By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

The proposed Home Depot store will meet the city's traffic regulations with a handful of road improvements, according to Peachtree City's traffic consulting firm.

The same can't be said, however, for the Wal-Mart Supercenter that developers want to build behind Home Depot. The Wal-Mart would throw traffic so far out of whack that no road improvements will help the situation — short of widening Ga. Highway 54 — according to a preliminary traffic study conducted by Dames and Moore.

It is not clear whether Wal-Mart will be held to the city's new traffic ordinance, which requires new developments to add road improvements if the development will have a negative impact on traffic.

Doug McMurrain of RAM Development, who is handling the Wal-Mart and Home Depot projects, said the company's traffic numbers indicate a different story. RAM planned to meet with the city to determine how Dames and Moore arrived at its numbers and conclusions.

“Their numbers differ from ours substantially,” McMurrain said.

McMurrain also contends that the Home Depot and Wal-Mart stores are not subject to the traffic ordinance since it wasn't in effect when the process began.

“Legally, we are not bound by the traffic ordinance,” McMurrain said. “At the same time, we're willing to work with the city to make them feel safe and let the traffic flow by our project.”

McMurrain said it is in the developer's best interest to make the traffic in the area appealing so as not to drive away potential customers.

Once Hwy. 54 is widened in the area, the Wal-Mart might be feasible from a traffic perspective, according to the study from Dames and Moore.

But if the city wants the Wal-Mart to wait until Hwy. 54 is widened, that could cause a substantial delay — and possibly force a lawsuit. The courts are a last resort for RAM, McMurrain said.

The Georgia Department of Transportation has already approved a permit for the traffic improvements RAM has proposed in the area, McMurrain added. Those improvements will cost over $500,000, he said.

The widening is currently stalled by governmental hurdles because the Atlanta area is considered in violation of clean air standards, and Peachtree City is considered part of the metro Atlanta area.

Therefore, funding is being withheld from the state for a number of key transportation projects in the Atlanta region.

The Hwy. 54 widening would require the expansion of the existing bridge over the roadway or the construction of a new bridge. That sends the project's price tag sky-high.

A host of different traffic improvements to the area should be required for Home Depot to meet the traffic ordinance, according to Dames and Moore's suggestions. Those improvements would focus on three key areas: the intersection of Hwys. 54 and 74, the intersection of Hwy. 54 at Huddleston Road and the intersection of Hwy. 54 at Planterra Way, which would be almost directly across from the main entrance to Home Depot.

A traffic signal is recommended for the intersection of the Home Depot entrance and Hwy. 54.

A workshop on the site plans for Home Depot and Wal-Mart was held before Monday's planning commission meeting. Several complaints were lodged by residents that the Home Depot's trademark orange stripe across the top of the building would be garish.

Planning commission member Robert Ames said Home Depot toned down the color for its Hilton Head store. He added that local citizens are not happy with the way the site is planned.

Ames also questioned the reasoning behind Wal-Mart's decision to locate in Peachtree City. He indicated he wanted that information before the commission made a final decision on the project.