Fortner Road shouldn’t be abandoned
At a recent hearing on potential county road closures, Jasper Mayor John Weaver’s fiery tirade on government’s duty to keep all roads open received two rounds of applause and one Amen.
Underneath the rhetoric, Weaver was correct. Except for one current case where all homeowners involved want a pair of small lanes closed, it is government’s job to keep roads open, maintained to some degree (not necessarily paved) and policed.
Hopefully, Commissioner Robert Jones will listen to public comments on Fortner Road: Open it, bring it up to decent standards, and police it.
The county offered two reasons for their wish to abandon the road. First, they can’t control illegal dumping there.
Not valid, we say. The Progress has every confidence the county marshal and other men in brown who work for Sheriff Craig can keep that road litter-free if given the task.
The county’s second reason for abandoning the road is the inordinate quantity of tax dollars required to maintain the road, and it rarely used. This point has merit. But no one is asking pavement for the rough dirt-gravel route.
All that is desired for Fortner is to keep it a county road. If at some point improvement work is warranted based on usage or perceived need, then let it be done. But if dropped now from the county’s list, the old road would probably never be reopened to the public. The dirt way is part of the Old Federal Road through Pickens County and brushes past another historic site, the Covington Hang, so familiar in local lore.
At the hearing, some pointed out that besides being scenic, Fortner Road could serve as a workable alternative to Highway 53, should accidents or sinkholes close the state route––a very good point with the recent history of that highway.
A final point for keeping Fortner, expressed by a 71-year-old lady who spoke: a rural county like Pickens ought to have some bouncy, rough stretches of road to occasionally drive or walk along. Needs doing.
Walmart back-side routes essential,
but Highway 53 still main priority
On the second issue brought up at the county hearings: It is ludicrous that Walmart “back-side” routes (Collins and Old Philadelphia roads) are being considered for anything besides upgrading. Closure, as Jasper Mayor John Weaver said loudly, “is insane,” and “the worst mistake you [the commissioner] will ever make.”
Business considerations aside, residents at the hearings repeatedly stated the two narrow residential lanes serve as overflow routes, so motorists can avoid Highway 53 (grid-locked twice a day when school is in session). When the Walmart development opens for business, we’ll need all available avenues to access it.
The mayor was right when he said those roads should stay open. He’d have done well to add the roads are also crucial in taking pressure off his own municipality’s mess: Highway 53/ Church Street from downtown to the four-lane.
Had the topic for the hearing been the general need for roads to support businesses, any number of shop owners on the main route through Jasper (Highway 53) might have shown up to discuss how no one can get in to their businesses without dealing with way more traffic than any small town should have to put up with. Or they might have expressed how customers fear coming to their stores, wherever parking lot entrances lie just below the crest of steep hills along Highway 53.
Weaver hit the nail on the head when he talked about the importance of government supporting commerce with good roads. But with the city’s own mess along Highway 53, listening to the mayor’s road rhetoric seems akin to taking economic advice from Scrooge McDuck. Around here, issues with Highway 53 remain the top priority.
Old Philadelphia and Collins roads, if improved, may help Jasper’s overall traffic situation, but nothing is going to fix things well until Highway 53 is squared away.
Roads can ruin in two ways. One is when they’re abandoned. The other is when they’re flooded with more traffic than they can carry.
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