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Effingham residents get transportation updates at public forum
Melissa Phillips and Claudia Kocher
Melissa Phillips, associate principal/business development director, from Pond’s Savannah office talks with Rincon resident Claudia Kocher. (Photos by Barbara Augsdorfer/Effingham Herald)

By Barbara Augsdorfer, Editor for the Effingham Herald

Effingham County held a public forum Aug. 22 at the Clarence Morgan Sports Complex gym in Springfield. The event was a casual drop-in style from 5:30-7:30 p.m. with county staff and members of Atlanta-based engineering firm Pond and Company available to hear concerns and answer questions.

About 25 people were present from 5:30-6:30, studying the posters and asking questions of County Manager Tim Callanan, County Engineer Jonahtan Hulme and Pond staff.

Jack Garvin of Clyo said he wants to make sure that the future Effingham Parkway is eventually four lanes. “Thank God we have (Speaker of the House) Jon Burns where he’s at,” Garvin said. “He’s brought a lot of (good) stuff to Effingham County.”

The forum was designed to update residents on the fluidity of the transportation plan the county is implementing. Pond completed a Transportation Master Plan for the county in 2021, which is available online on the county website at www.effinghamcounty.org.

“So much as changed in the past two years,” Callanan said. “Hyundai will affect traffic patterns. We have TSPLOST, state funding and federal Safe Streets 4 All funding.”

“The ‘Safe Streets 4 All’ study is done separately,” Callanan continued. “It looks at accident patterns and recommends safety measures such as separated bike trails (off busy streets) and increased lighting.

“It also looks at ‘traffic calming measures’ such as reflective pavement markers and wider shoulders,” Callanan continued. “Some of our roads are old and we have to bring them up to (current) standards.”

Road crews are currently completing many TSPLOST repaving projects throughout Effingham County.

As for the improvements planned for the intersection of Hwy. 21 and McCall Road in Springfield, Callanan said the approved plans from GDOT should be returned to the county within a week and a bid should be awarded in the fall. The county is working with Georgia Power to relocate a power line in the area.

“We’ll get the traffic signal in a year early,” Callanan said. The other work near that intersection includes turning lanes and a roundabout at Courthouse Road and McCall, which is separate from the McCall/Hwy. 21 work that the county has taken over from GDOT.