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Residents feel slighted by state map deletions
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| IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME in Colesburg. The residents of the area know it's officially Christmas when they see the lights adorning this palm. Mrs. Virginia Buchanan has decorated the tree almost every year since she and her husband bought Buchanan's General Merchandise. Buchanan has retired now, but the lights still shine bright at Christmastime. |
By Emily Goodson
Say goodbye to Waverly, White Oak and Tarboro. Wave farewell to Spring Bluff, Colesburg and Waynesville. The state Department of Transportation (DOT) removed the names of 488 communities, including those six Camden County crossroads, from the 2007 state travel map, which was printed in November for welcome centers and rest stops.
“Based on discussions with several agencies, we made the decision to remove those communities from the map,” said Crystal Paulk-Buchanan, a spokesperson for the DOT. “Our state is evolving. Our attempt with this was to have the map evolve with our state.”
Paulk-Buchanan also said the department has received complaints for years that the map’s two-point type made it crowded and hard to read.
“It’s really typical, when you’re designing maps, for locations to come off the map,” she said. “This is in line with what other state maps look like.”
However, local residents feel they deserve to be included on the map.
Deborah Reed was born and raised in Tarboro, and now owns and runs Reed’s Ponderosa, a convenience store and diner on Highway 252. She said small communities are a part of Camden County, too.
“Yes, our name should be on the map,” she said. “We pay taxes, too, just like St. Marys, Kingsland. So we should be on there, Waverly, Spring Bluff.”
Reed also said motorists, bikers and hunters often come in asking for directions to and from Interstate 95, and added that she uses the names of small communities, like Spring Bluff, to give those directions.
“I had a lady looking for Dover Bluff just this morning,” Reed said Wednesday. “Just because we’re on the north end of the county, we’re already treated like double stepchildren.”
Latrelle McDowell lives in Folkston but is working temporarily at the White Oak post office. She said taking small communities off the map will just make it harder for people to get where they are going.
“It’s hard for people to find small places now, so that’s just going to make it worse,” she said. “I’m sure there’s all kinds of options that they could look at.”
Jay Hulslander recently moved to Camden from Glynn County, and now owns the Waverly Minit Mart. He also said small communities should stay on the map.
“It’s an injustice to those trying to use that to find the community they’re looking for,” he said, adding he gives directions to about two dozen people a week. “They treat us like the red-headed stepchild, and that sounds like what the state’s doing to us, too. We count, too.”
The public outcry against the DOT’s decision to remove small communities from the map has prompted state officials to reconsider the decision. In fact, many of the communities will be returned to a two-sided, large-print map set to come out in June, Paulk-Buchanan said.
“We’re going to be returning many of those communities back to the map,” she said.
The criteria for if a community makes it back on the map is as follows: if it has a zip code, if it has significant economic impact on the surrounding area and if it has historical significance or landmarks.
The large-print map, which shows half the state on each side but has no pull-outs of large cities like Atlanta and Savannah, consistently flies off the shelves at welcome centers , Paulk-Buchanan said.
“This has been an extremely popular map,” she said. “Our welcome centers can’t keep it in stock.”
This may placate some communities while the DOT considers which communities will return to the 2008 travel map, the next version of which will come out in November 2007.
“Based on discussions with several agencies, we made the decision to remove those communities from the map,” said Crystal Paulk-Buchanan, a spokesperson for the DOT. “Our state is evolving. Our attempt with this was to have the map evolve with our state.”
Paulk-Buchanan also said the department has received complaints for years that the map’s two-point type made it crowded and hard to read.
“It’s really typical, when you’re designing maps, for locations to come off the map,” she said. “This is in line with what other state maps look like.”
However, local residents feel they deserve to be included on the map.
Deborah Reed was born and raised in Tarboro, and now owns and runs Reed’s Ponderosa, a convenience store and diner on Highway 252. She said small communities are a part of Camden County, too.
“Yes, our name should be on the map,” she said. “We pay taxes, too, just like St. Marys, Kingsland. So we should be on there, Waverly, Spring Bluff.”
Reed also said motorists, bikers and hunters often come in asking for directions to and from Interstate 95, and added that she uses the names of small communities, like Spring Bluff, to give those directions.
“I had a lady looking for Dover Bluff just this morning,” Reed said Wednesday. “Just because we’re on the north end of the county, we’re already treated like double stepchildren.”
Latrelle McDowell lives in Folkston but is working temporarily at the White Oak post office. She said taking small communities off the map will just make it harder for people to get where they are going.
“It’s hard for people to find small places now, so that’s just going to make it worse,” she said. “I’m sure there’s all kinds of options that they could look at.”
Jay Hulslander recently moved to Camden from Glynn County, and now owns the Waverly Minit Mart. He also said small communities should stay on the map.
“It’s an injustice to those trying to use that to find the community they’re looking for,” he said, adding he gives directions to about two dozen people a week. “They treat us like the red-headed stepchild, and that sounds like what the state’s doing to us, too. We count, too.”
The public outcry against the DOT’s decision to remove small communities from the map has prompted state officials to reconsider the decision. In fact, many of the communities will be returned to a two-sided, large-print map set to come out in June, Paulk-Buchanan said.
“We’re going to be returning many of those communities back to the map,” she said.
The criteria for if a community makes it back on the map is as follows: if it has a zip code, if it has significant economic impact on the surrounding area and if it has historical significance or landmarks.
The large-print map, which shows half the state on each side but has no pull-outs of large cities like Atlanta and Savannah, consistently flies off the shelves at welcome centers , Paulk-Buchanan said.
“This has been an extremely popular map,” she said. “Our welcome centers can’t keep it in stock.”
This may placate some communities while the DOT considers which communities will return to the 2008 travel map, the next version of which will come out in November 2007.
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