Dougherty County Commission asks DOT for P&G traffic study

ALBANY — The Dougherty County Commission on Monday expedited a request from officials at the Albany Procter & Gamble plant asking the Georgia Department of Transportation to conduct a traffic study on the Liberty Expressway to determine whether additional traffic signals are needed at the plant’s two entrances.

The commission usually discusses such matters at a work session before taking official action at the following week’s business meeting, but moved the issue up without discussion so that DOT could make a decision on the request as quickly as possible.

“The redistribution of traffic flow after the tornado is a concern, and with the biomass plant opening coming up soon, there is concern that there might be a need for more signalization there,” Dougherty County Administrator Richard Crowdis told the commission. “This is not about widening the road, because both of their plant entrances are on four-lane roads. It’s about a possible need for more signalization.

“As they said in a letter to DOT, as many as 120 to 150 trucks a day will be going in and out of their back entrance at the intersection of Mock Road and Walter Brown Drive. All of their employees will be parking near their main entrance off the Liberty Expressway.”

That entrance, as P&G Family Care Converting AC4 Line Leader Justin Yin noted in a letter to DOT, has no traffic signal.

“Procter & Gamble values the safety of our employees and contractors very highly, and we are requesting that the Georgia Department of Transportation conduct a traffic study to understand if these intersections are still safe without a traffic light, given the recent changes,” Yin wrote.

Crowdis noted that, since the P&G plant is in the unincorporated portion of the county, the county government needs to sign off on the request before it is considered by DOT.

“We need to stay ahead of this because that large volume of truck traffic is going to impact (new repairs) on that railroad track out there,” District 3 Commissioner Clinton Johnson said before the board voted 7-0 to support the traffic survey.

Also at the meeting, the commission:

— Approved a resolution declaring 119 items surplus and authorizing their sale using the govdeals.com website;

— OK’d a one-day alcoholic beverage license sought by Bridges Sinyard for an April 21 fundraiser for the Flint RiverQuarium at Deer Run Plantation on Gillionville Road.

After the commission finished with those agenda items, District 6 Commissioner Anthony Jones told the board he’d been asked to serve as a liaison with Charlie Freeman, who has been asked to continue the work of Samaritan’s Purse, which aided with storm cleanup in the community after Jan. 2 and Jan. 22 left tons of debris throughout the community.

“Mr. Freeman has been asked by Samaritan’s Purse to head up local volunteer recruitment for storm damage, and right now his group has about seven or eight work orders,” Jones said. “They’re not going to call in help from all over the U.S. with seven or eight work orders.

“I know there are a lot of people who still need help removing debris from their yards. Mr. Freeman has asked me to let citizens know that if they need help with cleanup, they should reach out to their county commissioner. Their commissioner will let me know, and I will get the word to Mr. Freeman. All they need to do is give their commissioner a name and address, and we’ll make sure and get it to the crews doing cleanup.”