Highway 27 to Become Tourism Highway

According to The Times-Georgian, the Highway 27 Association (now including 18 counties as members) is working to promote the highway as a scenic, tourist-friendly route to Florida from the Georgia-Tennessee border. The state of Georgia is spending roughly $528 million to expand Highway 27 into four lanes, and Carroll County representative for the Highway 27 Association, Doug Mabry, says counties should take advantage of the expansion by attracting tourists to their lesser-known attractions. As a campaign, the project resembles that of Route 66– a scenic route for travelers from Chicago to California or anywhere in between, despite the faster routes of interstates. According to Mabry, Highway 27 "appeals to people who really dread driving through Atlanta," and the roadway could bring in tourism dollars to the towns and cities through which it runs. In addition to creating a courthouse tour of 22 courthouses tourists can visit, each county took "inventory of its potential sites." Pine Mountain Gold Museum in Villa Rica, for example, is listed as a possible tourist attraction for the area. If Carrollton could find an attraction for travelers, as well, its numerous shops on the square, restaurants, and hotels could bring in more revenue for the city.