ATC Opposes Highway Feasibility Study

Interstate Could Rupture Georgia Trail

July 14, 2005—Buried deep in a long-stalled reauthorization of federal transportation programs is a $400,000 line item for a study of an Interstate 3 that would cut right across the Appalachian Trail in the North Georgia mountains.  A House–Senate conference committee of Congress is trying to finish that bill by early next week, and the Appalachian Trail Conservancy is trying to get Trail-state members of the committee to remove that line item as a major threat to the hiking experience there. Its opposition is shared by numerous local groups organized under the banner of Stop I-3.

ATC's statement concerning proposed Interstate 3 (PDF, 35 KB)

No specific route for the proposed highway has been defined but one of the possible Trail crossings is at Unicoi Gap, which is surrounded by designated wilderness areas and other sensitive national-forest lands. See the map of the Unicoi Gap area (PDF, 500 KB) for more details. Other crossing areas have similar characteristics.

Click for larger image (PDF, 500 KB). Map courtesy of Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests.