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Controversial traffic signal faces PTC voteTue, 02/03/2009 - 4:41pm
By: John Munford
The Peachtree City Council is expected to vote Thursday night on whether to apply for another traffic light on Ga. Highway 54 West to serve a proposed shopping center. The light would be at Line Creek Drive, in between signals at Planterra Way and MacDuff Parkway. The Georgia Department of Transportation has previously turned down two requests for the light by the developer, Capital City Development. This time the DOT is asking the application to come from the city instead, which has brought out a point of disagreement among council members. A development agreement for the 175,000-square-foot shopping center calls for the city to “not oppose” the traffic light but does not require the city to apply for the light. CCD’s traffic engineer has said traffic will get markedly worse on Hwy. 54 if the shopping center is built and no traffic light is erected. Traffic can be improved significantly if the corridor’s traffic signals are retimed, said that consultant, Harry Graham, who formerly worked for the DOT. CCD is also proposing to erect a video camera on Hwy. 54 near Huddleston Road that will provide a real-time traffic view to the DOT’s regional office in Thomaston. Some residents of the Planterra Ridge and Cardiff Park subdivisions are worried they will be unable to get out of their subdivision due to increased traffic from the light. Others who have to reach MacDuff Parkway in the afternoons are worried the light will further lengthen their commute during peak drive time on Hwy. 54. The Line Creek shopping center, which would be located at the southwest corner of Hwy. 54 and Planterra, was approved as a 175,000-square-foot shopping center. The property is zoned general commercial which has a normal cap of 150,000 square feet of stores, but CCD gained council approval for a special use permit for the extra 25,000 square feet and also to have several stores over the city’s 32,000-square-foot size limit. The development has been criticized by some because the city has agreed to sell CCD much of the right of way for Line Creek Drive and another side street. Without that right of way, there would not have been enough room for the larger stores due to city road setback rules. The larger stores, often thought to have regional draws and thus having a bigger impact on traffic, also bring in sales tax dollars from outside the county, as Mayor Harold Logsdon has previously pointed out. In a meeting Jan. 23, Councilman and mayoral candidate Don Haddix said he didn’t think Coweta residents would shop at the shopping center. Logsdon and Councilman Steve Boone have repeatedly indicated they support the traffic signal, while Haddix and Councilman Doug Sturbaum have opposed it. Councilwoman Cyndi Plunkett is considered the swing vote on the issue. login to post comments
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