Peachtree City officials are still working to acquire the necessary right-of-way to allow the cart path tunnel underneath Ga. Highway 74 at Paschall Road to be completed.

The tunnel structure itself is complete, built as part of the widening of Hwy. 74 from two to six lanes. But the city lacks all the property necessary to build and maintain the cart path connections that lead to the tunnel, officials have said.
At their Dec. 16 meeting the City Council approved an easement agreement that will allow the path to be built on the east side of Hwy. 74, officials said.

That leaves the city to continue negotiations on the west side of the tunnel with three businesses: Menlo Park, Frank Cawood & Associates and the U.S. Postal Service. The path will link directly with the post office.

While some might draw connections between this unfinished path and the long-incomplete cart path bridge over the CSX railroad along Ga. Highway 54 West, there is one significant difference. For the bridge, the city was handcuffed as it waded through the arduous process of securing the grant funds from the Georgia Department of Transportation.

The Paschall tunnel, however, needs no such funding. The work is being paid for with revenue from the 2003 transportation special purpose local option sales tax.
Meanwhile, work continues on the cart path bridge connections for the Hwy. 54/CSX railroad bridge. Construction began last month, more than three years after the bridge and tunnels underneath the road were completed with the widening of Ga. Highway 54 West.