Wednesday, April 28, 2004

Commission will look at altering Sandy Creek Road extension By JOHN THOMPSON jthompson@TheCitizenNews.com Unless The Fayette County Commission decides to kill the proposed extension of Sandy Creek Road, they’ll face more opposition for their transportation plan than just Peachtree City Mayor Steve Brown. The commission did agree Thursday night to go back and look at one of their proposed road projects after hearing spirited opposition from a group opposing the extension of Sandy Creek Road. But Commissioner Greg Dunn also told the western Fayette residents Thursday night the Sandy Creek project was just one of many crucial to improving transportation in the county. Steve Justice, who represented the Citizens Alliance of West Fayette, told the commission that they had already presented their case to the Tyrone Town Council. “Three out of five members want this project removed,” he said. The project would extend Sandy Creek Road across Ga. Highway 74 to Mann Road, then to Trickum Creek Road and connect to Palmetto Road. County transportation officials said the road provides for more east-west connectivity throughout the county. But Justice’s group is advocating the county use another option to improve traffic. Instead of Sandy Creek, he suggested the county extend Jenkins Road. “Either option was acceptable to us,” Dunn said. The Commission Chairman said Tyrone made the decision to pick Sandy Creek as the extension, and he has not heard anything different from their elected officials. “Every plan has problems. There are going to be roads built near my house that I’m not too fond of,” he said. Justice said he understood that, but said if the road was not removed, his group would fight against the county’s Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax referendum in the fall. “I wish you hadn’t said that,” Dunn said. The county is calling for a SPLOST vote in November to try and improve transportation in the county. The county spent more than a year crafting a $266 million transportation plan that includes 28 road upgrades and 20 intersection improvements.