MacDuff path to help Cedarcroft also gets good report

By next week, city officials hope to have a timeline for progress on building the cart path connections to the bridge that spans the CSX railroad on Ga. Highway 54 West.

Without the connections, the bridge and corresponding tunnel under the road have been unusable. Because the bridge was completed more than two years ago when the highway widening project was finished, the matter has become quite a sore spot for city officials.

Blame for most of the delays has been placed squarely on the Georgia Department of Transportation, but another hurdle that took time to clear was the land acquisition phase.

Progress is being made behind the scenes on the project, City Planner David Rast informed the City Council Thursday night.

Tuesday Rast and City Engineer David Borkowski will meet with an official from the Atlanta Regional Commission about the project. The city recently got all comments on the proposal back from the DOT and the utility companies, and the drawings have been adjusted to accommodate those necessary changes, Rast said.

The city is also getting its environmental paperwork re-certified and is getting the right-of-way certified.

The idea is that after the meeting with ARC, the city will have a concrete timeline for letting bids and then constructing the path connections, Rast said.

Council also got some good news on the possibility of an alternate route to connect an existing cart path tunnel under MacDuff Parkway that would lead to shops along Ga. Highway 54 West including the Walmart superstore and Home Depot.

The alternate route will be far less expensive, Rast said.

This is a section of path that remained undone after a private developer abandoned the project. Once complete, the path would allow an alternate route to the shopping center. That would in turn allow the City Council to reconsider a citizen request to close a section of path in the Cedarcroft subdivision because of its proximity to their homes and disturbances caused by residents using the path at all hours of the night to get to the 24-hour Walmart.

Cedarcroft developer Mike Rossetti of Ravin Homes previously has said he would consider funding the MacDuff tunnel path to the stores if the city could close the problematic path in Cedarcroft.

Rast also noted that the city has been informed a 2002 grant for landscaping medians on Ga. Highway 54 East can now proceed. The grant had been in limbo when the governor placed a hold on all landscaping funds due to the drought, Rast explained.

Now that restriction has been lifted and the project can proceed, Rast said.