Based on data gathered by the Georgia Department of Transportation as part of its Traffic Monitoring Program, the volume of traffic flowing through downtown Watkinsville on Main Street decreased from 2019 through 2024, the most recent year for which counts are available.
This is true based on actual counts from a monitoring location at the center of Watkinsville and on projections from those counts.
The raw counts show 35,784 vehicles traveled along Main Street at a point just south of School Street in May of 2010. In February of 2021, that count was 34,568. In August of 2024, it was 33,083.
Based on calculated Average Daily Traffic (ADT), the figure at that Main Street location was 17,892 in May of 2010, 17,284 in February of 2021, and 16,542 in August of 2024.
The monitoring program also offers an annual estimate of Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT) for 20 years in the future, and the projection offered in 2024 is lower than what was offered 2023 and only slightly higher than what was projected in 2016.
The Traffic Monitoring Program has only limited estimates of the speed of traffic moving through Watkinsville, but congestion is no doubt greater now that the stretch of Main Street between Barnett Shoals Road and Experiment Station Road has three traffic signals and two flashing lights to facilitate safe use of crosswalks.
The city also closely monitors speeds along the road, with police cars frequently visible along the roadway and sign boards posting speed of vehicles frequently in place.
The GDOT Traffic Monitoring Program shows a drop in tractor trailer trucks in 2024 from the most recent actual count in 2021, and an estimate that only 2.4 percent of the traffic on Main Street is tractor trailers, much lower than the 9 percent figure used by GDOT at its Public Information Open House (PIOH) on April 16 when it provided three alternate routes for a truck bypass of Watkinsville.
Challenge To Truck Estimates
Sam Edgemon, an expert in statistical modeling and data analysis with the SAS Institute in Cary, N.C. and who lives off SR 15 south of Flat Rock Road, told the Board of Commissioners last week that he believes that the bypass would divert only about 1 percent of current traffic moving through downtown Watkinsville.
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| Dashboard Image Summarizing Data For Downtown Watkinsville (Click To Enlarge) |
His analysis is based on the count of 360 AADT trailer trucks in 2024 from the GDOT Data Application (TADA) website, which makes data from the GDOT Traffic Monitoring Program available to the public.
After meeting with Edgemon last week, I downloaded and conducted my own analysis of trends from the TADA Web site.
While I have no expertise in how GDOT gathers its data, I have spent my career as a social scientist analyzing trend data of the sort reported by government agencies and doing program evaluation that requires statistical comparisons of data of the sort reported on the Traffic Monitoring Program.
The data dashboard on the TADA site actually is relatively simple to review, as it is possible to produce a summary of most of the available data.
Included for the central Watkinsville site is a bar graph showing that the ADT for the intersection increased from 17,892 in 2010 to 19,396 in 2019 and dropped to 16,542 in 2024.
The AADT increased from 14,800 in 2015 to 17,700 in 2019 before falling to 15,000 in 2024.
Both sets of figures are based on actual counts and estimates, as labeled in the table.
The graphic also shows that even if single unit trucks and buses are included, heavy truck traffic makes up only 7.23 percent of the total traffic.
Passenger cars make up 74.6 percent of the traffic, with light trucks making up 17.8 percent of the traffic.
It is possible to download additional data behind the chart, showing that the AADT for the intersection in the middle of Watkinsville was 16,810 in 2003.
In that hidden data file, GDOT estimates the AADT for 2025 as 15,100, or only 100 more than shown in the table for 2024.
PIOH And Routes
At the PIOH held on April 16 at the Oconee County Administrative Building, GDOT officials presented what were labeled as three alternate routes for a truck bypass connecting SR 15 with U.S. 441 south of Watkinsville.
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| Main Street At Site Of GDOT Monitoring 5/3/2026 |
All of them pass through undeveloped farmland, with the alternate closest into the city also passing through or near residential properties.
These three routes were presented as alternatives to what was labeled the No Build Option.
The more than 300 people who attended the PIOH were offered a fact sheet stating that “The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) is seeking feedback about a proposed solution to provide an alternate route around the city of Watkinsville to relieve traffic congestion in downtown Watkinsville and enhance connectivity between U.S. 441/U.S. 129/State Route (SR) 24 and SR 15/Greensboro Highway for truck traffic.”
The fact sheet listed current conditions along the SR 15 corridor and along the U.S. 441 corridor, concluding that there is “poor connectivity” between the two routes “for truck traffic.”
Approximately 19,000 vehicles per day pass through downtown Watkinsville on SR 15, according to the sheet, with 9 percent being trucks.
The fact sheet did not provide any source for those estimates and did not reference the data from its Traffic Monitoring Program.
With the No Build option, according to the fact sheet provided at the PIOH, there will be “continued and increased congestion in downtown Watkinsville,” and “downtown and area businesses and residents would continue to be negatively impacted,” and there would be a “continued lack of enhanced connectivity between SR 15 and U.S. 441.”
Other Data
The Traffic Monitoring Program also provides data for two site on SR 15 coming into Watkinsville.
The first of these, inside the city limits just south of the railroad tracks, shows an estimated AADT for 2025 of 9,530, up from 9,430 based on an actual count in 2024. That number had peaked in 2006 at 11,880.
The second of these data sites is just north of Astondale Road. The AADT for 2025 for that site was 5,770 for 2025, the same number as in 2024.
Another site on North Main Street north of the Experiment Station Road shows an AADT for 2025 of 7,690, up from 7,610 in 2024.
A site on Experiment Station Road near the Sheriff’s Office had an AADT of 13,900 in 2025, up from 13,800 in 2024.
Tractor trailer trucks made up 1.5 percent of that traffic.
The Board of Commissioners has put the GDOT proposal for a truck bypass of SR 15 on its agenda for discussion at its meeting on Tuesday, with the possibility that it might express an opinion to GDOT on the options. That meeting begins at 6 p.m. at the Oconee County Administrative Building, 7635 Macon Highway, north of Watkinsville.
GDOT has extended the period for public comment until May 11, with an online option for providing a response.
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