Oxendine says transportation is key to development

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Matt Hamilton/The Daily Citizen John Oxendine talks about his platform at the Murray County senior center Thursday.

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February 25, 2010

Charles Oliver Dalton Daily Citizen

DALTON — John Oxendine knows that all political roads in Georgia lead to Atlanta.

But, the state insurance commissioner said that shouldn’t be true for the state’s highway system as well.

“All the roads in Georgia are designed to take you from the far points of Georgia to Atlanta. Well, it might shock some people, but there are some folks that use the transportation system in Georgia who don’t need to go to Atlanta,” said Oxendine, who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor this year.

Oxendine spoke to and answered questions from about three dozen people at the Murray County Senior Center Thursday.

“Why don’t we build our roads to take people where they want to go? For example, we need to open up access to North Georgia, and Highway 411 is very important,” he said.

Highway 411 runs from Alabama into Georgia just south of Rome and across to Bartow County, just north of Cartersville before turning north and running through Murray County into Tennessee.

Oxendine noted that 411 is four lanes at Rome and then becomes two lanes near Cartersville. He said that the state should expand the highway to four lanes for the rest of its length. That would open up North Georgia to more development and also help take traffic off I-75, he said.

“It’s a no brainer,” Oxendine said.

That proposal seemed to really stir up those in the audience.

“It would be a tremendous benefit to us. When you go into Tennessee, all the way to Maryville, except for a few little spots, it’s all four lane,” said Harold Tankersley.

Oxendine said that the restructuring of the Department of Transportation last year gave the governor a greater voice in transportation and will allow the next governor to help determine where the state’s priorities should be.

Oxendine touted his 15 years of experience as insurance commissioner, saying he had a record of managing a budget and running a state agency requiring some of the same skills it takes to be governor. As insurance commissioner, Oxendine oversees the state fire marshals office and the state arson investigation unit.

He said those officers are working with Murray County officials in the investigation of the Feb. 15 fire at the Dollar General Store on Smyrna-Ramhurst Road. Michael Jame McGee, the manager of that store, has been charged with arson.

“Northwest Georgia is an area that traditionally has had a very high per capita number of arsons,” he said. “For that reason, we have three canine units in the state, and one of them is headquartered in Ringgold.”

Oxendine said he wasn’t sure why Northwest Georgia has historically had a high arson rate.

“It could be cultural. It could be economic factors. We also see a high rate, for some reason, in Southwest Georgia.”