U.S. Rep. David Scott called the widening and relocation of Ga. Highway 92 a national project that will open up the entire region.

At a meeting Monday of everyone involved with the project, Scott sought updates and answers from those directly impacted by the project and those who are working to bring it to fruition.

The briefing began at 9 a.m. and was held at the Douglasville Downtown Conference Center.

It was Scott’s first visit since Aug. 1, and he emphasized the need to keep the project moving. The money has been allocated for the project, which will cost approximately $65 million, Scott said.

After hearing reports from city officials, Croy Engineering, the Federal Highway Administration and the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), Scott heard from key stakeholders — Douglas County Chamber of Commerce CEO Kali Boatright, Fulghum Drive representative Sharon Nettles, Brown Street representative Kim Jackson Banks and a representative from the Big Lots business community. Each said they support the project, although many Hispanic businesses will be displaced once the Big Lots Shopping Center is torn down.

The chamber and city officials will work to relocate the businesses, they were told, but Scott asked those working on it to be sensitive to the businesses and to keep them together as the business owners have requested.

Scott said the project has the potential of doubling the economic development of the area, but his biggest concern was making it user-friendly and not a barrier to those who live, work and play there in the areas most affected.

“We have an obligation to make it neighborhood and family-friendly,” Scott said. “The heart of this road is going through a residential community. It is our obligation to see that the residential quality of life will not be negatively impacted.”

A knowledgeable Scott was well-versed on the streets and neighborhoods involved and — at one point — requested from Greg Teague, Croy Engineering director of engineering services, that an aerial view depicting the relocation be shown. Scott stopped him often, getting clarification of several detailed changes.

The ability to access Jessie Davis Park and the Alice M. Hawthorne Community Center was critical to Scott.

“You have Jessie Davis Park on one side of the road and the Hawthorne Community Center on the other side. Then you have Cone, Green, Malone Street and Brown residents with children in the community,” Scott said. “How do you make sure access to Jessie Davis Park and the Hawthorne Center is enhanced and not disrupted by a six-lane highway?”

Citing safety as a concern, Scott asked how children, especially, would be able to get to the park and community center.

“How are they going to get from here to over yonder over a six-lane highway?” he asked. “Think I-75, that’s a six-lane highway. How do we make this neighborhood-friendly and how do we take care of the children to make this happen?”

Teague and Gerald Ross, chief engineer and deputy commissioner of GDOT, told Scott that plans are still in the concept stage and welcomed his suggestion of a pedestrian crossover that would allow children to get to the recreational areas.

Another question arose from Scott about the fire station along the route and how it would be impacted. Teague reported that plans already include lowering the median there so that emergency vehicles can access the highway. Scott asked GDOT to design a synchronized traffic system that would allow emergency vehicles to get on the highway immediately in case of an alarm.

Many topics were covered, including lighting, speed limits on the highway, the need for additional traffic signals, noise barriers and aesthetics and eliminating “cut throughs” from drivers taking shortcuts through residential areas instead of staying on the highway.

When a man who will lose a portion of his driveway spoke up, Scott offered to meet with him and a few other homeowners in a smaller session when the meeting was over.

“We’re not going to let a dime of this funding go until the people who live on this road have been satisfied,” Scott said. “We need this road to lift the community up, not just for the community to tolerate it.”

The project has been in different stages of planning for nearly 20 years, with several starts and stops.

At a filming of “The City Connector,” in which Scott was interviewed following the briefing, Mayor Mickey Thompson responded to a question about how long the city has been involved with the project.

“When we started, my hair was black and I had some hair,” Thompson said, recalling that the project was one of those that was started when he became a councilman in 1995.