Charles Shiflett Column July 17, 2005

It's More Than Just A Highway Project

The headline in the Tribune last Sunday was a real eye opener… "Will connector be another Barrett
Parkway?" Since its construction in the 1970's, U.S. 411 between Rome and Cartersville has pretty
much been no man's land. Until recently there has been very little commercial, industrial, or residential
development along the route.

In Floyd County, the construction of a new Super Wal-Mart fronting U.S. 411 and announcements of
other soon to be built projects along that stretch of roadway has spurred Floyd leaders to action. The
highway, a vital free-flowing route soon to be enhanced by the 411 connector to I-75, must be
protected according to Floyd officials. This stretch of roadway is also projected to be part of the
proposed Memphis to Atlanta highway.

Development fronting U.S. 411 could quickly slow traffic to a crawl so Floyd County has been working
with state agencies for several months to put together a plan to protect the highway. The idea is to
purchase the majority of property directly fronting the road to prevent future curb cuts.

If implemented, any future developments along U.S. 411 could only be accessed by frontage roads
running parallel to the highway. The frontage roads would tie into existing roads that already intersect
411. So far so good, but the plan requires money… funds Floyd officials had hoped to pull from a
recent SPLOST package voters defeated a few weeks ago. Folks in Floyd haven't given up and are
continuing their push for funding the 411 plan.

Even if Floyd County were able to execute this plan it would have little impact unless Bartow County
does likewise… and about two-thirds of that stretch of U.S. 411 lies in Bartow. In the Tribune article
Bartow Commissioner Clarence Brown said he had no problems with the concept, but added that the
county has no plans to purchase right-of-way along 411.

His response is understandable, we currently don't have the funds… but that doesn't mean we should
sit back and do nothing. For far too long Floyd County and the City of Rome have made things happen
while we've watched.

Over the past ten years, countless new quality industries have chosen to locate in Floyd County while
we in Bartow have seen Goodyear, Unilever, First Brands and other large employers shutter their
doors. Floyd officials also worked together to land the Rome Braves along with basketball and football
franchises.

Look at the tens of millions of state dollars spent or pledged to build the bypass around Rome. A new
section will soon be under construction to encircle the area south of town. Here in Bartow, numerous
road projects that have been on the books for years remain unbuilt.

Why has Floyd consistently topped us? Population has nothing to do with it. According to the latest
census estimates Bartow County's population is just shy of Floyd's. No, the basis for a lot of our
western neighbor's success is political in nature.

Here's an example… during the 1991 and 2001 legislative reapportionment process Floyd County's
business leaders, elected officials, the Chamber of Commerce, and others joined together and lobbied
hard to insure that a state senate seat along with the power it represented remained anchored in
Floyd.

Where were our people? Our elected officials? Our business leaders? They were missing in action.
Thankfully judges threw out the house districts and redrew the maps giving Bartow an additional house
seat at Floyd's expense, but the point is that we rolled over… and Floyd County kept that senate seat
again.

Now compared to Polk, Gordon, and some of our other neighboring counties we've done OK. In some
ways we've been proactive and occasionally rallied together to accomplish some good things.

The problem we're facing is that Bartow County, it's municipalities, it's business leaders and more
importantly its everyday citizens do not have a collective vision for this county. The old fault lines run
deep, preventing us from realizing our potential.

It's city schools against county schools; Adairsville feeling it has more in common with Gordon
County; Allatoona area residents feeling like they're part of Cobb; Emerson with its landfill dreams that
are opposed by everyone else; and Kingston trying to drill just one more well.

Cartersville, Adairsville and our other municipalities will soon be facing extreme financial pressures as
our influx of growth continues. Bartow County government will face a shake-up when voters approve (I
predict) a new multi-member county commission. Both school systems perpetually face funding
problems.

Maybe we're not being proactive enough. Perhaps there's a better solution that's bigger than anything
we've ever attempted before. Could our leaders have underestimated the willingness of Bartow
residents to be bold… bold enough to turn our county into a showcase of how to do governance right?

And finally, am I willing to stick my neck out and write a column suggesting how we can do it?