AS A CITIZEN of Rome and Floyd County, I am concerned about the efforts by one family in Bartow County to restrict the growth and economic stability of their sister county and in reality — their own county. Rome and Floyd County overcame an atmosphere of limited growth prior to year 2000 for which afterwards the local officials recognized a serious concern to the stability of the local economy. As a result of this concern, local forces joined together to create a plan for growth, expansion and stability.

The plan which was named Rome/Floyd County 20/20 Economic and Community Development Strategic Plan, basically drove an effort that revitalized Rome and Floyd County. New industries began to enter the area, improvements in education began to take place, the downtown business district was totally redesigned and improvements were made to existing infrastructure. Had this plan not been in place, the closing of existing manufacturing facilities would have caused disastrous effects (i.e., Detroit). Due to the foresight of our community leaders and the 20/20 plan, we can enjoy the excellent quality of life afforded by our community.

Once again, Rome and Floyd County are at a crossroads pushing yet again for an initiative that will help ensure stability and economic growth for our community. Based on recent studies, the top urban areas in Georgia that have experienced the most growth all lie directly on an interstate highway or have direct access to an interstate. This is not a new concern, as efforts have been made to secure a direct access from Floyd County to I-75 for more than 25 years. This decision is imminent, and progress has been made to evaluate routes, evaluate costs and review benefits for both Floyd and Bartow Counties — not to mention the expected future need to alleviate traffic on I-20 from Alabama into Georgia. The route identified as most effectively utilizing traffic, providing a more direct route while at the lowest cost is identified by the Georgia Department of Transportation as Route D-VE (value engineered). This route is essential to providing the most direct access to I-75 from Floyd County and alleviating the current traffic on U.S. 41 in Bartow County.

Unfortunately one wealthy family is trying to block progress for both Bartow County and Floyd County. Their efforts have led to delays, increased costs and are basically trying to keep both communities from improvements in traffic utilization, safety, economic growth, etc.

Please don’t misunderstand me because these efforts have been thoroughly examined. They have created so many diversions and unrelated reasons not to complete this transportation project, that their creativity has to be admired. When you evaluate these “creative” reasons for stopping this project, you quickly realize there are no factual reasons to delay this project anymore.

It is up to the citizens of both Bartow and Floyd Counties to join together to put an end to the nonsense of one family trying to negatively affect the livelihood of the citizens of these communities! Contact your local legislators and Georgia Department of Transportation and show your support for the expedited completion of Route D-VE.

Neither county can afford to suffer through the alternative of not completing this project.