[To the Ga. Department of Transportation:] We are writing to you to address the issue of the proposed West Fayetteville Bypass (WFB) road project. We would like you to oppose any further work on this project for the following reasons:

The road is NOT needed and is a waste of taxpayer money.

There will be a NEGATIVE impact on wildlife and wetlands.

The project will SPLIT neighborhoods and REDUCE home values significantly.

As a family living in the proposed path of the project, we would like to address each point.

We regularly drive many of the roads that will become part of the WFB, such as Sandy Creek Road, Ga Highway 92, Lester Road and Ebenezer Church Road. The only significant traffic issue on these roads is when school buses are present. State law mandates stopping when the buses are stopped and the bypass would not significantly affect the traffic during the one-hour period twice a day that school buses are present.

There is limited traffic on these roads and no real traffic backups. The WFB becomes the road going to nowhere for no real reason. Why spend money for no reason – especially during these difficult economic times?

The WFB has proposed routes that will bisect pieces of property presently inhabited by wildlife and migration stops for sand cranes and Canada geese. The issue of accidents with wildlife will increase as the routes used by the resident deer, fox, opossum and raccoons will be bisected, cutting off the forested areas where they live from the sources of water and wetlands they need.

Furthermore, the county has not completed any environmental impact studies along the propose route. County commissioners have been lax in their due diligence regarding the natural environment. Water quality in the streams and wetlands will decline due to run-off from construction. These streams are the source of the county water supply and also are home to several species of endangered fish and shellfish.

The WFB will cause a decline in property values by:

• Bisecting large pieces of property, making them less valuable for future development.

• Cutting off access to amenities in subdivisions such as StoneBriar Place and StoneBriar West.

• Reducing the number of access points into subdivisions, which will increase traffic for access roads and cause increased danger to children who play in the area.

• Cutting into the back of lots in subdivisions like StoneBriar, which reduces property values and the safety area between the road and housing.

• Reducing overall property values for subdivisions it bisects or parallels due to adjacency to a state highway, noise, increased traffic and limited access.

In conclusion, several issues and questions that need to be raised regarding the WFB are:

Why are county commissioners so anxious to have this project to nowhere completed? Is it because they do not live in its path? Is there a hidden financial gain to be made due to their ties with local developers?

Why didn’t the county do the required environmental impact studies and do the necessary traffic counts?

Why has Fayette County started the beginning and ending phases of the project without getting the required EPA, Army Corps of Engineering and U.S. Fish and Wildlife approvals prior to starting the project?

Why was the SPLOST unclear in its wording as to the funding of this project and what the real purpose of it was?

Why have surveyors and tree removal companies been sent on personal property to stake out the proposed route without proper notification to the property owners?

Why have those on the county commission not listened to the concerns of the affected citizens living along the path of the WFB?

Why have those involved with the project continued to push for it even though it will have no real effect on increased access or reduced traffic for the county?

The EPA, Army Corp of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and state Department of Transportation need to place a moratorium on further work on the WFB until all issues are addressed and evaluated.

In the end the negative impacts of the project will shut it down. The big question then will be what hidden agenda did the Fayette commissioners have?

Samuel Corallo and Deborah Corallo

Fayette County, Ga.