At a public meeting this week people living around MCG complained that closing the portion of Laney Walker Boulevard to traffic would make travel to and from their neighborhoods more difficult.

The request by MCG comes less than 2 years after the city tore down a low-income housing complex in the area and gave the school the land to help with expansion.

This week the Augusta NAACP accused MCG of targeting the African American community.

MCG president Dr. Ricardo Azziz denies that charge saying he wants the change because traffic is dangerous to students.

"This is not about an attack on the African American community at all in fact we are very committed to our community, to our patients, to our staff and to our faculty," Azziz said.

Azziz says if county commissioners approve the closure residents will only have to drive about 2 blocks out of their way to get around it

Tags: Medical College of Georgia, Dr. Ricardo Azziz, Laney Walker Boulevard, Augusta NAACP