GwinnettForum | Number 23.62 | Aug. 9, 2024
COUNTY OFFICIALS ON MONDAY cut the ribbon on the Eastern Regional Greenway Trailhead and Apalachee Pump Station — part of the County’s Eastern Regional Infrastructure project, which provides water, sewer and trails to more than 8,500 acres in eastern Gwinnett. The project includes five miles of new and upsized water pipelines, six miles of new gravity sewer systems and seven miles of parallel wastewater force mains. This infrastructure network is complemented by the new regional sewer pump station, which has a 14-million-gallon-per-day capacity. Some $19.5 million from the County’s Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax was used to fund the trails portion of the $125 million project. In addition to water and sewer services, the new trailhead provides access to 5.25 miles of trails from Harbins Road along the Apalachee River. A little over 2 miles of the trail, from Harbins Road to Highway 316, is now open to the public. The remaining sections will be accessible in the coming months as construction wraps up.
TODAY’S FOCUS: Widening of road, new bridge, coming to Highway 120
EEB PERSPECTIVE: Zoning boards need to reject some business proposals
SPOTLIGHT: Peachtree Campus
FEEDBACK: One way to enjoy the 1949 Ford Coupe
UPCOMING: GGC’s new college year begins on Monday
RECOMMENDED: The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier
GEORGIA TIDBIT: Jim Fowler hosted wildlife show on television
MYSTERY PHOTO: What spire is this, and in what city?
CALENDAR: Saving the Chattahoochee in Lilburn on Aug. 12
Widening of road, new bridge, coming to Highway 120
By GwinnettForum staff
DULUTH, Ga. | State Highway 120 between Peachtree Industrial Boulevard and Medlock Bridge Road is to become a four-lane road with a new bridge crossing the Chattahoochee River. GwinnettForum learned this from Curt Thompson, who represents the 7th District on the State Transportation Board.
The funds are a result of a $1.5 billion investment from Gov. Brian Kemp’s amended Fiscal Year 2024 (FY 24) budget recommendation, which was approved by the Georgia General Assembly.
With the additional proposed funding of $62 million, Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) is set to advance three major projects.
The project focuses on widening Georgia Highway 120/Abbotts Bridge Road from Georgia Highway 141/Medlock Bridge Road to Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, expanding from two lanes to four lanes over a 2.5-mile stretch. This includes improvements on Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, Parsons Road and Boles Road, along with modifications to all signalized intersections and the reconstruction of the bridge across the Chattahoochee River. Additionally, Georgia Highway 120 in Gwinnett County will also see widening improvements.
Another project is to widen McGinnis Ferry Road from Seven Oaks Parkway to 1,000 feet east of the Big Creek Bridge, covering approximately 2.86 miles. This project will add two lanes in each direction with a 20-foot raised median, featuring a 16-foot urban shoulder with a 10-foot multi-use path on the north side and a 12-foot urban shoulder with 5-foot sidewalks on the south side.
These advancements in McGinnis Ferry Road and Georgia Highway 120, along with the widening of Georgia Highway 120 in Gwinnett County, are essential for addressing our region’s growing transportation needs. These projects will significantly improve mobility and safety across Forsyth, Gwinnett and Fulton counties, fostering better connectivity and supporting the continued growth of our communities.
Georgia continues to benefit from unprecedented economic growth paired with conservative state fiscal management. Increases in population and commercial activity are putting more traffic on our roadways than ever before. The additional funding will enable GDOT and local governments to invest in the state’s transportation infrastructure, helping keep up with higher construction costs in the face of historic inflation and expediting strategic projects across the state.
During the 2024 Legislative Session, Kemp recommended and the Georgia General Assembly appropriated state general funds for $1.5 billion of the budget surplus to support improving the state’s transportation infrastructure by advancing timing for key planned transportation projects and beginning new strategic projects. Funding was appropriated to the programs below and will be allocated by GDOT as noted. They include:
- Airport aid ($98 million), advancing improvements at many general aviation airports.
- Local road fundings ($250 million), a 117 percent increase in state funding for city and county local transportation projects.
- Capital construction ($593 million), an increase of 58 percent for managing cost increases because of inflation, and expediting 24 GDOT projects by a total of 43 years.
