Now that the U.S. Department of Transportation has finalized rules for metropolitan planning organizations - or MPOs - transportation planners in Hall County are hoping they can keep their coverage area separate from the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC).

 

An exception in the new rules, which were finalized last week, allows MPOs that overlap to make an appeal to operate separately, rather that combining efforts.

 

Sam Baker, the Transportation Planning Manager for the Gainesville-Hall Metropolitan Planning Organization (GHMPO), said there's no guarantee the federal government will accept an appeal.

 

"If the governor of Georgia, the Atlanta Regional Commission and Gainesville-Hall Metropolitan Planning Organization can get together and convince the Federal Highway Administration that because of the size and complexity of this area, it makes sense to keep Atlanta Regional Commission and Gainesville Hall MPO separate and let us develop separate plans and transportation improvement programs," Baker said.

 

He said it shouldn't be a problem to get ARC behind the effort.

 

"They feel that they're already large enough and they don't want to be any bigger," Baker said. "We don't want to be part of them and they don't want us to be part of them, either."

 

While the new rules go on the books in 2017, they are not required to be fully implemented until 2024. Baker said that gives GHMPO and ARC some time to formulate their plan of action.

 

"Basically, we'll wait until the [next] census is conducted, and based on the urbanized area population on the year 2022, we will then have to come up with a plan on how we would want the rules to be implemented," Baker said. 

 

He said after GHMPO and ARC work out a plan, then the two agencies will present it to the governor - whoever that might be at the time - to get his or her approval and then approach the federal government to ask for a waiver to a merger. 

 

Follow these links to read previous stories on the new federal MPO rules: