Oconee County Committee Turns Aside Bishop Farms Parkway Extension; GDOT Rejects Mars Hill Road Full Median Break

Oconee County Board of Commissioners Chairman Melvin Davis’ proposal for the county to spend upwards of $1.3 million to extend Bishop Farms Parkway received no support Tuesday night from the Citizen Advisory Committee On Land Use and Transportation Planning.

The plan is to extend Bishop Farms Parkway from Experiment Station Road to New High Shoals Road, giving University of North Georgia students, faculty and staff another access point to the campus.

The roadway extension also would improve access to land owned by Bob Bishop and others, making the land more attractive for development.

The citizen committee didn’t vote down the proposal. Committee Chair Abe Abouhamdan asked it not to do that. Instead it reaffirmed an earlier ranking of the roadway as a low priority for the county.

Davis received a second setback Wednesday when the Georgia Department of Transportation formally denied the county’s request to create a full median break on Mars Hill Road to accommodate land owner Doug Dickens.

For more on this story, go to Oconee County Observations.

Pictured: Public Works Director Emil Beshara and Committee Chair Abe Abouhamdan.