Have issues with tractor-trailers and freight trains? Time to speak up

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The Macon Area Transportation Study Metropolitan Planning Organization seeks input on freight issues to plan for 2050.

Credit: Liz Fabian/Macon Newsroom

Nearly half a million cargo units passed through the Port of Savannah in May and many of them came through Middle Georgia. 

Whether you work in the shipping industry or manufacturing, get stopped by a freight train or sandwiched between big rigs on the interstate, the Macon Area Transportation Study Metropolitan Planning Organization, MATS MPO, wants to hear your thoughts. 

Gresham Smith Planning is conducting a survey to aid local government planners, the Georgia Department of Transportation Offices of Planning and Intermodal, Federal Highway Administration and other entities make plans to handle freight through 2050.

A stakeholder committee comprised of local, state and federal transportation experts and representatives from the Middle Georgia Regional Commission, Middle Georgia Regional Airport and the 21st Century Partnership will assess the regional freight needs and the area’s strengths and challenges. 

The team wants to identify transportation bottlenecks and the barriers for future growth. 

Through mid-August, the public is invited to fill out the MATS 2050 Freight Plan Stakeholder Survey at https://greshamsmithplanning.com/mats-2050-freight-plan/mats-stakeholder-survey. The 7-question survey takes only a few minutes to complete, but can provide useful information for coming decades. 

Deadline to complete the survey is Aug. 16.

— Civic Journalism Senior Fellow Liz Fabian covers Macon-Bibb County government entities and can be reached at fabian_lj@mercer.edu or 478-301-2976. This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with The Macon Newsroom.