I doubt anyone in Beaufort County cares about our traffic problem in Atlanta unless they are heading to Florida for the beach, but just in case, I offer this update for future travelers through the area. Bobby Tony
Not so old Newspaper clipping – Highway Construction in Atlanta still underway.
I thought I would try to save some future historian some time in researching the North East corridor expansion of Highway I-85 which runs between Atlanta, Georgia and Greenville, South Carolina.
As I write this (July 2017) the constructing from Suwanee to Hamilton Mill is still under way with no end in sight. They have been working on that section for a couple of years. My local paper had a short article that I instantly knew would be of some value for a future historian at the local library.
In order to save time and effort, I have clipped the article and also created a map of the proposed expansion of the sections of I-85 between Hamilton Mill and Highway 129. The article is interesting in that it merely hints that actual highway word will begin and end. But it makes a bold statement by saying the Authority approved a Joint Resolution for a plan.
The last time someone in authority made a Joint Resolution with a definite completion date about roads in Georgia was when William Sherman and Ulysses Grant jointly resolved that Sherman would take his army down I-75 to Atlanta and then I-75 to Macon and I-16 all the way to Savannah. Sherman did this in little over a year and like our current DOT (Department of Transportation), he did it with considerable
DISRUPTION to the local populace. I feel compelled to add that he was not building highways but he made good use of the previous paths and dirt roads. Let us just say he was one of the first Yankee to practice
Eminent Domain by burning a path for others to follow.
Keep this Newspaper article in your Files. It may be a good historical reference when future historians try to track the 'HISTORY OF THE MODERN TRAIL OF TEARS" in Georgia.
It was all that Damn Sherman's fault. We had perfectly good Indian and Mule Trails before he came to town. I doubt that 100 years from now we will be out of Granite, which is the main ingredient for highway construction. We have what appears to be an unlimited supply of granite stone, which can be crushed to build additional highways. See picture below:
Plan from Hamilton Mill to Highway 211 & Highway 211 to Highway 129
Here is a tease showing the original route in red (through Athens) the alternate route in Blue and the final route in green. The final route was a compromise made between the DOT and then Governor Ernest Vandiver (1959-1963) who just happened to be from Lavonia, Ga.
The famous branch off on I85 to the right became known as Vandiver's Curve.