With business and population growth in North Georgia on the minds of many in 2023, AccessWDUN recently spoke with several area officials for a look at the status of select infrastructure areas as 2024 nears.
Specifically, roadway improvements, high-speed fiber internet expansion, and Lake Lanier's water level are the three main areas this story will focus on.
Roadways
Elizabeth Johnson, Georgia Department of Transportation District One Communications Officer said 2023 has been a year filled with major roadway improvements throughout the region, with many improvements set to continue in the new year.
Johnson said about 80 construction projects are currently underway in the region, along with maintenance projects and quick response projects.
Perhaps one of the largest roadway projects in the region relates to Interstate 85. Georgia DOT is continuing to work on widening the roadway in Banks and Jackson counties, which will see both directions of the interstate widened from two lanes to three lanes.
"We're on phase three," Johnson said. "Because we are doing it in phases, we are doing it much more efficiently and much more effectively."
Georgia DOT will continue to work on planning studies on Georgia 365 with the construction of the Blue Ridge Connector in Lula. The construction of the inland port is expected to increase traffic in the area.
"We are looking to do a lot of safety projects," Johnson said.
One such project is a $15 million project that will eliminate the traffic signal at YMCA Drive and Lanier Tech Drive on Ga. 365. An overpass would instead be constructed at the site of the current intersection.
"There will be two roundabouts on either side, one by [Lanier Technical College] and one by the YMCA," Johnson said. "That should improve traffic flow over there and hopefully eliminate a lot of those accidents that occur with people stopping short or not stopping, passing through that area."
One Ga. 365 safety project was completed in 2023 following a deadly wreck at Mount Zion Road. A restricted U-Turn, also known as an RCUT, is now in place at the intersection.
Additionally, Johnson said Georgia DOT is continuing with its third phase of a planning study for future roadway improvements on Ga. 316.
"There are a lot of active projects, and there will be future projects," Johnson said. "We are listening to the feedback we get from our residents who are in the area."
One large project in Hall County is the Elachee Drive Bridge replacement, which Johnson said Georgia DOT hopes to have complete by March 2024.
Finally, Johnson said a project to widen Green Street in Gainesville is expected to potentially get underway in 2025.
"There are a couple of projects that are being prioritized," Johnson said.
Johnson said anyone with comments, questions or concerns regarding a project is encouraged to use the "Contact Us" feature on the Georgia DOT website.
High-speed internet connectivity
The importance of high-speed internet connectivity in rural communities was further pressed in the years following 2020 following the expansion of remote work and education during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Michael Foor, regional president of field operations for Georgia for Kinetic by Windstream said 2023 was an extremely busy year for fiber expansion throughout northeast Georgia.
"We are in an age of an infrastructure overbuild like we haven't seen since the early years of electrification and telecom, where we built out the original telecommunication lines, those copper lines that were in the ground," Foor said. "Well now, we're in an age where we're overbuilding all of those copper lines with fiber. We're talking tens and hundreds of thousands of miles of fiber overbuild, and a large portion of that was started this year here in Northeast Georgia."
Foor said Kinetic's fiber buildout has had extensive work done in multiple counties, including Lumpkin, Union, Habersham, Jackson, Dawson and White counties.
"Lumpkin County is a significant build -- about a $20.4 million project," Foor said. "It'll bring gig service to over 8,200 homes. We've got about 540 miles of fiber to build there ... we've got about 200 plus miles of fiber already built, but that's primarily backbone fiber and spots of fiber. So now, as we head into next year, we will be connecting those builds that we've done. In the early parts of 2024, that's when we're really going to see the houses start to turn up on the fiber that we've been building in Lumpkin County."
Foor said while the Union County expansion started very recently, Kinetic has already connected several homes to gig service.
"We won't wait until we have all 8,200 homes in Lumpkin ready to turn them up, we'll turn them up as we go," Foor said. "Same with Union, we've got 7,300 homes ... we'll turn them up as we go."
Foor said funding will be a major topic of discussion in the new year.
"One of the interesting things that is on the table for 2024 will be the BEAD application which is coming out through the state, the federal government is allocating the money to the state," Foor said. "The states will be opening an award program which is going to be for the really rural homes that we have out there. We will be working diligently to get funding to assist us again and expediting the process of getting fiber even further out than we've been able to so far."
The expansion of fiber internet access throughout Georgia and the country is essential for creating vibrant, growing communities, according to Foor.
"It's just so necessary for everything that is coming down the pipe as far as education, healthcare and just the ability to work remotely," Foor said. "COVID changed our world. There's more people working at home today than have ever worked at home."
Water levels and availability
Lake Lanier's water level was a topic of discussion at the end of 2023, following a continual downward trend beginning in July due to a lack of rainfall.
The water level was 1,064.22 as of Wednesday morning, which was about 6.78 feet below full pool. That was a couple of feet higher than its lowest point in recent weeks, which was 1,062.45 on Dec. 8.
Travis England, Public Affairs Specialist for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Mobile District, said the current water level is not a concern.
"We're not in any type of extreme situation yet," England said. "I think predictions even have us kind of going down even a little lower into January ... historically, this has happened plenty of times before."
El Nino is expected to bring about more rain to the region in January and February, which should increase the level of the lake, England said.
England said Buford Dam and all other dams in the regional water system are still continuing to operate normally while producing the same amount of hydropower.
"Our engineers at our headquarters are going to operate Buford Dam on a schedule that gets our water elevation back up to full pull with really no worries or issues," England said.
AccessWDUN is speaking with local officials across Northeast Georgia for a series of Year in Review stories to wrap up 2023. Stay tuned each day this week for new installments in this series.
