On May 5, the Madison City Council chamber was packed with concerned residents for a town hall meeting that allowed them to participate in the discussion of a transportation plan called “Madison on the Move,” which was published on the city’s website.
“The draft is simply just a draft; it has not been formally reviewed or adopted by our city council,” Mayor Fred Perriman said as the town hall meeting got underway. “We understand that the contents of the plan will impact the community for years to come. We are assembled tonight for one main reason: to listen to you.”
District 5 Councilor Betsy Wagenhauser said she had heard residents’ concerns about red-dotted lines in the plan involving Kolb Street that some thought might be a future bypass, but she said no plans are under consideration for any kind of bypass in that area.
Wagenhauser said only future connectivity is being considered, should more property in that area be developed. She also added that residents seemed confused about plans that could make Old Post Road and Academy Street from Washington Street to West Central Avenue into one-way streets with parking on one side.
“I appreciate the hyper-alertness and the attention to detail about what’s going on,” Wagenhauser said. “We have the [transportation plan] as a guide, but we get to kind of mold it to what we want.”
Madison residents were then allowed five minutes each to voice their concerns.
Attorney Celia Murray urged the city to work with the county to leverage the investment the state has already made in roads related to the Rivian project to help complete the long-awaited and much-discussed western bypass.
“If the state is going to take action that is going to increase our traffic problems, then the state, in my mind, should step up and try to solve the problem,” Murray said.
Murray also said that if a connection could be established between Hwy. 83 North and Hwy. 441 North with Madison assuming responsibility for the maintenance of Hwy. 441 through the city limits, then Madison could prohibit truck traffic downtown.
Murray also suggested the city reduce its emphasis on trails and bike paths and use the money on roadway improvements instead.
Later in the meeting, Murray questioned the accuracy of traffic counts.
O.J. Booker and Annie Hunt Burriss, both representing the Church of the Advent, located at 338 Academy St., also contributed their observations.
Booker said the plan did not address some of the issues affecting the church.
Karen Massey, a resident of East Central Avenue, said that in order for Madison’s vibrant downtown to flourish, the city needs to focus on safe sidewalks, safe streets, and useful parking.
“It has become increasingly difficult to park and shop downtown,” Massey said. “I can walk to downtown and I try not to drive, so somebody else can get a parking place.”
Massey also said she wanted to see strict enforcement of speed limits, even suggesting Madison become the next Ludowici, a city once legendary for its speed traps.
Madison Senior Planner Monica Callahan and Police Chief Jon McIlvaine plan to put together a speed control team to address this issue.
Russell Brooks, a resident of Atlanta Highway at an address not within city limits, said the transportation plan might necessitate removing 20 to 30 homes and a church in the area where he lives.
“[The area residents] think the city has dropped the ball from 20 years ago when they should have had the bypass and had some good routes that they could have made,” Brooks said.
Callahan said a revised version of the bypass doesn’t impact Pennington Road or the Brownwood area, or connectivity with Hwy. 83 and Old Mill Road.
Other complaints involved potholes on Hanover Street, a perceived lack of collaboration between the city and county, desires for more protection of agricultural land, and a lack of effective tools to communicate issues to young people who may not read newspapers or the city’s website.
Local parents expressed appreciation for Madison as an environment in which to raise children.
“Everybody I talk to who’s not from here embraces it, they fall in love with Madison,” Ginger McFadden said. “They fall in love with a simpler time, with graciousness, with beautifully maintained homes. I think it’s very difficult for anyone who hasn’t been raised in an environment like that to have an appreciation of the impact of changes.”
Madison’s Jeanne Dufort said she participated in Leadership Morgan in 2006, and the number-one issue discussed by the group was trucks in downtown Madison.
“From my office on Main Street in Madison, I had the horror one night of watching a woman lose her life on Main Street,” Dufort said. “If you do anything, do it with the heart of we’re ‘One Morgan.’ We’re not two Morgans; we’re not Madison and Morgan County.”
Perriman closed out the meeting with an observation about the proposed bypass.
“We’re all talking about a bypass, but there’s nobody in this room who wants the bypass near them,” Perriman said.