This morning about 40-50 people attended the first public meeting is support of the I95 / Belfast Keller Interchange. (Bryan County, Georgia).
Steve Croy chaired the meeting and explained that this interchange was extremely valuable as it has a great location on the I95 / only 13 miles from the port of Savannah (one of the busiest ports in the US) and the interchange has a railhead, not to mention the value that it could add to Ft. Stewart Military base for deployments and emergencies.
Jimmy Bursed - Bryan County Chair and Commissioner - Noted that of the 8 points required to justify an interchange, we already have 7 checked off. Also that this was not a transport initiative butt and economic development initiative which could bring 10 000 rooftops to Richmond Hill and help with Georgia's 10% unemployment problem, that in this region is 23 months old. Commissioner Burnsed also noted that we have a willing partner as the landowner for the interchange is Rayonier and they are absolutely pro the interchange (they were in attendance to support the meeting).
Special guest Senator Jeff Mullis was at the meeting to assure participants of his support for the project, noting that this was an absolute "dream site" for an new interchange. The senator also shared his experience with the meeting about how significant the positive economic impact for this project could be and supported the whitepaper on the project which states that this project could bring over 3,000 new permanent jobs to the region / 7.3 million sq. feet of industrial space / 3.2 million sq. feet of retail and office space / over $6 billion in planned residential and commercial development / over $700 million in new tax revenues by 2030 / accommodate the 96% expected population increase in Bryan County by 2030. Senator Mullis also commented that this was an important project for Georgia, who on an economic level does not only have to compete with neighboring states but in reality on a global level. In his mind there was no question about if this project should happen it was just a question of how!
Representative Buddy Carter also shared his support for the project and shared his personal experience with how positive the impact is economically for the region when these interchanges happen as he was involved in the I96/I16 interchange. This project put Pooler on the map and opened that way for Savannah Quarters to be developed and more recently led to the announcement that Mitsubishi Power Systems would be building a manufacturing facility at the site which would lead to 500 new permanent jobs. He also noted that this was a great project to curb our 23 month 10% unemployment problem for the region, "we have to get people back to work in Georgia".
As Steve Croy noted this project will be a marathon run over years not months but like all good things we needed to be patient and fight hard for this interchange till we get it!
If you would like to find out more or be placed on the update mailing list for this citizen led project and to follow our progress, feel free to contact me: Mark Arlow (arlowmark@hotmail.com) and I will bee happy to add you to the list.
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