Rollins clan near victory in Rome road battle | www.myajc.com

The Rollins family did just about everything it could do to block a new road linking Interstate 75 to Rome and running just south of the family’s vacation home and prized fishing lake.

And on Thursday the effort by the prominent Georgia clan – which was joined by environmentalists and other nearby residents – appeared to pay off.

Gov. Nathan Deal told Rome lawmakers that building the road through Rollins’ land would be tremendously costly and that the state will explore alternatives. He also vented at the Rollins’ monumental efforts, which he said were “employed to delay and ultimately divert the course of the project.”

The final decision is up to the Georgia Department of Transportation, which said it is still evaluating options. But Deal’s comments mean the direct route to I-75 that Rome and its 100,000 residents have long sought is mired in deeper uncertainty.

The land would probably already have a road running through it if it were owned by anybody else. But the Rollins clan, which controls a multibillion-dollar pest control business that includes Orkin, has waged one of the most aggressive road-blocking campaigns in state history.

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