News | Peachtree City

Southside path bridge nearly complete

Fri, 01/08/2010 - 5:17pm
By: John Munford

Path rebuild necessary once bridge is finished

A cart path bridge that will connect homes in south Peachtree City to part of the industrial park is expected to be completed by the end of the month, barring any issues with the weather, city officials said this week.

The bridge spans Flat Creek and will connect the Morallion Hills subdivision to the Gardner Park portion of the industrial park which includes the Atlanta FAA TRACON facility.

Once the bridge is complete the city will need to rebuild the path on the industrial park side that leads to the bridge, City Engineer David Borkowski said. The path rebuild will begin as soon as the bridge contractor leaves the area and should be complete a couple of weeks after that, Borkowski said.

Until the paths are reconstructed residents will be discouraged from crossing the bridge because golf carts will not be able to navigate through the mud and muck on the industrial park side, Borkowski said.

The bridge not only will link to the industrial park but to a future path that will go down Ga. Highway 74 south. That proposed path will lead to a tunnel underneath the road which will provide access to the Hwy. 74 Baseball Soccer Complex.

The Flat Creek path bridge has been in the works for several years now. The effort stalled for a number of months as neighbors in the area expressed concerns about the bridge design perhaps causing their yards and home to flood during periods of heavy rain.

Ultimately a compromise design was reached, allowing the city to move forward with the project. The design was ultimately approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

login to post comments

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.
Southside Bridge
Submitted by flatcreekgirl on Sun, 01/10/2010 - 9:23am.

This bridge was built to satisfy the developers that own the land that is adjacent to Gardner Denver and the businesses like Cooper Lighting and Panesonic who want a cart path straight to their front door. I believe Mayor Logsdon was working for everyone but his neighbors on this project. He should have been looking out for us first. Someone needs to place much more oversight on the city from now on when they attempt to build on or next to the floodplain areas. They don't have a clue how filling in the wetlands and floodplain areas will affect the properties adjacent to those areas in the future. My hope is that this new group on the PTC Council will allow no further upstream development from this huge platform going across one of three drainage floodplain areas in the entire Fayette County. My hope also is that the city not cut any more trees and dump anymore chunks of granite, or any more asphalt along the Flat Creek Wetland and floodplain. This area is one of the resources that makes Peachtree City unique and appealing. Please City Council, don't sell out to the bad ideas of the developers and other city officials that don't have our best interests at heart!

login to post comments
Flat Creek Path/Bridge
Submitted by PTCGOIL on Fri, 01/08/2010 - 10:48pm.

What a WASTE of money. This is Logsdon's little personal Morallion Hills neighborhood thru the woods getaway. WHO IS IT SERVING????

login to post comments
It serves a lot of people!
Submitted by editmom on Sat, 01/09/2010 - 2:42pm.

This is not a waste. I live on the south side, NOT in Morallion Hills, but in a neighborhood that will be able to easily access this bridge. I can see this being a HUGE benefit to relieving traffic on 74 once people can get to the BSC and businesses over there. This will benefit many people. Why trash it just because it doesn't benefit you directly?

login to post comments
Serves what people?
Submitted by PTCGOIL on Sat, 01/09/2010 - 8:15pm.

Your teens that want another wooded area to hang out and party with their carts?

This path isn't going ANYWHERE for the next 2-3 years. You aren't going to cross 74 anywhere. (Unless you want to be ticketed.) Nor will there be any path waiting for you on the other side. The tunnel will not be up and running till way after the road is widened. GDOT says that will be 2 years, but we all know that in their code talk that means 2-3 years.

A HUGE benefit to 74 traffic at WHERE? The new 4-8 lane divided superhighway being built (see above)? Or the one just built where this path will end and you could land a jet on any time of day since it is so deserted)?

I'll spell it out here. In case you haven't heard thru your grapevine at the BSC. We have a budget shortfall. Unlike any we've ever had. Millions of dollars. That's just PTC. Not to speak of what Fayette County will have when they start lowering property values for tax purposes. Less tax income to county equals raising your property taxes. Then, we have good 'ol State Of Georgia. Wait till they get back in session this month. And just watch your state portion of your property taxes go up.

Finally, who is gonna pay for this NEW Bridge To Nowhere? Not the construction of it, but the maintenance, the upkeep and the police patrols for your safety? Why incur this NOW?

