Wednesday, February 14, 2001

I read with great interest the cover story regarding Smokerise Crossing resident Gale Bostwick and the impending paving of Sumner Road behind her home. Yes, it will bring more traffic and noise to her backyard, and that is an unfortunate situation.

I would suggest that she request a traffic count be conducted to see how many cars are currently driving by her home daily. Then, have another count done three months after that portion of Sumner Road has been completely paved. Compare the former with the latter count. I feel certain, also, that the volume of vehicles will increase dramatically.

Also with that will be a diminution in the tranquility and quality of life of their neighborhood. A sad fact, but true.

On a related note, I feel certain that the residents of Smokerise Crossing and Smokerise Estates may or may not be aware of the same diminution of tranquility and quality of life that their subdivisions have effected on the residents of Smokerise Plantation.

Unwittingly or with complete knowledge, the city of Peachtree City and the developers of the original Smokerise Plantation have created a traffic debacle on Smokerise Trace.

When I became a resident of Smokerise Plantation in 1993, you could only access Smokerise Plantation via the subdivision's entrance off Peachtree Parkway. There was one way in and one way out.

As the '90s progressed, so did the development we now call Smokerise Estates and now Smokerise Crossing. The story behind how all this happened would take much longer than this letter allows, but suffice it to say that it is evident that traffic impact studies, traffic flow studies, street design, etc., were never done prior to the erection of some 150-plus homes to the east of Smokerise Plantation. And, there are more homes to come!

Then, with the paving of Sumner Road from the Coweta-Fayette EMC building at Ga. Highway 54 to connect with Smokerise Plantation subdivision came the onslaught of trucks, cars, and buses that we experience today on the street called Smokerise Trace. There are now two ways in and two ways out of Smokerise Plantation.

No other subdivision north of McIntosh High School off Peachtree Parkway has this unique feature! Unfortunately, through unbelievably poor planning on someone's part, Smokerise Plantation has become a traffic anomaly.

At my request some 18 months ago a traffic count was initiated to ascertain the vehicle volume on Smokerise Trace. The City Engineering Department results showed that between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. approximately 1,500 vehicles drove through on Smokerise Trace. That equates to one vehicle through Smokerise Plantation subdivision every 30 seconds! Two per minute! A far cry from the 50 or so per day in 1993.

Where have all those cars come from? Mostly from Smokerise Estates and Smokerise Crossing and the cut-through traffic off Hwy. 54 over to Peachtree Parkway. The residents of Estates and Crossing choose to drive through on Smokerise Plantation's Smokerise Trace street to go to Kedron Village Shopping Center for Blockbuster, Kroger, Wendy's, Outback, etc., or are headed to I-85 to work. Why? Because it's the shortest route.

It is unfortunate, but true, that Smokerise Trace was just not designed for this volume of traffic now generated. The tight curves and turns, blind spots, and dips at the bridges, are just not conducive to safe driving conditions for the amount of traffic on the street.

We have had cars drive off bridges into the creek due to reckless driving, inebriated teenagers driving 60 mph, losing control of their cars, driving off into the woods, knocking down mailboxes, etc. I am truly amazed that no one has been killed.

To say that speeding on Smokerise Trace is a problem is an understatement. Residents of our subdivision constantly are relating to me horror stories of near misses and reckless driving on Smokerise Trace. The number one offenders are young people, followed by construction-related vehicles, then, the residents themselves of all Smokerise communities.

So do I have empathy for Gale Bostwick's and Laurel Hart's plight? You bet I do! I live daily what they and others will soon get just a small taste of. I cannot walk to my mailbox at any time of the day and not have to step back off the pavement for a passing car.

Lastly, if you are a resident of Smokerise Estates or Smokerise Crossing, please know that I know that this traffic volume we face was not created by you. The traffic quality, however, is your responsibility and that of everyone else who drives on Smokerise Trace.

The entire Smokerise communities design of years ago was the responsibility of either the developers or the city of Peachtree City or both. Getting to the bottom of the whole mess has left me dizzy. So pick your target of who to blame. No one is going to take responsibility anyway.

We all paid very substantial sums to live in the neighborhoods that we do. All of us desire peace and quiet and some space to escape the pressures of everyday life.

So, if you are driving through Smokerise Plantation subdivision on Smokerise Trace, I respectfully ask you to remember that this is our neighborhood. Please take thought to the fact that this is a residential street, not the Atlanta Raceway.

Respect our residents' desire for as safe and as quiet a street as you would want if you lived here. Respect the 30 mph speed limit as if your life depended upon it. Our lives do depend upon it.

David W. Cree, President

Smokerise Plantation Homeowner's Association

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