Instead of installing a roundabout at the intersection of Walt Banks Road and Peachtree Parkway near McIntosh High School, the Peachtree City Council may look at improving safety at two nearby golf cart crossings.

Several council members agreed Thursday night that a safety problem exists now for golf carts in the area. Making the four-way stop a roundabout might exacerbate the problem, as autos would no longer be required to stop, noted Councilwoman Cyndi Plunkett.

A spike in golf cart usage among students at nearby McIntosh High School has increased traffic on the cart path and at the cart crossings.

The cart crossing on Peachtree Parkway could be raised onto a speed table to slow automobiles on the parkway, suggested City Engineer David Borkowski. (Speed tables are speed bumps with a longer “top” to eliminate the bumpiness of traditional speed bumps.)

Installing a tunnel under the parkway would be expensive, upwards of $400,000, and may not be possible due to the current topography, said City Manager Bernie McMullen.

Sherry Smith Brown, who lives nearby just off Peachtree Parkway, suggested stationing a police officer to stop traffic so golf carts can cross on the parkway in the crucial 15 minutes after McIntosh releases students for the day.

If council decides to put a traffic signal at the intersection, a separate crossing signal could be used to allow golf carts to cross while the light would be held on red for autos in all four directions at the intersection, Borkowski added. Councilwoman Judi Rutherford said the green light for golf carts would have to last longer than the one that crosses Ga. Highway 74 at Paschall Road.

Council members Plunkett and Stuart Kourajian said they didn’t want to see a stoplight at the intersection of Walt Banks and the parkway, with Kourajian citing the residential feel of the intersection.

Borkowski pointed out that a traffic study in 2000 showed the intersection was already jammed at peak traffic times. Rutherford noted that it will get worse when the Kedron Target store opens this summer.

When work begins to widen Ga. Highway 74 South to four lanes, many more vehicles will be using the parkway to get home, noted Mayor Harold Logsdon.

Staff was asked if turn lanes could be installed on the parkway so vehicles could access Walt Banks, ostensibly helping traffic flow. But McMullen said that would create a situation similar to the intersection of Peachtree Parkway and Crosstown Road, where traffic goes in so many different directions that motorists often become confused.

The intersection of Crosstown Road and Peachtree Parkway is one of the most accident-prone areas of town that’s not on a state highway, according to police statistics.

Adding turn lanes would also be more expensive than a roundabout, because more right of way and pavement will be need to accommodate the extra lanes, Borkowski said.

The roundabout would slow traffic down to about 15 mph, according to the city’s traffic consultant. Matt Hauser of Qk4 also noted that center islands between the north and southbound lanes would leave a safety area for golf carts to avoid full-size autos.

Hauser said the center island would feature a “mountable” curb so large trucks could hop on and off the center island without creating much of a fuss.

Logsdon said he didn’t favor the roundabout concept from the get-go and he apparently didn’t see much at the council meeting to change his mind. He wanted to see how big this proposed roundabout would be compared to a roundabout in Whitesburg that he is familiar with.

“I don’t want a light, but I don’t want a roundabout either,” Logsdon said.

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