Oh, I also live on the south side near this waste of resources.

login to post comments
To PTCGOIL
Submitted by editmom on Sat, 01/09/2010 - 11:12pm.

Oh, dear Lord, you try my patience. Why can't you discuss an issue without an attack on someone's "teens" or a put-down in the form of "your grapevine at the BSC." I don't go to the BSC. I want the traffic cut down there so I can get PAST its entrance!!!

And as I've stated on here before, my children are highly supervised and not allowed to run amok. I see red when all PTC mothers are lumped in together under the lazy, rich, entitled, lenient and/or absent parent label. Why do you have to go there EVERY DANG TIME???

Ugh. Just stick to the issue. I have no problem with a debate on the merits. You actually made very good points. Too bad I'm too irritated with your presentation to even consider them now.

Everyone else, sorry for the rant.

login to post comments
Lame and lazy, part deux
bad_ptc's picture
Submitted by bad_ptc on Sun, 01/10/2010 - 12:20am.

Again there are some that just refuse to do the necessary homework/research when attempting to argue their point. (I can only hope they are not a product of the Fayette County school system)

In the case of PTCGOIL trying to blame Mayor Logsdon for the ‘bridge to nowhere’ he/she should have looked up the supporting documents that clearly show that the Flat Creek Bridge was originally platted on Aug. 26, 2002 and then revised on Nov. 08, 2005; well before Mayor Logsdon was elected.

If he/she thought that the golf cart bridge over the railroad tracks next to Home Depot was the original ‘bridge to nowhere’ they are sadly mistaken. The actual bridge over Flat Creek itself has been up for many years.

It was the homeowners from the surrounding neighborhoods that advised the PTC City Council that flooding problems could result with the original design. Thanks solely to the observant HOA’s for recognizing a potential problem we now have a bridge that will allow north/south golf cart access without the problem of the creek flooding neighborhoods. Good catch!

I’ve been on the new approach ramps to the Flat Creek Bridge and it’s absolutely stunning. The design and construction is one of the most spectacular I’ve ever seen.

As for the tunnel to the BSC, PTCGOIL needs to go pound sand with the GDoT for taking so long, not the PTC City Council.

As for who might use this new bridge, try everyone that would like to use their golf cart to get to or from Crosstown Drive to the south side of PTC without the added pleasure of going thru the ‘hood’ as it were.

Maybe some haven’t heard but PTC is known, world wide, as a ‘golf cart’ community.

In the future, it would be refreshing if those that feel a need to complain about the way PTC is spending money would at least try to do some research before they spout off. (Hint for the cell tower naysayers)


login to post comments
Flat Creek Path
Submitted by PTCGOIL on Sun, 01/10/2010 - 12:38pm.

What would be even more refreshing is knowing a thimbleful about what has been done on this project and the timing.

July 16, 2009-Quote Mr. Salvatore, re: the Cart Path Master Plan". "The priority was to maintain the EXISTING infrastructure." This in a discussion about the WELL KNOWN budget shortage. And yet, on 7/30/09 bids are put out for the approaches for the bridge. And when was the contract signed for the CURRENT work going on? This past fall. Who was the only one on Council asking about the work? Nov. 19, 2009-Logsdon wants to know status of this project.

My final comments here. This PATH has been on the "wish list" for years. So have miles and miles of additional paths been on the same "wish list". The bridge over Flat Creek was laid down at the same time as the Bridge To Nowhere on 54. Three years ago. We all know those bridges were designed to last till decades from now. Then we have the neighbor concerns (Morallion). Thank heaven for that. Excellent reason for delay. Get it right or don't build it (The approaches).
Then, this past winter/spring, the economy falls flat. Public works laid off in spring to cut expenses. Budgets become HUGE issue. Council holds special meetings to discuss shortfalls in money this past summer. Even with ALL of this discussion and knowledge, the cart PATH (not the bridge) is approved to be added onto our already existing path system. A path that will come out at Gardner Park and end there. For at least the next 2-3 years till 74 is widened. Real forward thinking.
Then, finally, we have city planning trying to get grant money to bring same path from there NORTH to Crosstown. Thru the wooded area, along the creek, not a house in sight. Good, get the grant money. But don't BUILD it till the city budget has funds ready for any match the city has to come up with to complete it. AND, has enough INCOME for the repairs, maintenance and policing that go along with it. For years to come.

The mentality of just slap the asphalt down and then that's the end of it has got to stop. We don't have the money to MAINTAIN it once it's there.

login to post comments

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.