The residents in the Ashland Trail subdivision hope speedy commuters will soon be slowing down.

By a unanimous vote, the Town Council Thursday night decided to place no through traffic signs through the subdivision that residents say is plagued by commuters from Coweta County trying to get to work in the mornings.

“They’re using our subdivision as a cut-through to Hwy. 74,” said resident Cheryl Willis.

Town Manager Barry Amos told the Town Council Thursday he investigated the complaints in December along with police Chief Johnny Hay. Both had determined the road is becoming more dangerous as commuters look for an alternative to the Ga. Highway 74-54-34 construction area.

“It also has a lot of speeders, and it’s a very hilly, winding road,” he said.

Amos presented the Town Council with four alternatives:

• Build a cul-de-sac at McDade that would block access to Ashland Trail. The downside of building a cul-de-sac at this location is that it would cut-off Ashland Trail residents from easy access to the amenities at Lake Windsong.

• Build a cul-de-sac at McDade and Magnolia.

• Prohibit no through traffic in the area and place signs informing drivers of the policy.

• Paint a center-line stripe to force drivers to stay in their lanes.

The town has also reduced the speed limit to 25, but Willis said the speeders are still there in the morning and afternoon.

“We may need to do some more patrolling out there,” said Town Councilman Grace Caldwell.
Councilman Mike Smola also suggested getting a traffic count done in the area and also doing one after the construction on 54-74 is complete to see if the problem is solved.

In other news, the Town Council sent back to the Planning Commission a proposal to rezone eight acres on Jenkins Road from Agricultural-Residential to Office-Institutional. The site is near the the ball fields and track at the Jenkins Road school complex.

A developer plans to place four buildings on the site, but the Town Council was not happy with the proposal.

“How are you going to protect the stream?” wondered Councilman Grace Caldwell.

Councilman Gloria Furr also expressed numerous reservations about the springs on the tract and Councilman Paul Letourneau was very succinct in his assessment.

“You don’t want my vote on this property tonight. Maybe it shouldn’t be developed,” he said.

His comment was greeted with a round of applause and the developer agreed to meet with the Planning Commission on the issue Feb. 23.

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