In an effort to help clear the congestion on Effingham County roads, county commissioners asked local legislative delegation to help point them down the right road.
State Sen. Jack Hill (R-Reidsville) and state Reps. Jon Burns (R-Newington) and Buddy Carter (R-Pooler) applauded the commissioners Tuesday for trying to work with other counties and the Georgia Ports Authority in their efforts to ease the traffic jams. But they and the commissioners know they are not the only ones with traffic headaches.
“It’s just getting worse by the day,” commission Chairwoman Verna Phillips said. “With the port growing by leaps and bounds, we’re getting a lot of the fallout from the port. I don’t want us to fall further behind.
“If we get our Effingham Parkway, we can be ready for the future.”
The planned Effingham Parkway now is being designed to have its southern end at Highlands Boulevard in Chatham County. Representatives from Moreland Altobelli will meet with commissioners on the proposed southern end of the Effingham Parkway.
“It’s just a mess, but we have to press forward,” Carter said.
They also discussed the port’s improvements to the roads going into the booming docks, especially further construction of Jimmy Deloach Parkway and resolving the tangled knot of traffic at Highway 21 and I-95.
“It gets backed up onto the interstate,” Commissioner Jeff Utley said of the afternoon rush of cars exiting 95 and looking to turn left onto Highway 21.
Jimmy Deloach runs from Highway 21 to U.S. 80, and the projects being undertaken by the GPA include an expansion of Jimmy Deloach.
“I never understood why they didn’t finish Jimmy Deloach Parkway all the way to the port anyway,” Phillips said. “That’s a no-brainer.”
The port’s customers blanched at connecting Jimmy Deloach to the port and making that a toll road. But other ideas at least sparked some interest.
“What they put on the table is a unique thing, a kind of private financing, lease-back kind of thing,” Hill said. “There was some pretty interesting conversation at the table of how that might work.”
