County says need is urgent, SPLOST may be used for $36 million project

By DAVE HAMRICK
dhamrick@thecitizennews.com

Fayette County commissioners are pushing state agencies to put a proposed four-lane east Fayetteville bypass road higher on their priority list.

Cost to federal, state and local governments combined was estimated in 1996 at $36 million for the road, and the local portion of that may necessitate a bond issue or special sales tax, but commissioners say they believe the benefit will be worth the cost.

“There is unbelievable traffic congestion through Fayetteville,” said commission Chairman Harold Bost during the commissioners' annual retreat Saturday.

The Atlanta Regional Commission's Regional Transportation Plan, currently under review for public comment, anticipates building the bypass around Fayetteville in 2020, but it's needed now, said Bost.

Commissioners authorized spending up to $5,000 to gather information on right-of-way and other details in preparation for having a delegation from Fayette and surrounding counties visit ARC and the state Department of Transportation to ask that they target completion of the bypass project for 2005.

Plans for the bypass, which have been in the county's transportation plan since the mid-1980s, call for extending Ga. Highway 279 from Ga. Highway 85 north of Fayetteville down Corinth Road to Ga. Highway 54, then building a new segment of four-lane highway from Hwy. 54 south to County Line Road. From there, the four-lane would connect with widened sections of McDonough, Inman, Gosa and Bernhard roads to bring it back into Hwy. 85 south of the city.

Residents of surrounding counties have to make the trek down Hwy. 85 through Fayetteville daily, Bost said, adding that he believes leaders in those counties should support Fayette's effort to effect the bypass.

“I would like to get a multi-county contingent signing on to go to [DOT and ARC],” said Bost, adding that he has already spoken to Clayton County Commission Chairman Crandle Bray and leaders in Spalding County and received positive response. He hopes to meet with Coweta Chairman Vernon “Mutt” Hunter in a week or two, he added.

From within the county, he is working for endorsement by the Fayette County Association of Governments, Bost said.

“If you go to the ARC and DOT, they are going to want more information,” county manager Billy Beckett told the group. He suggested authorizing the expenditure, which was approved unanimously.

Getting state approval for the project will be only half the battle, commissioners said. Finding the money to pay for it will be harder.

“It's a SPLOST [special purpose local option sales tax] kind of project,” said one commissioner.

And it's not the only one. In addition to the $60 million jail and courthouse project being planned in downtown Fayetteville, commissioners will face the local portion of widening Ga. Highway 74 and Hwy. 54 in Peachtree City, which ARC has already moved up on its list, plus extending TDK Boulevard, which has not been moved up but “is well on its way,” said Bost.