More work needed to eliminate dividers

The Columbia County commission chairman didn't fight the battle single-handed. But Ron Cross deserves a lot of credit for getting Georgia's Department of Transportation to agree to a center turn lane rather than a concrete divider for a small part of Flowing Wells Road.

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Now the hard part: Getting the DOT to back off dividing the rest of the highway.

The DOT almost seems to lust after concrete medians, to the point of abandoning common sense. The agency is so laser-focused on moving cars from Point A to Point B that they forget some of those motorists live, work and do business along those routes.

Divided medians do a fantastic job of splitting traffic and keeping it running in two directions. They do a terrible job of allowing access along the way.

The DOT has agreed to put a center turn lane on the short commercial piece of Flowing Wells between Columbia and Washington Roads when the long-overdue widening project takes place. Unfortunately, the agency is sticking to its plan to divide the majority of the road where it runs between dozens of homes, two schools and a church. That's an awful idea.

Mr. Cross, keep up the fight.