What do farmers, artisans, musicians, owners of museums, cultural institutions, shops, restaurants and hotels, and residents of and visitors to the northeast Georgia mountains have in common? Maybe not much, but on the other hand, maybe a lot. We all love this place and we want to see it thrive. We recognize that there is something very unique here that is not found anywhere else in Georgia; maybe not anywhere else in the nation. We realize that we live, work or restore our sanity in a place that is precious and that should be treasured and protected.

But our lovely homestead is being targeted by forces that would ruin it, and those forces are not just litter, strip malls, treeless subdivisions and ugly billboards. Those forces come in the form of a proposed interstate highway that would cut through the heart of southern Appalachia and the Piedmont region.

The proposed I-3 would run from Savannah to Knoxville. Part of the route would be along highway 17; in other words, we’d have a new interstate in our backyards. Now I’ve lived just off an interstate but thankfully, I came to my senses and fled metro Atlanta to come to what I consider God’s country. If you don’t think the results of having I-3 zooming by would be so bad, then you obviously haven’t visited Jimmy Carter Blvd. in Norcross recently or many other places around Atlanta.

As soon as I heard about this road, I signed up to be part of the Stop I-3 Coalition. They’re doing a lot of good work to try to educate people on what’s happening. You may have seen their red “Burma Shave” style signs around these parts. Here are a few facts from their brochure:

1. You can currently travel from Savannah to Knoxville using existing interstates with a shorter route than would be driven on the proposed I-3

2. County commissioners in five north Georgia and three North Carolina counties have passed resolutions opposing I-3

3. The proposed interstate threatens four national forests and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The environmental and economic damage would be irreversible

4. Building this nightmare road would cost us taxpayers over $25 million PER MILE.

And as if all that weren’t reason enough to rise up against I-3, it’s believed the road would be used to transport nuclear waste through here. “We are concerned that hazardous material transport criteria calling for use of interstates and avoidance of large population centers might well add pressure to build Interstate 3,” said Holly Demuth, executive director of the Coalition. “This new [Common Sense at the Nuclear Crossroads] report suggests nuclear traffic will be funneled from all over New England and the Midwest through Southern Appalachia.”
According to their website, the Coalition believes that the “Southern Appalachian region is comprised of unique local economies and irreplaceable natural and national treasures, which should not be sacrificed to facilitate transportation of dangerous materials.”

Personally, I feel every person or organization in this region that is interested in either Appalachian heritage, arts and crafts, tourism, agriculture and agri-tourism, economic development or just plain old quality of life should carve out some small slice of their personal time or their organization’s time and budget to come together to fight this road. If we don’t, anything else these organizations are doing might all be for nothing. Thankfully, newly elected Representative Paul Braun is against I-3 but he and our other elected officials might want to hear from the rest of us who are against it as well. Maybe we should plan a road trip to see some of our governmental leaders. I’m ready – are you?

Hosting donated by
Netspace Ads.com

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

Come Together Now to Stop a Potential Disaster

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