- Capital maintenance ($50 million), a new program that includes an increase of 32 percent for resurfacing state highways.
- Freight program ($500 million) a new program that includes 18 projects devoted to freight-carrying infrastructure.
Kemp says: ““Over the last few years, we’ve welcomed unprecedented job creation to all regions of the Peach State, and this funding will ensure our already reliable infrastructure network can meet the needs of that incredible growth.”
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Zoning boards need to reject some business proposals
By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
AUG. 9, 2024 | People living in our representative democracy like to think that they have some control of what is going on around them, even though this control may be minor.
They exercise this limited control in at least two ways: by voting for people to represent them in the various halls of government, and by talking to these elected officials about issues of their interest.
Good public servants must listen to many of these proposals, and usually do what they can to keep those voting for them happy. Those public officials who give short shrift to their constituents don’t stay around much, since they are voted out of office.
In Gwinnett County, we have two examples of people wanting more control of their affairs, of taking action, and now having more government closer to home. We speak of the creation of two new cities in Gwinnett, the 2012 year incorporation of Peachtree Corners, and the recent vote giving approval to the City of Mulberry. (Granted, the incorporation of this city is now being contested in the courts, awaiting a judge’s ruling.)
Interestingly, both of these new Gwinnett cities are much bigger than the other 15 county cities, each having a population area of over 40,000 residents.
In both cases, those determined to have a new city said that one of the key reasons they wanted the city designation was to have more control over their affairs. Both of these cities have zoning as one of the functions of the city.
In effect, this means that no longer does the county control what businesses are going in the neighborhood of the new cities, but boards within the city will determine what will happen around them.
Now take a look at the new businesses now underway in Peachtree Corners, from a list that the city recently sent out.
Seven of the 26 new businesses approved are used car dealers. Note the location of the used car dealers, in particular. Four of the seven are on one street, and two more are located on another, both streets off Holcomb Bridge Road.
Makes me wonder: does Peachtree Corners need seven more used car dealers? Does the city feel it is required to approve every proposal to come before it? Do people want more used car dealers? Will the zoning board, if not the Council, deny some applications?
Look at other cities, and at the county. If there is one business that seems to overwhelm all of them, it is the number of used car dealers we have in Gwinnett. Drive down Buford Highway in Norcross, or Duluth. Check out U.S. Highway 78 from Snellville to Stone Mountain. And look at Georgia Highway 20 in Buford. Many of the new car dealerships are grouped together. You might call that a form of zoning.
We know that automobiles are important to us all, and to our economy. We particularly are concerned about the used car lots, which are often not as modern as the new car dealers. Do we really need all of them?
The various city zoning boards, as well as the Gwinnett County Planning and Zoning, have been formed to protect the people from unwise zoning. All too often the boards seem reluctant to deny proposals before them.
By rejecting some of these questionable proposals, we’ll have a better county and better cities. We don’t need every business being proposed, especially used car dealers.
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Peachtree Campus
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One way to enjoy the 1949 Ford Coupe
Editor, the Forum:
The 1949 Ford Club Coupe was quite an automobile. Their front seat brackets were extremely loose, making it easy to relax at the drive-in theater.
– Cheers, Ashley Herndon, Oceanside, Calif.
- Send us your thoughts: We encourage you to send us your letters and thoughts on issues raised in GwinnettForum. Please limit comments to 300 words, and include your hometown. The views of letters are the opinion of the contributor. We reserve the right to edit for clarity and length. Send feedback and letters by to: ebrack2@gmail.com.
GGC’s new college year begins on Monday
At Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC), work is well under way to welcome new and returning students for the start of the college’s new academic year on Monday, Aug. 12.
When students move into campus housing on August 8 and 9, they will find new outdoor furnishings and enhanced landscaping. An expanded vestibule area is being constructed at the front entrance of the largest residence hall and once completed, it will provide enhanced security for the building.
Additionally, anyone walking on campus will see new pavers around the Allied Health and Sciences building. The college’s Welcome Center, located at the corner of Collins Hill Road and Collins Industrial Way, now sports GGC green and gray across its facade. New lighted signage will soon be installed as well.
