Friday, May 18, 2001
Friday, May 18, 2001 |
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Wal-Mart, Home Depot in PTC could be delayed further by city traffic ordinance By JOHN
MUNFORD
The Wal-Mart/Home Depot shopping center planned for Ga. Highway 54 West in Peachtree City could be stalled again thanks to the city's traffic ordinance. The ordinance dictates that the traffic estimates performed for a certain project expire 90 days after they were approved. In this case, officials have asked RAM Development to re-submit information to the city's traffic consultants so the numbers can be plugged into the traffic model for the area. That model will include all the other city projects which have opened since the original study was performed for the Wal-Mart/Home Depot site, city officials indicated recently. If the new numbers indicate the retail center will significantly degrade traffic in the area even with more than $1 million in improvements, the traffic improvements for the project could be headed back to the drawing board. Doug McMurrain of RAM Development said the road improvements had been delayed while waiting for permits from the Georgia Department of Transportation. The DOT took several months to evaluate the permit request for the proposed "through lane" at Hwy. 54 and Huddleston Road. The through lane would be an extra westbound lane added to the road which will be separated from another westbound lane by a concrete barrier. The through lane will allow westbound traffic to continuously pass through the Huddleston intersection even when the traffic light allows motorists on Huddleston to turn left onto Hwy. 54. Eventually, the two lanes will merge into one lane before the road reaches the city limits ... and the bridge over Line Creek. The delay in securing the DOT's approval for the through lane design also kept the development agreement from being signed since each traffic improvement had to be written into that document, McMurrain added. The road improvements will be in place within the first 90 days after ground is broken for the buildings, McMurrain said. The improvements will be helping traffic in the area before the stores even open for business, he added. "We're trying to be a part of the solution," McMurrain said, adding that the development didn't create the current traffic problems in the area. Construction on the buildings for the retail center is estimated to take at least a year. McMurrain said RAM has chosen to cooperate with the city instead of taking it to court over the traffic ordinance, even though he believes it is unconstitutional. But if the city uses this latest development to hold up the project, RAM, Home Depot and Wal-Mart are prepared to take the city to court, McMurrain said Thursday morning.
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