What would your reaction be if you were told that the decisions you make would last for ten years without the possibility of ever being able to alter them? Chances are that you would think very carefully and try to consider all the future ramifications of your decisions.

The City Council of Peachtree City will be making a decision on 16-Sept-99 that will affect the citizens for the next decade. Once the decision is made, there is absolutely no turning back and the future course cannot be altered.

The intersection of GA Highways 54 and 74 is one of the worst in all of Fayette County. During peak drive times, traffic can back up for miles in several directions. The city was counting on the widening GA Highway 54 from Newnan to Jonesboro to be a release valve on the traffic pressure.

Unfortunately, the GA DOT has stated that ozone regulations have sidetracked the widening until at least 2008. Unfortunately again, if you look at the GA DOT's history of staying on schedule, you would find that a realistic date is more like 2012 - providing we can solve the ozone problem.

The current high volume of traffic and the lack of solutions has not stopped developers like RAM Development from wanting to place a 203,705 sq. ft. Super Wal-Mart and a 129,808 sq. ft. Home Depot (that's right, they no longer want the Kedron site) on the GA Highway 54-west corridor near the Highways 54 and 74 intersection. In addition to these mammoth structures, there will also be 399 apartment units and around 200 new homes as well as some out parcel sites. Just trying to imagine the traffic from the Super Wal-Mart alone boggles the mind.

The decision on how to handle the developments and the traffic belongs to the City Council and the citizens will have to live with that decision for at least ten years. If the planned large scale developments and the planned annexation of west side properties owned by Pathways and others in unincorporated Fayette County are allowed to proceed, count on sheer traffic gridlock for a decade.

To the average Peachtree City resident the decision is obvious. Let us hope that the Council Members separate themselves from the city's developmental influences and spare us years of frustration. Council Members McMenamin and Fritz have been quite vocal in their opposition towards the upcoming developmental mayhem.

Please show your support, attend the Special Council Meeting on 16-Sept-99, 7:00pm at City Hall.

STEVE BROWN
Peachtree City

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