Coalition: County has no data showing road is needed; seeks halt to future bypass spending

A group of citizens opposing the under-construction West Fayetteville Bypass are threatening to file a suit against the county to halt the second phase of the road.

The West Fayetteville Bypass Coalition, in a letter through its attorney, has notified the county it will seek an injunction if the county proceeds with seeking environmental permits for the second phase of the road.

The letter, authored by Atlanta attorney Kurt D. Ebersbach, asks the county to halt all fund expenditures on the bypass until the county has “conducted a thorough traffic analysis demonstrating a need for the new roadway and prepared an environmental impact statement” covering all three phases of the bypass along with the proposed East Fayetteville Bypass.

The East Fayetteville Bypass has effectively been scrapped by county officials due to a lack of funding, particularly from the federal level.

Meanwhile, the west bypass is underway with work on the first phase set to wrap up in a few weeks. A road path has been approved for the second phase by the Fayette County Commission, but it is not yet ready for construction.

As proposed, the bypass would allow vehicles to avoid Fayetteville on the west via a road that starts on Harp Road near Ga. Highway 85 South and ends on Ga. Highway 92 North at Westbridge Road.

Critics have complained that the bypass does not reach Interstate 85, but vehicles will be able to continue on Westbridge to reach Ga. Highway 138, which then leads to an interchange on I-85. Motorists will also be able to use Hwy. 92 to reach I-85 via Oakley Industrial Boulevard and Ga. Highway 74.

I-85 does not pass through any portion of Fayette County.

In Ebersbach’s letter, the coalition indicates it may file a lawsuit to challenge using funds from the county’s 2004 transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax to fund the West Fayetteville Bypass. The coalition contends the referendum didn’t sufficiently notify voters that a yes vote for the SPLOST would authorize funding of the west bypass, the letter states.

Ebersbach also says the referendum did not indicate that the bypass would be funded exclusively with SPLOST funds, with no federal or state funding.

The coalition contends the county could divert traffic around Fayetteville by improving existing roads instead of building a new road. The letter claims that the bypass will benefit developers who own large undeveloped tracts along the proposed route.

“Because there is no demonstrated need for the West Fayetteville Bypass, its purpose must indeed be to benefit such interests at the expense of the general public and to serve a traffic problem that will not exist until those tracts are developed,” Ebersbach wrote.

The letter notes that there will be eight wetland and stream crossings for the second phase of the bypass. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will have the final say-so on how each of those crossings is handled.

The coalition argues that the Corps should be considering the cumulative effects of all three phases of the bypass at the same time. The third and final phase of the bypass does not yet have a proposed alignment.