Republican Party Ninth District
Mike Evans

Working to achieve more timely delivery of transportation projects - be they economic development-related in North Georgia or to relieve congestion in Metropolitan Atlanta - has been a priority issue for me throughout my public life.

As a member of the House Transportation Committee and the Republican Leadership during my eight years in the General Assembly, and more recently, as Chairman of the State Transportation Board, I've insisted that Georgia DOT put more projects into construction faster and finish them on time.

Last year, I commissioned an efficiency study of the Department's business processes by outside experts. No other state agency in Georgia has undergone such a review. That study, by The Monitor Group, identified several things Georgia DOT should do to expedite its project delivery. We are now working with Monitor to implement those recommendations.

In the course of that study, though, I've come to realize that, far too often, there are impediments to completing projects on time that are beyond Georgia DOT's control - principally, volumes of arbitrary, unwieldy and sometimes downright silly rules and regulations imposed by the federal government.

Just such a scenario has so far stymied our effort to replace the Nottely River Bridge on Blue Ridge Highway in Union County. Since 2001, we've been trying to replace this 74- year-old bridge. And it will be replaced, that I vow.

Union Countians already would be driving on a new bridge were it not for a tiny little creature known as the bog turtle, an endangered species. Not that the bog turtle lives under the bridge, or even in the area? As best as I can determine, no one has even seen one anywhere near the site. But the federal government considers the area a bog turtle habitat and thus, largely protected from disturbance. The problem is bog turtles are known to relocate relatively frequently due to natural conditions. Perhaps they used to live there? Clearly though, they've moved on with their lives; we should too!

An even more egregious, and utterly ridiculous, example occurred recently in Gwinnett County. A community improvement district there (essentially a group of private businesses) wanted to spend its own money to beautify five Interstate 85 interchanges by planting flowers and shrubs. Before it could proceed, however, the federal government required it to spend some $7,000 to have each location inspected for historical artifacts and endangered species! Now, I doubt lost hubcaps are considered historic and I'm rather confident this group's daffodils aren't going to endanger anything as much as the 260,000 cars that stream by each day! So why are we slapping these people in the face for their civic-minded gesture?

Because of an impersonal federal bureaucracy and its volumes of inflexible, impractical rules.

I love North Georgia for its rich, diverse ecology and for North Georgians' abundant common sense. We need to protect the former, of course; but also, we need to export the latter to Washington.

Mike Evans of Cumming, is Chairman of the State Transportation Board, a former state representative, and member of the Ninth District Republican Party. You can visit his website at www.mikeevans. org.