Students, faculty, staff, and visitors alike will appreciate the newly paved A and L parking lots. The once graveled lots are also marked to help make parking easier. The D lot, another graveled space, will transition from being a parking lot to a green space. Improvements include grading and sodding of the area to become the new location for the GGC Community Garden, which is expected to open in the coming months.
Work began over the summer to reimagine the courtyard space in front of Building B. Dr. Darin S. Wilson, vice president for Campus and External Engagement, said that in the coming weeks and months, the space will evolve with new pavers and seating, and the planting of smaller trees that are more suited for the area that will thrive to create a parklike environment. The courtyard will also feature two metal sculptures.
The Convocation Center will open this fall and will enable the college to once again hold commencement ceremonies on campus. Among the many features and elements of the project is the addition of the college’s second grizzly sculpture, which will be unveiled as part of the ribbon cutting scheduled to take place in October. The building will host its first commencement on Saturday, December 14.
The Virgin Blue, by Tracy Chevalier
From Karen J. Harris, Stone Mountain: Ella Turner and Isabelle du Moulin are two women born centuries apart who share a mysterious legacy. Ella and her husband, Rick, move to France for his work and for a desire to brush up on her French, qualify as a midwife and start a family. Almost from the beginning, Ella finds living in France less than she hoped for, with coldness and suspicion instead of friendliness. Several strange events propel Ella to research her family history, specifically the meaning of a recurring dream that features a startling blue tapestry along with a feeling of dread. Isabelle du Moulin’s story provides a look at Huguenot France including the hatred of Catholics. Ella’s research leads her on a quest that tests her marriage and her sense of reality but also provides her with an understanding of her heritage that is satisfying and most welcomed.
- An invitation: what books, restaurants, movies or web sites have you enjoyed recently? Send us your recent selection, along with a short paragraph (150 words) as to why you liked this, plus what you plan to visit or read next. Click here to send an email.
Fowler hosted wildlife show on television
Jim Fowler, a native of Dougherty County, enjoyed a long career as cohost and then host of the popular television series Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, which aired from the mid-1960s through the mid-1980s. Fowler dedicated his life to educating the public about wildlife species throughout the world and preserving the environments in which animals live.
James Fowler was born near Albany on April 9, 1930. The son of a soil scientist, Fowler grew up on Mud Creek Plantation, the family farm near Albany, and in Falls Church, Va., where he frequented the nearby Four Mile Run stream. His childhood experiences convinced him early in life to become a naturalist.
During the early 1950s, he earned degrees in zoology and geology from Earlham College in Richmond, Ind., and then worked in Florida at a raptor sanctuary and in Africa as an animal trainer for a film production. Fowler began graduate work, taking on a research project in Brazil to study the harpy, the world’s largest eagle, along the Amazon River. But when the opportunity for a television career developed, he gave up his academic ambitions.
Fowler appeared on NBC’s Today show in 1961 to talk about harpy eagles. Marlin Perkins, the well-respected director of several major American zoos, saw Fowler on that show and invited him to co-host the pilot for the Wild Kingdom. The show debuted in January 1963 on NBC. Wild Kingdom was filmed at locations all over the world and featured Fowler and Perkins interacting with wild animals in their natural habitats.
Over the next 23 years of original productions, the show engaged millions of viewers in the natural drama of the wild, winning more than forty major awards. Perkins left Wild Kingdom for health reasons in 1985 and died the following year. Fowler served as sole host for the final year of the show, which continued to be aired in syndication until 1988. Animal Planet revived the series, with new hosts, in 2002.
Fowler also regularly appeared with animals on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. He hosted the series Mutual of Omaha’s Spirit of Adventure, and in 1988 he began giving regular wildlife reports for NBC’s Today show. In 1993 he published Jim Fowler’s Wildest Places on Earth, which features narratives and photographs of wildlife in remote locations.
Fowler designed the Wild Animal Park, one of two accredited zoos in Georgia, which opened in 1977 at the Parks at Chehaw in Albany. The zoo features indigenous and exotic wildlife in exhibits that mimic the animals’ natural habitats and are accessible to the public by boardwalks.
In 1992 Fowler became executive director of Mutual of Omaha’s Wildlife Heritage Trust (later Wildlife Heritage Center), an organization dedicated to environmental education and conservation.. In 2003 Fowler received the Lindbergh Award for significant contributions toward the balance of nature and technology, as well as an honorary doctorate from Earlham College.
