nonprofit, and the Georgia Department of Transportation (DOT) to thank because they helped obtain the rights-of-way to build the trail. David Jarvis, Polk County commissioner and vice-chair of the economic development and transportation committee for the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia, is pleased with the economic benefits of the project and the assistance from the Georgia DOT and other stakeholder groups. "This has been a boon for tourism," said Commissioner Jarvis, "I never thought I’d see tourism flourish in Polk County, but this effort has certainly changed my thinking."

(For a travel guide and to learn more about the Highway 27 program please visit www.hwy27.com. Thanks to Matthew Hicks and the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia for their assistance in writing this article. The article was published through a grant with the U.S. Department of Transportation and the NACo Rural Transportation Project.)

(For more information on the project, please contact James Davenport at jdavenpo@naco.org or (202) 661-8807.)