To the Fayette County Commission: Having followed the discussions on the West Fayette Bypass and having read the recent letter submitted to The Citizen by Ms. Ginga Smithfield, I feel compelled to urge you to reassess the feasibility of this plan.

As a Fayette County taxpayer, I cannot believe that a project of this magnitude would be undertaken in any but the most necessary circumstances, circumstances which are clearly not present.

To uproot homeowners, to decrease their property values in a county where home sales are sliding into negative numbers and to completely disregard the wishes of your taxpayers must at some point make you stop and consider the true reasons behind this plan.

To date I cannot find one citizen of Fayette County who thinks the West Fayette Bypass is a good idea.

The West Fayette Bypass, as it stands to be built, will not in any way alleviate traffic or increase the ease and flow of traffic for county residents. What it will do is disrupt the lives of residents who have been happy to call Fayette County home for many years.

It is incredible to me that in this day and age it is still possible to find a family like Ms. Ginga Smithfield, living closely together, providing a wonderful family-oriented upbringing for our next generation. We should be celebrating this family and their lifestyle. To do anything to destroy such a close knit family would appear to go against the grain of any right-minded individual.

I use Ms. Smithfield as an example, but another equally good example would be Mr. Joe Durden and his family, another family whose property and lives will be ruined as a result of this unnecessary project. Poor Mr. Durden has been fighting this fight for a long time.

Some would tell him to give up, you can’t fight city hall. But I say to Mr. Durden, get back in the ring, you are not alone, and if you fall there will be others there to take your place.

Fayette County is struggling right now. We as a community are at a crossroads. We have the opportunity to learn from the mistakes of other counties and to say, “Not in our county.” The West Fayette Bypass is an ill-conceived plan; let’s abandon it as such.

Instead, let’s move forward to improve our community in ways that actually benefit our citizens and make Fayette County the example of how to do things right.

There is no shortage of projects to spend money on here in Fayette County. As responsible public officials, I believe, it falls to you all to make sure we spend our money prudently, not to mention kindly.

Erin Haley

Fayetteville, Ga.

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