Friday, August 16, 2002
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Friday, August 16, 2002 |
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PTC mayor supports referendum to fix, extend cart path system
By JOHN
MUNFORD
With funds cut out of Peachtree City's upcoming budget for repairs to the cart path system, Peachtree City officials are worried how they'll fund such efforts in the future. After all, the cart path system which is over 70 miles long and used by golf carts, bikers, walkers and just about everything in between is a key feature of the city. Peachtree City Mayor Steve Brown thinks he may have the answer: a referendum for voters to approve the city borrowing money to accomplish the project. The earliest this could be done, however, would be in the Nov. 2003 city election, Brown added. "I think people will buy into it because the path is such an integral part of the city," Brown said. "It's definitely an asset a lot of people use." Unfortunately, there are some particular areas of the path system that are deteriorating rapidly, with potholes, tree root intrusions and drainage problems, Brown said. The mayor proposes developing a master plan for the cart path system to identify which areas need work and where connections are needed to ease travel. Right now, there are no firm estimates on how much the repair work will cost, but since the heavy equipment used for significant repairs destroys path pavement as it travels onto the system to do the work, it must "pave" its way back out to do the job correctly, Brown said. Brown said he would like the referendum to also include several extension plans with bridges and culverts to make the cart path system more convenient to use. "Connections are an integral part of the system," Brown said, noting he has had many inquiries about how the path system will be tied into the new stores being built in the Ga. Highway 54 West area. Brown also wants the paths widened to 10 feet in some areas to compensate for heavy "traffic". Currently, the paths are seven feet wide.
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