Wednesday, February 28, 2001
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Wednesday, February 28, 2001 |
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PTC plans help for traffic at Avenue opening By JOHN MUNFORD
As each day goes by, the likelihood increases that The Avenue at Peachtree City will open without a traffic light off Ga. Highway 54 to provide access. So the city has prepared a contingency plan to allow The Avenue to open its doors at the end of March without the stoplight in place, said Jim Williams, the city's director of developmental services. All access points to the shopping center on Hwy. 54 will be limited to right in/right out intersections for starters, Williams said. Also, the developer is responsible for initiating a "public education plan" to notify residents and others of the best ways to maneuver in and out of the development, he said. The public education plan would include signs to direct traffic in addition to the placing of messages in various publications, Williams added. The Georgia Department of Transportation has indicated it wants to wait for The Avenue to open to determine whether the traffic light is needed or not. So far, the DOT has opted not to issue a permit for that light. Williams is hoping the DOT will change its mind. "I'd hate to put it on hold," Williams said Friday morning. "It was a very important part of the traffic plan." Without the light, one significant problem will be for motorists wanting to leave The Avenue and turn left onto Hwy. 54 West, Williams said. An alternate route would be to exit the shopping center at Clover Reach, drive to Paschal Road and turn left to access Hwy. 74 North at the traffic light. The other option is to turn left on Paschal and take another left onto Huddleston Road, which brings traffic to Hwy. 54 where left turns are allowed to go westbound. Cousins Properties, the developer of the shopping center, had originally offered to hire a traffic officer to direct traffic in the area. But that idea has been shot down by city officials, who claim such a proposition is extremely unsafe. In a letter sent to Cousins Properties, city planner David Rast said the other alternative to the city's proposal is for the city to deny a certificate of occupancy for The Avenue until the traffic light at its entrance on Hwy. 54 is operational.
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