Some relief is in store for traffic in Fayetteville.

During a recent meeting with city officials, Wayne Shackelford, head of the state Department of Transportation, approved all five of the city's transportation improvement projects targeted for 1999, said city engineer Don Easterbrook. The five are part of a list of 13 priorities approved by City Council during its planning retreat last fall.

Approved are:

Widening of Jeff Davis Drive from Ga. Highway 54 to Jimmy Mayfield Boulevard. Design bids have been solicited for this project, with construction "several months away," said Easterbrook.

Improved coordination of traffic signals on Ga. Highway 85 through downtown. The city will be looking for ways to improve north-south traffic flow through the city as well as ways to make downtown more "pedestrian-friendly," said Easterbrook. "We're hoping this spring to get moving on that," he added.

Widening of Banks Road between Ga. highways 314 and 85 to five lanes. Work should begin on this project any time now, said Easterbrook.

Widening Grady Avenue from Hwy. 54 to Bradford Square. This project will combined with the Jeff Davis widening, he said.

A traffic signal at Hood Avenue and Hwy. 85. This project is approved pending approval of the design for the intersection.

Impact fees, special taxes charged to developers to provide the improvements to city services made necessary by new developments, will provide $600,000 of approximately $800,000 needed for the projects. The rest will come from DOT, said Easterbrook.

One top priority project, widening of Hwy. 85 from Grady Avenue to Ga. Highway 92, cannot be approved because of the Atlanta region's air quality problems, Easterbrook added. "They're looking at it to see if there's something they could do to get it approved as a safety issue," he said.