Photo by Thinh D. Nguyen
Click to enlarge photos.By Ashley Hungerford
Marietta Daily Journal Staff Writer
SMYRNA - Dozens of Concord Road residents argued Thursday against a plan to expand a one-lane bridge over the Silver Comet Trail, and two Cobb Commissioners say they'll try to stop it.
Georgia Department of Transportation officials said the one-lane bridge over the Silver Comet Trail got a sufficiency rating of 14 out of 100 at its most recent inspection, on Aug. 2.
The state DOT says repairing the bridge, which is on Concord Road between the East-West Connector, and the historic covered bridge will cost about $1 million. Because the sufficiency rating is below 50, the project qualifies for federal financing.
But to get that, the project would have to adhere to federal transportation rules requiring two-lane bridges for two-lane roadways.
At a public forum Thursday night, residents said they fear widening the bridge will bring more traffic accidents and endanger a nearby historic covered bridge.
"The suspicion in the room is this is the first step to a four-lane that would eliminate the covered bridge," said Richard Eisgruberg, who lives off Concord Road.
"We think going from a one-lane bridge, which is essentially a speed bump, to a two-lane is going to exaggerate the accident rate."
The GDOT plan is to replace the 12-foot-wide wood bridge with a 34-foot-wide bridge with historical features such as one built across the East-West Connector on Concord Road. The project is expected to go out to bid in June. The bridge is not in danger of an "imminent failure," a GDOT spokeswoman said.
Cobb Commissioners Joe Lee Thompson and Annette Kesting attended Thursday's forum.
"As best I can tell, we're not in favor of the two-lane road," Thompson said. "The Commission would like to have a one-lane bridge."
Thompson said he would like to talk with the other members of the Board of Commissioners and the Cobb Department of Transportation to see if the county can take over the project - and pay for it - to keep it one-lane.
Pat Burns, who lives in the Concord Road Historic District, said she fears replacing the one-lane bridge is the "tip of the iceberg," for changes on Concord Road, including changes to the covered bridge.
The covered bridge "is the centerpiece of the historic district," she said. "The covered bridge is Cobb County's Statue of Liberty, our Liberty Bell, Fisherman's Warf and our Alamo."
Cobb Department of Transportation Director David Montanye and Mike Lobdell, project manager for GDOT, said neither of their agencies have any plans to widen Concord Road to a four-lane road, eliminating the covered bridge.
"My understanding from the Board of Commissioners is that bridge will never be touched," Montanye said.
Jeff Carr, GDOT historian, said it would be "nearly impossible" to replace the covered bridge because of all the state and federal agencies that would be need to sign off on the project. The bridge is included on the National Registry of Historical Places.
The GDOT is accepting comments about the project on its Web site - www.dot.state.ga.us - until March 20.
ahungerford@mdjonline.com
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Posted Comments
While Jeff Carr is correct that the Covered Bridge will probably never be touched, the Covered Bridge is only one component of the overall "Covered Bridge Historic District." The railroad (Now the Silver Comet Trail), the railroad bridges, Ruff's mill, the Covered Bridge, Nickajack Creek, the Gann House, and all the sounding woods make up the "historic district." If one part of that is removed, we endanger the relevance of everything else. It is not a good idea to replace the railroad bridge.
"The suspicion in the room is this is the first step to a four-lane that would eliminate the covered bridge," said Richard Eisgruberg, who lives off Concord Road." I whole-heartedly agree with Mr. Eisgrubert! Remember they got us to agree to pass a seatbelt law saying "we won't pull you over just to ticket you for not wearing one" and then they changed it and now they CAN pull you over for just a seatbelt ticket. Then they wanted to increase car emission prices to $25 from $15 but it was going to be good for 2 years. How long did THAT last? Just 3 years. Now we pay $25 per year. Get the picture???
I am 45 yrs. old. My husband and i wanted to go to the Red Lobster on 41 to celebrate our 23rd wedding anniv.(where we had our first date) BUT no, it's gone. It's a car dealership now. Point is, EVERYTHING in the metro Atlanta area has changed or is changing. I've grown up here all my life. It's a little too late. We should have stopped the yankee carpet baggers in the early 80's!! That bridge seemed dangerous to me in '75 when I got my license.......i'd go way through mableton not to have to drive over it! Ha!
Leave the Bridge alone. The idiots from DOT dont have a clue. That is the history of Cobb County in that bridge. Why dont they play "Free Cell" on their laptops and leave history alone.
So leave a potentially unsafe bridge in place? Can you be sure to sign a waiver that when it collapses and kills the occupants in the car that you will not sue anyone or ask for anything from the state or county?
The bridge is perfectly safe and meets DOT standards. It's the TRAFFIC VOLUME and the fact that it's a single lane bridge that raises concern. What makes NO SENSE here is making this bridge 2-lanes. Why?? By leaving this bridge as 1-lane it sets up drivers to slow down and be prepared for the 1-lane covered bridge on the other side. By not having constant traffic flow (specifically heading toward the covered bridge)drivers are reminded to slow down and prepare for the stop they must make when approaching the covered bridge. In my opinion it's a safety issue to leave this as a 1-lane bridge.
Please consider what a two lane bridge would mean to the neighborhoods in the "historic district". As a resident of Deerwood Subdivision I already have a very difficult time getting out of my subdivision on weekday mornings. To make this a two lane bridge will only cause more difficulty for myself and my fellow neighbors. The only way we have a chance to get out is when the traffic is stopped at the bridge. I am also concerned with the curve in the road at the one lane bridge. To open this up to two lanes would surely mean many more traffic accidents. As, I am sure that the speed of the vehicles will be accelerated with the widening of the bridge. Please consider improving (repairing) the one lane bridge as it is today. If people are unhappy with the time it takes them to get across the bridge while waiting for fellow drivers to go across the bridge they should explore other options!! Go around the bridge and leave us alone!!!!
Been a resident of Mableton for most of my 78 yrs. and I would certainly like to see the covered bridge area left alone, since its ruled safe. Let us hold on to a little of our History and be Proud of this area - something to pass down to our grand-and great grandchildren. Thanks
After living in Smyrna for nine years, we see Concord Road and the Covered Bridge as a beautiful historic site and take out of town visitors to see it whenever we can. We have even taken some Atlanta locals who do not know about the bridge. We would hate to see anything happen that would endanger the historic site. Secondly, it does act as a huge speed bump. Living in Bentley Park and accessing Concord every morning we see cars come flying up over the hill and almost hit cars on a regular basis. The flashing lights at the end of Atterbury certainly help cars enter Concord Road, but it doesn't do anything to keep drivers from speeding on Concord Road and racing up onto your back bumper, then tailgating your car until you get to Hurt Road because they just don't believe the speed limit is 35 MPH for good reason. This is a residential area and widening roads will be the start of making Concord Road more dangerous for all of us. Please keep Concord Road and the Covered Bridge just as they are now. Don't take this historic area away from the residents of Smyrna. There are a number of more important projects that the DOT can work on to make the roads of Atlanta safer, this is not one of them.
Traffic already moves too fast in this area. The one lane bridge helps to slow down the traffic prior to reaching the covered bridge. Widening it to two lanes will increase the speed of traffic and the number of accidents. This bridge should NOT be widened. Since it obviously needs to be repaired let's do that; but, not two lanes.