Sunday, July 14, 2002
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Sunday, July 14, 2002 |
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Relocating utilities for Hwy. 54 widening to be costly
By JOHN
MUNFORD
Before Ga. Highway 54 West is widened to four lanes in Peachtree City, it will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to relocate utilities currently in the area. Estimated costs to relocate water, sewer and phone lines are in the neighborhood of $700,000 total, according to the Georgia Department of Transportation. Burying power lines, however, would cost $1.2 million according to early estimates. Peachtree City Mayor Steve Brown hopes to get utility representatives together at a meeting soon to begin planning the timeline for relocating the pipes and wires. He also hopes to find money for burying the power lines, which would be an aesthetic improvement for the area, he added. The road, once widened, will have a grassy median in the center that city officials hope to landscape after completion. The city already plans to use $600,000 in funds from an ARC grant to build a cart path bridge over the highway near the former entrance to the Wynnmeade subdivision. Also, the DOT has chipped in money to help fund the "cloverleaf" design cart path bridge that will span the current CSX railroad bridge after it is also widened. The design will allow residents on the western boundary of Peachtree City to cross the railroad tracks on their golf carts, a feat that can currently only be done to the far south at the tunnel under Kelly Drive or the far north at the cart path bridge over Ga. Highway 74 north near Oak Manor Court.
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