Lack of vision and the plight of the State Route 74 corridor

Most development professionals know the State Route 16 corridor is going to be a red hot growth area. Land speculation is taking off. Peachtree City's official opinion appears to be build at will. What is going to happen to all of the traffic from that development and what impact will it have on State Route 74?

There is a powerful reason for the big box developers to want to settle along State Route 74: very high volume traffic. Much higher than anything we are currently experiencing.

Obviously, the land along State Route 74 is very attractive because we already have the infrastructure in place, especially sewer. The next most attractive location is Tyrone. Tyrone does have limited sewer and they do have the ability to upgrade their capacity by merely signing a new contract.

Fairburn already has 1 million square feet of big shopping waiting in the wings.

The traffic models that were used to create the Fayette County Transportation Plan had severe errors. The transportation SPLOST which was derived from the transportation plan mirrors the errors in the plan.

The Fayette County Commissioners, the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce and the former mayors of Peachtree City said I was just imagining things. The model for TDK Blvd. alone is off by at least 3,700 percent.

Our last Peachtree City traffic plan in 2005 based upon the meager amount of funds we received from the SPLOST has already been stamped obsolete. Heavy volumes of traffic are coming (TDK will make it even worse), very expensive projects are needed to mitigate the load and no funds being available combine to create a less than rosy future.

Where does the "West Fayetteville Bypass" from the SPLOST dump all its automotive traffic? Yes, State Route 74.

Tyrone needs to prepare for big box inquires. Peachtree City needs to stop fooling around and kill TDK.

Peachtree City needs to immediately begin talks with Tyrone and Fayette County as to what we can do to overcome these significant challenges. Spending some state funds to mitigate the State Route 74/I-85 interchange is nice, but it will not help if the path to the interchange in clogged.

The track we are on now with wanting regional attractions on main arteries and wearing blinders so as to not see the future traffic loads will cost us dearly. And I do mean cost us more than just the level of service of the roads.

So many errors, so little time

Submitted by upwithTyrone on Thu, 03/29/2007 - 3:38pm.

Steve,

You are so far off base on the Tyrone aspects of this as not to even be in the ballpark. Tyrone can't get more capacity from Fairburn, Fairburn is going to use it all up itself with all the big box development that neither you, PTC, or Tyrone can do anything about. Even if there was capacity, most of us in Tyrone would rise up in outrage over our non-representative Town Council making the request. Tyrone won't build big boxes, once again the populace would kill a proposal just as they did to the ill-conceived Taj Mahal(s) in Shamrock Park.

Stick to PTC, where you know something and leave us in Tyrone alone...

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wave the traffic on through.

Submitted by ptcjenn on Thu, 03/29/2007 - 8:14am.

Ideally, we wouldn't build TDK and would quit adding shopping complexes here in PTC. If Hwy 16 develops, and Tyrone develops 74N, then that's what they'll do - Peachtree City has no say in that matter so as the saying goes let's sweep around our own doorsteps before we worry about the neighbors. Our focus should be on not drawing any more cars in - I think the goal should be to keep them moving. Traffic is going to be heavy on 54 and on 74 - fine, they're state highways. Not state walking paths. The problem I have is trying to add more access points to our roads in an effort to make it easier for people who don't live here to use our roads as shortcuts. If people need to cut through the PTC area, let them do it on 54 or on GA Hwy 85.

If someone living in the Estates for example uses Crosstown or Holly Grove or any of the other ways to get to 74 on their commute, that's what those roads are there for. But aligning Holly Grove with Rockaway, or building TDK, or (sorry to fans of this idea) expanding and widening a cut through past the Centennial subdivision from 54 to 74 is just inviting all of Fayette/Coweta cross-county traffic to feel free to congest our neighborhoods - not our little sections of state highway. Our neighborhoods.

And I think that's the difference between the TDK/Peachtree Village projects and the Kedron Target. The neighborhoods behind the Target aren't affected in the same ways because they're not stuck in between two major roads. Cutting through there isn't a shortcut on the way to anywhere but neighborhoods, whereas cutting across Crosstown or Holly Grove WOULD become a shortcut like that.

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Roads, roads and more roads

Submitted by DragNet on Thu, 03/29/2007 - 10:50pm.

Why is it that all solutions for traffic and congestion lead to roads? Why doesn't anybody talk about transit and alternative systems? Light rail and metro depend on electricity, but we have this fixation with oil and cars. Insane!

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Making you think twice......

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Hey Sky

Submitted by Git Real on Wed, 03/28/2007 - 9:45pm.

How did you like my latest blog? I even signed my real name to it.

Respectfully,

Steve Brown

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Git Real /Steve Brown

Submitted by skyspy on Thu, 03/29/2007 - 6:56am.

I like it but I think it's already too late.

Are you, I mean are we running again? I wish harold would just resign now....so we can start to move forward..

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