The availability of federal stimulus money under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act has provided money for the three corridor studies, and Tom Thomson, executive director of the commission, said getting the jump on the studies could help position the region once again to get major transportation projects at the head of the line for limited state funds.

Last month, the state Department of Transportation allocated $128 million for construction of the fifth and final phase of the Truman Parkway extension, which will run from Whitefield Avenue to Abercorn Street. Construction is scheduled to start in the summer. Chatham won the funding over other state projects, Thomson said, because its project was furthest along in the development stages.

The studies will look at replacing the Bull River and Lazaretto Creek bridges to Tybee Island, an Abercorn roadway expansion from the finished Truman expansion to Interstate 95 and an expansion of Ga. 21 from Interstate 516 into Chatham County.

Tybee's traffic problems made news frequently last year as wrecks, sometimes fatal, snarled the island's only route for hours on end. Abercorn Extension often comes to a standstill from retail and commuter traffic to Richmond Hill, and Ga. 21 has been strained by commuter traffic into Effingham and by ever-growing truck traffic around the Georgia Ports.

Wider access to Tybee

Last spring, planning officials had decided to look at building a separate bike and pedestrian bridge along U.S. 80, which would not have addressed the issues of the aging, narrow bridges to Tybee that have no emergency lanes.

The new study will call for looking at building wider bridges that would incorporate shoulders, emergency lanes and designated bike/pedestrian paths. The bridges would connect along a route for a wider U.S. 80.

Tybee Island Mayor Jason Buelterman plans to continue to press for local and state action.

"We're just going to continue to do everything we can to get this done sooner rather than later," Buelterman said. "It's a safety issue not just for Tybee but anyone who comes out there."

While he understands Tybee's needs must compete with other local projects, emergency lanes and a roadway that doesn't flood during spring tides should be a high concern, he said.

"We've got to prioritize safety over convenience," he said.

Paying for progress

Commuters who want a faster way along all three routes may bear the burden by way of toll roads.

Tolls, Thomson said, "aren't a foregone conclusion," but in his opinion, he can't see the work getting done without them.

"It won't get done in our lifetime if we don't create a toll plan," he said.

"There isn't enough funding to build our capacity, to keep our economic position without tolls."

Some concession could be reached by Tybee residents, who have no other route on or off the island, Thomson said, but the other two plans call for building additional lanes to ease existing routes. That would give drivers a choice - stay on a free but sometimes congested route or pay a toll for a highway that provides fewer interruptions and faster access to the destination.

Shedrick Coleman, the planning commission chairman, said toll routes are something that, so far, have not been discussed in any detail. Depending on the results of the studies, he said, a decision would be reached by the local planning board and state transportation officials.