EXISTING CONDITIONS and NEEDS ASSESSMENT

Bicycling and walking are becoming increasingly popular in the nation’s urban areas. State and metropolitan transportation agencies are looking to these transportation modes to relieve some of the stress on a transportation infrastructure overburdened by private automobile travel. The Middle Flint Region is not confronted with such traffic congestion. Although bicycling and walking are popular primarily as leisure activities, these modes could be viable alternatives for trips within downtown centers, in and around schools, and to and from local attractions.

Two state bicycle routes developed in the 1997 Georgia Statewide Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan pass through the Middle Flint Region. The TransGeorgia route (Route #40) transverses the state (Columbus-Savannah) passing through Taylor County along GA 96, which is being developed as the Fall Line Freeway. The local segment of this state route is twenty-five miles long. The Central Route (Route #15) travels from northwest of Atlanta to the Florida state line, passing through the region along U.S. 41/ GA. 7 in Dooly (twenty miles) and Crisp (eighteen miles) counties. At this writing, eight years after state designation, neither of the routes has bicycle route signage, and both bypass the Region’s primary tourist attractions, which include: Lake Blackshear Resort and Golf Club, Andersonville Civil War Village, Andersonville National Historic Site and Prisoner of War Museum, Habitat for Humanity International/Global Village, Georgia Rural Telephone Museum, Windsor Hotel and Rylander Theatre,  Jimmy Carter National Historic Site.

Due to the region’s sparse population and rural setting, bicycle routes have not become a priority transportation need. The region has a number of secluded rural roads for leisurely recreational rides. Consequently, this is not a need addressed in local comprehensive plans and the same sentiment carries over to the Regional level.

Furthermore, as schools continue to consolidate facilities they relocate to larger tracts of land farther away from established residential areas making it difficult  for students to ride bicycles or walk to school; examples of this exist in all eight Middle Flint counties.

The Middle Flint Region is characterized by rural, agricultural counties with relatively small, compact community centers.  The region is crisscrossed by a network of federal, state, and local highways and roadways that provide access to the area’s various communities and cultural and natural resources, and good inter- and intra-regional access.  The region has an abundance of cultural resources; the Flint River and Lake Blackshear provide the area’s primary natural resource attractions.  Schools are variously located in towns or in less accessible rural locations.  Because of acreage needs, recreational facilities also tend to be developed in less accessible locations.  Existing facilities generally do not incorporate pedestrian elements.

As an agricultural region with a relatively small population base, the Middle Flint area does not suffer from traffic congestion and, therefore, pedestrian and bicycling activity are, and are likely to remain, primarily recreational and fitness activities.  Nonetheless, cycling and walking should be encouraged and developed as viable transportation alternatives for those who desire additional mobility choices.  For example, cycling and walking are sometimes the only transportation modes available to the young, the elderly, and the poor.  Beyond providing a cheap and efficient means of getting around, these transportation alternatives also provide significant health benefits.  As obesity rates continue to increase nationally and represent mounting future public health costs, cycling and walking, whether for transit or pleasure, provides important exercise activity for communities. Promoting cycling and walking will require education programs that explain both the benefits of those activities as well as safety concerns for its participants and the general public.

As much of the cycling and pedestrian activity is likely to be recreational in nature, regional partners should also encourage tourism development for riders from outside the area.  The region’s abundant cultural and natural resources provide a unique opportunity to connect a large number of resources within a relatively small area.

Generally, the region lacks significant bicycle and pedestrian programs or facilities.  The development, promotion, and implementation of any programs and projects will represent significant progress toward the meaningful inclusion of cycling and pedestrian interests in area transportation planning, recreational enhancement, and economic development.