(ATLANTA) -- The state of Georgia, along with Chatham and Glynn counties, will conduct a joint evacuation exercise Thursday in the coastal and southeastern regions of the state in preparation for the upcoming 2006 hurricane season that begins in two weeks, on June 1, and runs through November 30.

The Georgia Department of Transportation (DOT), Georgia Department of Public Safety (DPS), Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA), and local law enforcement officers will perform a dry run for establishing contraflow lane reversal traffic flow on Interstate 16 (I-16) from Chatham to Laurens counties and on Interstate 95 (I-95) from Camden to McIntosh counties. Contraflow lane reversal is a method designed for quick emergency evacuation of an area, such as coastal Georgia. Incoming interstate highway lanes to a city or region are changed to outbound lanes. This doubles the number of lanes available for outbound evacuation traffic.

"The state of Georgia had a great response to Hurricane Katrina and we learned lessons that will help us be prepared for the hurricane season ahead. Exercises such as this help maintain the command and control techniques necessary to respond quickly and effectively to save lives and protect property in Georgia when a crisis arises," said Governor Sonny Perdue.

Approximately 300 DOT workers and 125 DPS officers from the Georgia State Patrol (GSP) and the Motor Carrier Compliance Division (MCCD) will join state emergency managers and local law enforcement officers for the exercise to gauge the effectiveness of this portion of Georgia's extensive hurricane preparedness planning.

On Thursday, DOT personnel, Georgia state troopers, and MCCD officers will be strategically placed along the evacuation route at interstate entrance and exit ramps to simulate monitoring and maintaining traffic flow. In addition, traffic gates that control access to I-16 will be lowered and raised during the exercise. The State Operations Center (SOC) at GEMA Headquarters in Atlanta will be activated to allow SOC staff to simulate the contraflow decision-making process and to coordinate field operations with DOT's Evacuation and Re-entry Branch staff in Jesup. The exercise will also allow state and local agencies to test communications capabilities along the evacuation routes.

In the event of an actual evacuation using contraflow lane reversals, both eastbound lanes of I-16 may be reversed to permit four lanes traveling west from mile marker 157 in Chatham County to mile marker 51 near Dublin in Laurens County. Both southbound lanes of I-95 from mile marker 26 in Camden County may be reversed to permit four lanes traveling north to mile marker 58 in McIntosh County. State troopers and local law enforcement officers will also patrol evacuation routes checking for stranded motorists.

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