Road must wait for golf holes to grow; Bridge work can begin earlier

Design work is nearly complete for the extension of TDK Boulevard into Coweta County, according to Peachtree City officials.

But county road crews won’t be able to start turning dirt on the road itself until October 2007 at the earliest “in the best case scenario,” said Fayette County Public Works Director Lee Hearn. That’s because land to relocate several golf holes at nearby Planterra Ridge Golf Club won’t be ready to play on until then, or perhaps sometime later.

The county will be able to get a head start on a crucial element of the road whether the golf holes are ready or not, Hearn said. The bridge over Line Creek, can start as soon as bidding is complete, which is convenient since the bridge is projected to take two years for construction while the roadbed construction is slated to take a year and a half, Hearn said.

None of the work can begin until all the design is completed and all necessary right-of-way is acquired, Hearn said; both these tasks are being handled by Peachtree City. The county has agreed to build the road itself, including the bridge, which will likely draw some funds from the Georgia Department of Transportation, Hearn said.

City Council approval is needed to fund the last part of the design, which will flesh out the vertical grade of the road layout, said city spokesperson Betsy Tyler. The path, which will circle around newly-acquired land for a larger runway safety area at Falcon Field, was made possible by a $2 million grant from the Federal Aviation Administration to purchase property owned by the golf course and by Pathway Communities.

The property has not yet been closed on but Peachtree City officials expect that to happen by September 15 or October 1 at the latest. All parties involved have reached an agreement in principle which covers various factors including the price of the parcels and the conditions for relocating the golf holes.

Mayor Harold Logsdon has said the price for the land is right at the value it was appraised.

Hearn said he was looking forward to working on the large project, as it will help some commuters avoid Ga. Highway 54. Backers have supported the project as another way for employees in the city’s industrial park to go back and forth to work, and the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce has projected that the road will help revitalize the Braelinn Village shopping center.

Before the first car drives on TDK, however, some more of its traffic may already be spoken for, as a developer wants to build more than 3,100 homes and upwards of 900,000 sq. ft. of retail space just across Line Creek from Peachtree City near where TDK Boulevard will be built.

The road will link up with McIntosh Trail on the Coweta side, and officials there have already named the road after long-time Coweta County Commissioner Vernon “Mutt” Hunter.