A $32 million state project to widen a two-mile stretch of Alabama Highway in Ringgold, Ga., is getting mixed response from officials and business owners.
While the widened U.S. Highway 151 could help reduce traffic and attract new businesses to the area, several business owners question some of the proposed designs and worry the road will constrict customers’ access.
The project, slated to begin in construction in 2013, will widen the road to four lanes, construct a concrete median and add sidewalks along the highway.
But one of the biggest questions raised at a Georgia Department of Transportation meeting Tuesday evening was why officials were planning to pour a concrete median, which would limit turn access for drivers.
“We feel like it could eventually hurt our business,” Julia Scoggins, a franchise owner of the Hardee’s in Ringgold, said during the meeting held in a building at Rollins Industrial Park.