To apply for the light or not apply for the light: that is the question the Peachtree City Council must answer this Thursday night in order for the development at Line Creek to proceed as planned.

In the development agreement with Capital City Development last year the council agreed not to oppose a light at Line Creek Drive to access the newly planned commercial development.

If they do not get the light, then the project cannot be built as planned for it is too large to handle traffic flow in and out without a signal.

However, Thursday night, the council is not being asked to not “oppose” a light, but to actually apply for the light.

If the city applies for this permit, they are asking the DOT to give us another light on Ga. Highway 54 West. The implication would be that we want this light, and that the council feels that it is in the best interests of our town to have it.

After the Dec. 18 council meeting, staff asked for some more details with respect to the effect a new signal would have on traffic flow in this area, if synchronization of the lights were possible, and what could be done to help the Planterra Way intersection.

These questions were answered by LAI Engineering out of Marietta, a company hired by Capital City Development, and to no surprise they recommend the light.

As they see it, the intersection at Planterra Way will go from an “F” rating to a slightly better “F” rating with the new light.

Well, it does not take a rocket scientist to see that another light at this intersection would do nothing good for the traffic flow up and down the Hwy. 54 West corridor, despite LAI’s report to the contrary.

Sure, it might improve your wait time at one light, but big deal when you have to sit through another one 800 feet after the first.

This issue is not a question of whether another stoplight would be better or not. I hope that council will ask itself what I see as the real question here: In the long run, what is better for PTC, a large shopping center with a new signal to further clog the corridor, or a shopping center on a smaller scale that would not require a light and keep the traffic flowing smoother?

The answer seems obvious, doesn’t it?

The question here is whether or not council is going to do what is best for the residents of PTC, or if they are going to enable the developer to build his shopping center, in spite of our best interests.

Remember: We are not obligated in any way to take measures to help get a light on Hwy. 54 West. We are obligated via the development agreement to not oppose one.

Now some may argue that this is just semantics, and that the city agreed to a light at this intersection when they agreed to the development agreement with CCD. However, there is a HUGE difference between not opposing something and actually endorsing it.

If council agrees to apply for this light, they are endorsing something that is clearly NOT in the best interests of this city and those that live here.

Capital City and Doug McMurrain would likely be thrilled, but his happiness is of no interest to me, nor should it be to our council, if the price tag is an added transportation nightmare for our citizenry.

I understand that this project has been going on for years, and that getting a light or not getting a light will make all the difference as to whether this project progresses, or goes back to square one.

However, it is not the city’s job to make sure that the project progresses. It is not the city’s job to ask for a light on behalf of their citizenry that they know they do not want. It is not the city’s job to enable a project that will knock down acres of trees to put up more store frontage that will have to be filled in this trying economy.

This is all the job of the developer, the only one with something to gain by having a new light.

Council, do the right thing on behalf of your citizenry and do not endorse an application for another signal at Line Creek. At the end of the day, you answer to the citizens of Peachtree City, Ga., not to Capital City Development of Vail, Colo.

Beth Pullias

Peachtree City, Ga.