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PTC leaning against appeal on GRTA suitFri, 07/20/2007 - 6:46pm
By: John Munford
TDK project still off despite GRTA requirement; city gets $200K refund from county The Peachtree City Council isn’t anxious to appeal a judge’s decision that the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority has the power to require Peachtree City to build a four-lane bridge for the extension of TDK Boulevard. Several council members said Thursday night that they don’t think an appeal would be wise, particularly since the city hasn’t suffered any ramifications yet. If the city fails to build the bridge by the time the McIntosh Village subdivision in Coweta County is completed, GRTA could withhold state and federal funding from future transportation projects in Peachtree City. “The initial reaction was now we ought to appeal it because who are they to tell us what to do,” said councilwoman Judi-ann Rutherford. But so far GRTA has not yet withheld any funds, and the widening of Ga. Highway 74 from Ga. Highway 54 to Cooper Circle is already underway. “It’s kind of hard for us to claim that we’re injured when there has been no injury yet,” Rutherford added. The crux of the city’s complaint is that GRTA is requiring the improvements to the TDK bridge as part of GRTA’s approval for the McIntosh Village project although Peachtree City has no control over the subdivision whatsoever since the project is located completely in Coweta County. But Fulton County Superior Court Judge John Goger didn’t see it that way, ruling July 6 that GRTA was within its powers to require the improvement. Had the project been located in Peachtree City, the city council could vote to override GRTA's recommendation and avoid any potential penalty in state and federal transportation funding. Last month council voted to halt work on the TDK extension project, which became controversial earlier this year when a Coweta developer announced a 3,100 home subdivision that would be built on the Coweta side of the road. Some Peachtree City residents felt the resulting traffic would choke Ga. Highway 74 during weekday commutes in particular. Since then the city has received its $200,000 refund from Fayette County, which was going to build the project. The funds had been given by the city to go towards construction for the project. Coweta officials have been critical of the city’s abandonment of the project, but several have said they look forward to working with the city on transportation issues in the future. The city was in charge of engineering and right-of-way acquisition for the project. 
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