This past week, there was a story on WSB-TV regarding communities that were removed from the 2006 official Georgia highway map. Please click here to read (and see).
It got me to thinking about the new North Fulton County cites of Johns Creek and Milton and where their dots would be on the next release of the Georgia map. Here is a comment I posted to a misc.transport.road discussion "Demapped In Georgia"...
Speaking of Georgia cities, it will be interesting to see where the dots for the new cities of Johns Creek and Milton (which officially became cities last Friday, 12/1) will go on the 2007 official Georgia roadmap. Sandy Springs, Georgia's other new city, always had a dot on the map, so that was not a question.
Both these new cities were created out of sections of extreme north Fulton County that didn't have squat as recent as the early 1990's. Like Sandy Springs, the folks in this section of Fulton County (mostly Republicans) wanted their "independence" from a government that just took their taxes and gave them virtually nothing in return (as least compared to the primarily Democratic southern end of the county).
Even with these new cities being created, there is still the possiblity of the "resurrection" of Milton County (which was merged into Fulton in 1932 due to the Depression). In the next session of the Georgia General Assembly, there's a possibility of a proposed state constitutional amendment that, if passed by the majority-Republican General Assembly, signed by Governor Sonny Perdue (an ex-Dem-turned-Republican), and approved by the voters statewide, will "resurrect" Milton County. (I assume at this point that Alpharetta would again be its county seat as it was in the old days.)
For all you "county clinchers" out there, it would be a potential opportunity. I would "clinch" it immediately since I drive through there everyday via US 19/GA 400.
If you are a registered Georgia voter and want another county to "clinch", just go to the polls when the referendum comes and "Vote Yes For Milton County". :)
Now that Milton and Johns Creek are officially cities, here is how and where I would mention it on the roadsigns...
US 19/GA 400 Northbound (From Roswell):
Exit 11 - Windward Pkwy/Milton (since Alpharetta is already mentioned at the prior 3 exits and you would have passed downtown by that point).
Exit 12A - McFarland Pkwy East/Johns Creek
US 19/GA 400 Southbound (From Cumming):
Exit 13 - GA 141/Johns Creek/Norcross
Exit 12 - McFarland Pkwy/Milton
From Peachtree Industrial Boulevard (PIB) I would change the overhead sign at the GA 141/PIB split near Norcross to read "Johns Creek/Cumming" instead of "Cumming/Dahlonega".
Since these cities already have significant populations (Johns Creek: 63,000, Milton: 20,000), they truly have the right to have their names mentioned so that people can easily reach them via our highways. Hopefully, GDOT will give them their dots as well. :)
BTW, I have spotted the first Milton city limit sign at GA 9 and Windward Parkway, but did not see one on GA 9 as you enter from Forsyth County.
Congratulations to the residents of these new cities on their incorporation and may they truly have a local government that will work only in the citizens' best interests.
When will Milton County be "resurrected"?
That's all for now. Thanks for reading and please come back again.
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1 comment:
IMO, GDOT went way too far with their attempt at "cleaning up" the map. Dropping rural unincorporated areas I could see, but dropping small incorporated cities, which they have clearly done based on the lists of removed areas I've seen, is ridiculous.
As for Milton and Johns Creek, I have to wonder why GDOT didn't put up their own city limit signs on state highways like they did in Sandy Springs...
To me, adding Johns Creek to the signs for exit 10 (Old Milton) makes more sense than exit 12 (McFarland) given that Old Milton is further south and leads to State Bridge, Abbotts Bridge, etc. and the "middle" of Johns Creek.
-SC in Sandy Springs
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