January 4, 2007
Valdosta - 2006 was a record year for the city of Valdosta. "We had explosive growth in retail, good industry growth and we had some population growth," says Mayor John Fretti.
But with an increase in growth comes an increase in population and traffic. "I driver through it and wait and smile because we have a lot of activity and we are the area, the regional hub where people want to come work, shop and play," he adds.
And the city's engineering department is working hard to keep up with the growth and keep traffic to a minimum. "Here in Valdosta we are trying very hard to identify and implement projects possibly before they are needed," says City Engineer Von Shipman.
So they've brought in an outside consultants to help identify and prioritize local projects. "So we are excited to have the opportunity of getting someone from the outside to come in, look at what we are doing, identify our projects, help us prioritize those projects."
Then they will work with city council to form a master plan for future construction. "So we'll make the best assumptions that we can, have a very working flexible transportation plan modified as the need arises," Shipman adds.
They hope these steps will help ease congestion as Valdosta moves into the future.
One of the future projects includes building an east/west connector from busy Bemiss Road to Valdosta Colonial Mall on St. Augustine Road.
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