MACON, Ga. — A proposed shopping center in north Macon is another approval closer to breaking ground. Macon-Bibb County's planning and zoning board approved the Riverside Centre development Monday.
Traffic was one of the main points of concern. It's no secret congestion in the Bass Road area isn't always the easiest to navigate.
"I don't even want to think about it," Stuart Hammock said about the traffic. "Sometimes, I just want to run down to Publix. Just down to the four-way and up over the bridge. I already know it. I've go to go three-and-a-half miles up to Bolingbroke."
Then, he says, he turns around, comes back and gets off at the Bass Road exit. Hammock says he does it all to avoid congestion during busy times like ACE Academy pickup and drop-off. Now, he fears the congestion will just get worse.
"Surrounding counties are going to come into this thing," he explained.
Frank Bishop with New Forsyth Associates says he knows the shopping center might have that effect. So, the group is proposing five entrances to the shopping center. There would be three on New Forsyth Road, another on Bass Road and a fifth entrance on Riverside Drive.
Also included would be two traffic lights on New Forsyth and a roundabout at New Forsyth and Bass Roads. They'd also add a right-turn lane from Wesleyan Drive to Bass Road on New Forsyth Road.
Macon-Bibb Commissioner Valerie Wynn says she understands the traffic problems, but she feels it'll be worth it eventually. She says the traffic calming proposals in the shopping center application satisfy her concerns.
"The traffic is not something that they can solve. It will be solved by GDOT and the county," Wynn said.
The zoning board approved the application with conditions. Developers can't get building permits before submitting revised site plans for pedestrian walkways and landscaping.
According to a study from Ridgeway Traffic Consulting, the shopping center could add between 1,600 and 2,000 cars to the area, depending on the day and time.
Meanwhile, the Georgia Department of Transportation plans to expand Bass Road. The department says work would not start until at least 2028, about three years after the shopping center is expected to open.