Fayette County will unveil its revised road alignment for the second phase of the West Fayetteville Bypass at a public meeting Tuesday, May 5 from 4-7 p.m. at the large meeting room at the county’s Stonewall government complex in downtown Fayetteville.

Citizens will be allowed to ask questions and make comments about the new alignment at the meeting, officials said.

The second phase of the bypass will start at the terminus of the first phase, on Sandy Creek Road north of Piedmont Fayette Hospital.

From there it will continue on Sandy Creek Road and then along Tillman Road, crossing Eastin Road and Lee’s Mill Road, heading northeast until it ends at Ga. Highway 92 north at the intersection with West Bridge Road.

The previous road alignment for phase two of the bypass was changed in several places after citizens brought a number of issues to the county’s attention at previous bypass meetings, said Fayette County Public Works Director Phil Mallon.

For example, some residents were upset that the road path bisected their property, Mallon said. So, when possible, the road alignment was adjusted to go along the residents’ property lines.

The county also tried to follow citizens’ requests to go around streams and wetlands, Mallon said. But some streams and wetlands will be impacted by the project, meaning they will have to be spanned by a bridge or a culvert, he added.

“We tried to accommodate or take into account as many comments as we could,” Mallon said.

A major factor driving the road’s design has been making sure the intersections were designed safely, Mallon said. The road’s right of way width was recently reduced from 120 feet to 100 feet.

The county has already met with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to present the agency with preliminary information about the project, Mallon said. But the Corps won’t be able to consider the project for a final approval until engineering and other tasks are complete, he said.

Mallon said the main goal at this point is to get the public aware of the meeting so residents can make comments about the latest alignment of the road. Residents who can’t make the meeting are encouraged to call public works at 770-320-6010 to schedule an appointment to review the new alignment, Mallon said.

Late this week the county expects to publish a map of the latest road alignment on its website at www.fayettecountyga.gov.

The new alignment will be presented to the Fayette County Commission for a formal approval at its meeting Thursday, May 14, Mallon said.

It looks like the $11.5 million project may be ready for construction to start in early 2010, Mallon said.

Once the road alignment is approved, the county can begin working on the engineering phase, determining the horizontal and vertical curves, and the grading impacts and drainage work that will be necessary, Mallon said. Then the county can work with property owners on the right of way issue, but it will be the easements that take up a significant amount of time, he added.

The county is anticipating the 4.6 mile road will have a speed limit of 45 mph. There will also be six intersections along the second phase of the bypass, including Sandy Creek, Tillman, Eastin and Lees Mill roads along with Hwy. 92. It has not yet been determined whether traffic signals will be used at those intersections, officials have said.

The first phase of the bypass, already under construction, begins at Cleveland Elementary on Lester Road and goes north across Ga. Highway 54 and ends at Sandy Creek Road between the hospital and Hood Road.

Once the third phase is complete, the bypass will provide access for motorists on Ga. Highway 85 south at Harp Road, diverting traffic from entering downtown Fayetteville.