Citizens Have Multiple Opportunities To Comment On Truck Bypass

The first of two informational meetings related to the launch of a study of a truck bypass south of Watkinsville will take place virtually on Monday evening, followed by an in-person meeting at Oconee Veterans Park on Thursday.

The virtual meeting will be from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Monday via Webex.

The in-person meeting will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday in the Community Center at Oconee Veterans Park, 3500 Hog Mountain Road, west of Butler’s Crossing.

No routes have been selected for a link between SR 15 and U.S. 441, though Oconee County Board of Commissioners Chair John Daniell has said that a route close to Watkinsville will be considered as well as others further south in the county.

In the past, Astondale Road has been discussed as the likely route for a truck bypass. That road connects SR 15 and U.S. 441 on the south side of Bishop.

The focus of the meetings is an addition of a single page in each of two planning documents.

The federally-mandated metropolitan planning body MACORTS must modify these documents before the Georgia Department of Transportation can use federal highway funds for a “scoping study” of routes for the bypass.

For more on the story, and for hot links to the Webex meeting and to documents related to the scoping study, please go to Oconee County Observations.