- To view the Georgia Encyclopedia article online, go to https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org
What spire is this, and in what city?
Today’s mystery ought to be a gimme, especially in the season we’re in. Disregard who this person is, but can you pinpoint and identify the spire in the background? Send your answer to ebrack2@gmail.com, to include your hometown.
The last mystery confused some, thinking that since the Olympic games were going on, perhaps it was Notre Dame in Paris. It isn’t. The photo came from M.J. Jordan of Duluth.
As Allan Peel of San Antonio, Tex. wrote: “Today’s mystery photo features the flying buttresses of the Cologne Cathedral, officially known as the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter, located in the heart of Cologne, Germany, less than 1,000-feet from the Rhine River. The internet is awash in all kinds of interesting facts and details about this historic site, including the fact that it took over 600 years to complete construction, as work started in 1248, halted in 1560, and then restarted in 1814, essentially being completed by 1880.
While the Cologne Cathedral is the most visited site in Cologne, here are a few ‘lesser-known’ facts about the cathedral that I found particularly interesting:
- It is home to the oldest stained glass window (dating back from the 13th century) as well as the earliest representation of the Crucifixion in Western Art (dating back to the 970s).
- It is home to the largest freely swinging church bell in the world. Affectionately called “The Fat Peter Bell,” you do have to climb more than 500 steps to enter the bell chamber.
- During World War II, the cathedral was bombarded 84 times by highly explosive bombs. However, it was able to survive total destruction due to its physical size and reinforced flying buttress design.”
Others recognizing the mystery include Jay Altman, Columbia, S.C.; Steve Ogilvie, Lawrenceville; George Graf, Palmyra, Va.; and Susan McBrayer, Sugar Hill.
- SHARE A MYSTERY PHOTO: If you have a photo that you believe will stump readers, send it along (but make sure to tell us what it is because it may stump us too!) Send to: ebrack2@gmail.com and mark it as a photo submission. Thanks.
Saving the Chattahoochee in Lilburn on Aug. 12
Join Author Jeanie Chang for K-Dramas and Mental Health at the Suwanee Branch of Gwinnett County Public Library on August 10 at 10 a.m. Discover how Korean dramas can improve your well-being and provide a sense of belonging as therapist and author Jeanie Chang discusses her book, How K-Dramas Can Transform Your Life. Books will be available for sale and signing.
Saving the Chattahoochee: Film Screening and Talkback will be August 12 at 11 a.m. at the Lilburn Branch of Gwinnett County Public Library. Enjoy a free screening of the film, and a talk with director Hal Jacobs and riverkeeper Sally Bethea.
Open House at the Centerville OneStop to share your feedback on project recommendations and redevelopment ideas on Wednesday, August 14 from 3 to 7 p.m. Have a hand in shaping the future of Centerville. Get involved and learn more about the plan by visiting GwinnettCounty.com/CentervillePlan. OneStop Centerville is located at 3025 Bethany Church Road in Snellville.
Old Enough: Book Signing and Author Talk will be August 15 at 7 p.m. at the Duluth Branch of Gwinnett County Public library. Attend a lively discussion with the editor and two contributors of Old Enough: Southern Women Artists and Writers on Creativity and Aging. Books will be available for sale and signing.
Promoting self-care is the theme of an interactive session at the Peachtree Corners Branch of Gwinnett Public Library on August 15 at 1 p.m. It will be led by registered nurse Audrey Boyce. Engage in storytelling, trivia, and evidence-based tips to enhance your self-care routine and improve overall well-being.
Jazz in the alley will be Augusts 17 at 7:30 in Betty Mauldin Park in Norcross. Enjoy a night of smooth rhythms and vibrant melodies with top jazz artists. Headlining the event will be Teresa Kay Williams, followed by Tulani, a harpist known for her high energy performances.
Author Talk with Josh Malerman is scheduled at the Lilburn Branch of Gwinnett County Public Library on August 20 at 7 p.m. He is the author of Bird Box, and will discuss his newest horror novel, Incidents Around the House. Books will be available for sale and signing.
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