Last week I had an awesome "only in Georgia" experience - but one that is threatened with oblivion if certain politicians have their way. I drove almost 300 miles along Georgia Highway 17, from my hometown of Sautee-Nacoochee to Savannah.

Along the way, I was amazed by many beautiful sites: the majestic north Georgia mountains, the rivers and lakes of middle Georgia, and then the cotton fields and pecan groves of southern Georgia, where the roads were canopied by live oaks draped with Spanish moss.

Much of the route parallels old train tracks, complete with quaint historic depots that have been converted into shops or restaurants. At one of the rare places where there was a small traffic jam, I was delighted to see that the cause of the obstruction was a hunting party, dressed in full English hunting gear and trotting by on handsomely groomed horses.

The architecture along the route was equally fascinating - from grand plantations to kudzu-covered barns, well-kept white clapboard churches, long-inhabited shacks and old general stores displaying road signs that have long since disappeared from more-trafficked places.

Although I did have to slow down to go through small towns, most of the bigger towns had bypasses. Wanting to take it all in, I took business routes instead of bypasses and yet I still reached Savannah in a remarkably fast five and a half hours, using only half a tank of gas. No one tailgated me or honked if I sat a second too long at a stoplight because I was staring at the beautiful historic buildings around the intersection.

I felt as though I had stepped back in time and experienced parts of Georgia that have nearly disappeared in other areas. That's why it's such a travesty to think that our politicians want to take this lovely, unique slice of Georgia life and turn it into the wasteland of an interstate, the proposed I-3 from Savannah to Oak Ridge, Tenn.

Why not take this same trip yourself, remember what's great about our magnificent state, and see why building this interstate would be nothing less than a crime against our culture, our citizens and the beautiful land in which we live.

About 140 years ago, Sherman traversed nearly the exact same route to Savannah and left a trail of devastation in his wake - but eventually Sherman went back north and the people of Georgia were able to heal from the deep wounds his troops had inflicted. The Shermans of today want to blaze an equally destructive trail, but one from which it will be much more difficult for Georgia to heal. Highway 17 and the lives and landscape along it are treasures and should be preserved, not displaced and demolished.

Becca Young
Sautee-Nacoochee

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Citizens Speak Letters-to-the-Editor and Editorial Opinions from the Regional and National Press and individuals' letters to the Stop I-3 Coalition

Highway 17 is a treasure and should be preserved

Citizens Speak
Letters-to-the-Editor and Editorial Opinions from the Regional and National Press
and individuals' letters to the Stop I-3 Coalition