A study could help the Effingham County Industrial Development Authority pave the way into its sprawling Research Forest Tract.

 

The firm of Hussey, Gay, Bell and DeYoung was contracted to conduct traffic impact study and suggest potential entry points into the westernmost parcels of the Research Forest Tract. Those smaller tracts likely will be the first to be developed, and engineers looked at Phase 1, about 900 acres of the 2,800-acre RFT, for their study. 

 

That phase is expected to have a mix of heavy and light industrial, general commercial, school, recreational and buffer spaces. The study projected traffic generated estimated traffic volumes from those uses and also took into account current vehicle counts.

 

The study provided to the IDA is a first draft, and Hussey, Gay, Bell and DeYoung is awaiting comments, IDA CEO John Henry said. Copies also have been sent to Rincon City Manager Michael Phillips and Effingham County administration.

 

“This goes with a full buildout of tracts C and D,” Henry said.

 

Hussey, Gay, Bell and DeYoung prepared a 378-page study, full of charts, tables and graphics, with a 41-page executive summary 

 

“We need to condense it to something we can manage,” IDA Chairman Dennis Webb said. 

 

Under their analysis, Hussey, Gay, Bell and DeYoung engineers recommended having main access point at a realigned Fort Howard Road with an additional access to Research Forest off Prosperity Road. Prosperity Road connects Highway 21 to Lowe’s. Analysts looked at two other alternatives for access into the Research Forest Tract while limiting the effects on increased traffic on nearby roads.

 

In their conclusions, HGBD engineers said the recommended alternative will result in the lowest delay on the surrounding roads. However, it also would result in two railroad crossings to be built, one for the realigned Fort Howard Road and another for the Prosperity Drive extension.

 

Hussey, Gay, Bell and DeYoung also suggested using Prosperity Road as an initial access point into the Research Forest Tract until a realigned Fort Howard Road is completed.

 

The report also looked at current traffic conditions and said a signal at Highway 21 and McCall Road is warranted and also called for a light at Highway 21 and 9th Street in the future. A traffic light also is recommended for the intersections of Blandford and McCall roads. 

 

It also said Highway 21 should be widened to six lanes between Fort Howard Road and Goshen Road. The analysis also called for an array of turning lanes along Highway 21.

 

Providing access to Research Forest Tract and mitigating the traffic congestion as a result could cost $9.6 million, according to the study. 

 

IDA members also approved moving their forestry management plan to run on the board’s fiscal. The plan had been running on a calendar year.

 

It’s just the timing and the cash flow,” Henry said. 

The IDA has budgeted $112,000 in its anticipated revenues for the coming fiscal year off the sale of timber and property.

 

“I’m pretty happy with the management plan,” Webb said. “We’re moving in the right direction.”

 

The management plan and its schedule for timber cutting also will get the Research Forest Tract and the IDA’s holding at I-16 into a more presentable appearance, according to Webb.

 

“Another 12 months of this, and you’ll be able to see how good this really looks,” he said.