🚨 Tybee Residents and Visitors: The Future of Highway 80 Is on the Line

The Georgia Department of Transportation is proposing a major redesign of Highway 80 and the deadline for public feedback is December 19. This decision will directly affect everyone who lives on, works on, or visits Tybee Island. Your voice truly matters and now is the time to use it. Here is the link to the survey!

What the GDOT Plan Includes

The current proposal would reshape the main corridor from Tybee to Savannah. These changes include:

• One travel lane in each direction from Lazaretto Creek to Tybrisa Street
• Removal of all parking along Highway 80
• Creation of a bike path and an emergency lane
• Reverse in angled parking on the beachside of Butler

Supporters are calling this a needed safety improvement. Yet many Tybee residents express strong concerns about how the plan would affect daily life.

Why Tybee Is Concerned

There is widespread worry that the proposed changes would create more problems than they solve. Here are the major issues locals are raising:

• Traffic congestion would likely increase with only one lane in each direction
• Emergency response times could become slower due to less driveable roadway
• Loss of parking would make access more difficult for residents, workers, and visitors
• Reverse in angled parking is harder for many drivers and takes longer to use
• Traffic could back up while vehicles reverse into spots with no lane to pass
• Frustrated drivers mean less safe conditions overall
• Local businesses could suffer from reduced access and more complicated deliveries

Many residents have stated that almost no one on Tybee supports this version of the plan. Even several city council members have expressed concern. There is fear that the public is being told this change is necessary even though the community does not want it.

Some have suggested the city could “try it” and “always return to the old layout.” However, trying it still means spending significant tax dollars and living with the disruption for a long period of time. Once the roadway is redesigned, going back would not be simple.

What Tybee Actually Needs

Highway 80 already has well-known bottlenecks. The community believes the real solution is to improve flow and safety by expanding the road to four lanes between Bull River and Lazaretto Creek Bridges. This approach would reduce congestion and support safe travel during both everyday conditions and emergency events.

Your Voice Matters

This decision affects residents, business owners, hospitality workers, and every visitor who depends on Highway 80. If the community stays silent, the proposed design could become the new normal.

🗣️ Speak up now.
📅 Deadline for feedback: December 19
📝 Fill out the GDOT survey and make your opinion count.

Here is the link to the survey!