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GRTA: TDK bridge to be 4 lanesThu, 01/11/2007 - 5:02pm
By: John Munford
PTC, Fayette County appeal denied The Georgia Regional Transportation Authority has upheld its requirement to make the bridge for the TDK extension four lanes as part of the 3,000 home McIntosh Village community planned for east Coweta County. The bridge, which will span Line Creek, was opposed by Peachtree City and Fayette County officials who urged the money would be better spent on widening Ga. Highway 154 in Coweta from two to four lanes so McIntosh Village residents would use that for access to Interstate 85 instead of Ga. Highway 74. At a hearing Wednesday, Peachtree City Mayor Harold Logsdon said GRTA shouldn’t force Peachtree City to widen the bridge because the city has no control over the McIntosh Village project. There were also practical concerns, he added. “We don’t see a need for a four-lane bridge coming into a two-lane road,” Logsdon said. The mayor said he’d rather see GRTA allocate funds to improve the Ga. Highway 74 interchange with Interstate 85, a thought echoed by Fayette County Commission Chairman Jack Smith. Logsdon noted that the commute for Peachtree City residents has considerably worsened in the last five years, with traffic backing up for one or two miles before the interchange during commute times. “Highway 74 cannot take it,” Logsdon said. City Attorney Ted Meeker noted that the TDK extension is mostly funded by local dollars, making it different from most state road projects. The cost estimates for construction total $2.9 million in local funds, with another $1.22 million in state funds. GRTA’s decision did not address who would pay the additional design funds to expand the bridge. Smith also said the county thinks it will have to rebuild the current bridge on TDK that spans the CSX railroad tracks because the current bridge is too low. GRTA staff indicated that if the TDK extension is built with just two lanes, it will be at maximum capacity in 2017, a year after the projected completion of McIntosh Village. And as Logsdon put it, the McIntosh development “is the tip of the iceberg,” in terms of future Coweta growth. Coweta County Commissioner Paul Poole, who lives on Hwy. 154, said its interchange with I-85 gets quite backed up in the mornings and afternoons also. “I agree 154 needs to be four-laned,” Poole said. Poole didn’t express sympathy for Peachtree City’s plight. “They never came one time to talk to us,” Poole said of Peachtree City officials, suggesting that much of Peachtree CIty shouldn’t have been built until Ga. Highway 54 was widened from two to four lanes. “And the road runs both ways.” Poole said Fayette County might want to add the GRTA bus system as an alternative for commuters. He remarked that he was surprised how successful the system is for Coweta residents. Fayette County Attorney Bill McNally told GRTA that it would be ideal if the agency could find a way to create an interchange on I-85 at Ga. Highway 92. The bridge is viewed as the most complex element of the TDK project and could take two or more years to build. Meanwhile, the city’s ownership of the road’s right-of-way expires in just under three years unless the road is built, giving scant little time for work to begin. login to post comments
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