- Valdosta, Ga. - Feb. 07, 2012 -

Flip through the pages of a history book of downtown Valdosta and you'll see a world of change over the decades.
But few things have changed the face of the Azalea City as much as the J.M. Beck Overpass. It transports travelers from rural highways into a bustling modern city.
Downtown Valdosta comes complete with restaurants, shops and historical sights. But some community activists like John Robinson Senior see the overpass differently. He tells Eyewitness News reporter Greg Gullberg that it's a divisive barrier that has choked off South Valdosta's minority communities.

"There were many thriving businesses here that I understand were just right there where the bridge was built. It literally cut Valdosta downtown in half," Robinson says.

Robinson blames the overpass for the gripping economic disparity fallen on this once prominent minority community. A walk down these chipped and cracked streets tells a painful story of trying economic hardships.

Larry Hanson is Valdosta's City Manager.

"Some people are negatively affected when an overpass is built and it's unfortunate but it has to go somewhere," Hanson tells Gullberg.

Hanson says the overpass was built to lift traffic over the railroad tracks where sometimes cars would get stuck behind two trains at a time. But it was more than a matter of convenience for emergency vehicles, he says some people literally died waiting in ambulances.

"So I think overall the overpass has certainly helped improve access to public safety and that was the overall goal of it," says Hanson.

But some local business owners like 82-year-old William Spell say it's as if the overpass simply passed right over this community.

"This used to be a real busy part of town and now it's just dead," Spell tells Gullberg.

Spell says he's tired of watching could-be customers buzz by at 45mph on the overpass.

"People going over the overpass, they just can't see you down here. They don't even know you're down here. Most people don't," says Spell.

The Overpass was built in 1981. It was named for Valdosta's famous Mayor and State Representative James M. Beck.
Records at the Lowndes County Historical Museum reveal that from the 1920s through the 1970s downtown Valdosta was twice as big as it is today. The museum has photographs from the 1950s and 1960s that show what the city looked like before the overpass was built.
Just as Robinson said, the south end of town used to be awash with diverse minority businesses.

Donald Davis is a historian at the museum. He says area used to be filled with minority owned stores, restaurants, movie theaters and even factories.
There was a smattering of Jewish, Greek and Lebonese businesses.
There were several classically styled train stations that have since been demolished. He tells Gullberg that today, the Georgia Department of Labor Valdosta office is designed to be reminiscent of the old train stations.
But in other ways it's an improvement. There was a massive jail where a large pecan factory stands now.
But the area was largely dominated by black businesses.

"Branch Street, now Martin Luther King Drive, was the center of black business in Valdosta during the era of segregation. And there still continue to be many black businesses in that area," Davis says.

"The businesses here today that are trying to survive, they are just remnants of what they once were," Robinson tells Gullberg.

Today the city is steadily rebuilding this fallen community through the "Streetscape" program. New roads, sidewalks and even this beautiful monument line the Martin Luther King Corridor as part of its gradual makeover.
Hanson hopes cleaning up the area will attract new investors to the South end of downtown.

"Private investment often follows public investment," Hanson says.

- - - New Overpass - - -

Now a new overpass is in the works for the Azalea City.
Busy people like Katie Wiggins, owner of a downtown Valdosta tack shop called "Chez What", sometimes avoid West Hill Avenue whenever possible. That's because several trains run through through the street every day blocking traffic.

"I hate getting stuck behind a train. It's so frustrating. You feel helpless. You're just sitting there and sitting there," Wiggins tells Eyewitness News reporter Greg Gullberg.

But City Manager Larry Hanson says that may soon change. There are plans to build a new overpass lifting traffic over the tracks.

"We get a lot of complaints about it. And it affects commerce and it affects safety and convenience," Hanson tells Gullberg.

It's a Georgia Department of Transportation project that could cost as much as $15 million to the state. West Hill is a heavy traffic area because it doubles as U.S. highway 84. Hanson says that spells big trouble for emergency vehicles.
And just like with the J.M. Beck Overpass, it's expected that some businesses will be bought out and relocated. But there's no word yet on which ones.
The new overpass is still a few years away yet.
Bidding for the project starts this fiscal year.