Rotary Club of Richmond Hill members learned about the latest news regarding the Belfast interchange at Interstate 95 and Belfast Commerce Center on Thursday, when Dan Camp with TerraPointe visited the club during its weekly meeting at the Richmond Hill City Center.

After explaining some of the assets of the proposed 1,100-acre industrial park at Belfast Siding Road and I-95 in Richmond Hill, Camp announced that the requests for state and federal approval of the long-awaited interchange had finally come through.

“We got this letter (of approval) here a week and a half ago, and the relationship with the new Georgia DOT planning director made this possible,” Camp said as he showed a copy of the letter on a projector screen.

He added that state Rep. Ron Stephens, R-Savannah, pushed the project at the state level. But another factor in proving the community wanted the interchange was the results of the transportation special purpose local option sales tax vote in July, Camp said. The regional tax, known as TSPLOST failed to pass across the coastal region, though Bryan County voters approved it in July.

“The TSPLOST said everything to the state that this community wants it and can use it,” Camp said. “Unfortunately it didn’t pass, but that didn’t stop us from saying we still need it, we still want it and we’re still willing to do what we need to do to get it.”

Read more in the Oct. 27 edition of the News.