Shoe Factory traffic light, mountain joyriders discussed

Sen. Gooch announced that the Georgia Department of Transportation had changed its plans for the busy intersection of Gainesville Highway and Shoe Factory Road here in Union County.

The approved roundabout for that area is being “put on hold for the foreseeable future” in favor of making the temporary traffic light a permanent feature, with major upgrades to the intersection coming in the form of left-turn lanes to improve the flow of traffic.

This adjustment will bring $4 million to $6 million in construction savings, and the state will monitor the intersection when upgraded to see if the roundabout idea needs to be revisited, Gooch said. The newspaper does not know the construction timeline for installing the upgrades.

Gooch urged patience with ongoing construction of Georgia 515 between Blairsville and Young Harris: “It’s kind of ugly right now, but it takes a little time.”

“That work has been underway for several, several years,” Gooch said. “We started talking about that project when I was on the DOT Board 16 years ago. So, it takes time to build a major roadway like that.

“But that work is about $175 million; it’s under contract with three different contractors … and I suspect it will take another year before that road is (fully) opened up for traffic. But it will be a nice improvement.

“It will improve a lot of the intersections, it will improve safety along the way, and it will help Downtown Young Harris to avoid some of the truck traffic that comes in there by the college.”

Added Gooch, “And then, the four-lane up Murphy Highway to the state line is underway as well. That is a much-needed project and will continue to progress.”

State legislators concluded their recent legislative session after midnight on April 3, and among other topics, Gooch highlighted the Fiscal Year 2027 Budget as well as the amended FY26 Budget that passed out of the Georgia General Assembly and were signed by Gov. Brian Kemp.

The FY27 budget grew about 3%, while the mid-year amended budget for 2026 saw a roughly $4.5 billion increase, “only because the governor wanted to use some of our surplus to reinvest in our communities and also to give money back to you as the taxpayer,” Gooch said.

“In our final budget this year, we were able to lower the income tax,” Gooch said, going on to state it was their fourth year in a row accomplishing that goal. This means the flat personal and corporate income tax rate has dropped from 5.19% to 4.99%.

“The bill that we passed on the last night of the session … takes it down to 3.99% eventually,” Gooch said, noting that, while he voted for it, he didn’t like the terms of the bill because that rate will take eight years to reach, and he wants to see a faster decrease in the income tax rate.

“I think we can do better – I think we can eliminate the income tax, but it’s going to take five to 10 years to do that,” Gooch said, adding that he will fight to lower the income tax even more if he is elected to lieutenant governor this year.

When Rep. Gunter took over the podium, he, too, addressed local traffic concerns, specifically the “serious problem” of joyriders speeding through curvy mountain roads. Gunter shared that, a few years ago, he was actually hit by one of those drivers, so he knows the dangers personally.

“About four years ago, I went to the colonel of the State Patrol and asked him if there was something he could do,” Gunter said. “He sent a few cars up here, and that slowed it down a little bit.

“Recently, I talked to the next colonel and let him know we’re still having a problem with it, and he’s promised to send some of his folks up here. He even talked about putting helicopters, and I think that would run them off if he does that.”

He has been asking people driving the mountains to “please obey the speed limit, because you may come around a curve and there be a state patrol sitting there.” He said he is looking at other options to make the mountains safer for motorists, because the problem “is not going away.”

Gunter’s efforts are joining those of Union County Sheriff Shawn Dyer, who attended that morning. Dyer has been leading the local charge in ramping up traffic enforcement on the south end of the county.

In other local news, Gunter discussed the upcoming referendum to appear on Union County ballots in November that will be asking voters if they want to change their form of government from a sole commissioner to a multi-member board of commissioners.

“We have the legislation passed,” Gunter said, noting that the governor has 40 days to sign bills, including this one. “He’s got a lot of work to do to get local and general bills signed, so we’re waiting on him to do that.

“Once I know that he’s signed off on the bill, setting up a referendum, it will probably be in either late August or early September. I want to do it fairly close to the election so that everybody has a good idea of what this is about.”

Setting up the referendum will be intensive work, as Gunter will need to learn exactly what residents want for their multi-member commission “if that’s what it’s going to be.”

“We won’t know until that election takes place on the referendum, but the work needs to be done now because, if we’re going to have a new government, I’ll have to set it up in the next session next year,” Gunter said.

In terms of the General Assembly, Gunter said a special session might need to be called to clear up state election laws, as the use of QR codes for vote tabulation is going away July 1, though the state still requires the use of the equipment that generates the ballots that feature the codes.

He expressed disappointment that a controversial bill did not pass, which would have strengthened the obscenity laws for reading materials available to children in public libraries, giving the example of a children’s book called “It’s Perfectly Normal.”

“This is material that is sexually explicit, and they don’t put these books in the adult section – they keep them where children can get a hold of them,” Gunter said. “To me, as a former prosecutor, it is a huge hole in our child obscenity laws to allow a pedophile to come into the library to groom children using those kinds of books.”

Gunter said he hopes to revisit the issue in future legislative sessions.

Among other bills, he touted passage of a bill to create a $1 “public safety support surcharge” on telephone services to help “strengthen the financial position of (the Peace Officers’ Annuity & Benefit Fund) and support retirement benefits for Georgia’s law enforcement officers.”

Given his past career in law enforcement, this is an important issue for Gunter, as he wants to ensure that the many first responders who work hard to protect society get the retirement they deserve.