GAINESVILLE - Hall County commissioners are not going to give up without a fight when it comes to the permanent closure of Tumbling Circle in south Hall County.<br />
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At a work session Monday afternoon, Commissioner Craig Lutz objected to the placement of temporary barricades at the railroad crossing on the road. He reminded fellow commissioners the county voted twice against abandonment of that section of the road, saying he didn't understand how the State Department of Transportation had the right to close the portion of the roadway if the county maintained it.<br />
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"There's something wrong with that, and I will not support abandoning it," said Lutz. "Frankly, I think we ought to go out there and open the road again because, the last I checked, it was a county road."<br />
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Commissioner Scott Gibbs agreed with Lutz.<br />
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"I've had complaints from the school board - they're upset. They rely on this road," said Gibbs.<br />
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County engineers estimate about 400 vehicles per day, including school buses, use the cut-through between Old Oakwood Road and Atlanta Highway. Hall County's Lanier Charter Career Academy is on Tumbling Creek Road.<br />
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County Attorney Bill Blalock said even though the county has an easement on that section of the road, the state has the legal right to close the road at the railroad crossing, so commissioners' hands may be tied.<br />
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Norfolk Southern has requested the dirt portion of the road as is crosses the Railroad track be closed because of the danger at the crossing. Gibbs said he believes the railway's accident numbers are inflated.<br />
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Despite Blalock's assertion that the state - acting on behalf of the railway - has a right to close Tumbling Circle, commissioners said they want to talk to a DOT representative before any further action is taken. <br />
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A first public hearing on the closure is set for 6 p.m. Thursday at the Hall County Government Center on Browns Bridge Road in Gainesville.<br />
