Wednesday, October 9, 2002

At a recent [Fayetteville] Planning and Zoning meeting, someone asked council members if a traffic study had been conducted for the South Side Master Plan. The answer was no.

When further asked about the ability of the roads (Ga. highways 92 and 85) to handle the increased traffic that would result from the proposed development, council responded by saying that roads are not their problem. "If you want to address road concerns, you (the citizen) need to call DOT."

Roads may not be the city's responsibility, but they are very much their problem. A call to DOT revealed that no road improvements for Hwy. 92 are being considered until 2010, and maybe not even then. Yet, the city has before it a massive development plan that will rival the Pavilion in size and density.

Anyone who travels Hwy. 92 or Hwy. 85 knows how bad the traffic is now. I find it inconceivable that a development of this magnitude could even be considered without fully investigating and addressing all the implications.

We, as citizens, have an obligation to speak out against allowing future development when the necessary infrastructure is not even being planned for and the existing infrastructure is inadequate to handle current traffic flow. This is our community and if we don't demand our elected officials act responsibly and in our best interests, we may very well find ourselves living in a community that is no longer livable.

Susan Stewart

Fayetteville