Fayette County’s transportation plan for the next 20 years is nearing completion and the latest version will be presented to the public at a meeting Tuesday, March 30.
Local officials are also hoping to get citizen input on the “Fayette Forward” plan at the meeting, which starts at 6:30 p.m. at the county’s Stonewall government complex.
The latest version of the recommended project list was not available Tuesday afternoon at press time, but it has been vetted by officials in Fayette’s cities, according to Fayette County Public Works Director Phil Mallon.
Some of the ideas bandied about by consultants last fall included potential improvements to the often-clogged intersection of Ga. highways 54 and 74 in Peachtree City.
In the last public meeting in August, consultants said they had heard over and again from Fayette residents a desire to for the county’s roads to help maintain Fayette’s rural character.
One way to help do that is by addressing traffic congestion issues without widening all of a given road from two to four lanes, consultants said. Instead, the county can also reduce costs by merely widening the areas near intersections to create additional turning movements and accomplish the goal of congestion relief.
There are also a number of intersections in the county that are “off-set” and could be redesigned and rebuilt to line up directly and improve safety, consultants have suggested.
Last spring the county held a “drop-in” workshop over several days where citizens could pop in and share their transportation concerns with the consulting team that would prepare the transportation plan.
In addition to looking at road improvements, the Fayette Forward plan has evaluated the transportation needs of senior citizens and also the potential for improving access to local schools for both drivers and children crossing streets as they walk to school.
The consultant team has also looked at Fayette’s potential future needs for mass transit. At an August meeting, the consultants noted that Fayette is not densely populated enough to make mass transit much of an option.
However, it was noted that commuter rail and express bus service from Peachtree City and Fayetteville could potentially do well, although they would require the cities and/or county partnering with the state of Georgia to accomplish.
A consultant suggested that if commuter rail were to come to Peachtree City, the best solution would be a “smaller scale” station, with a potential location south of Huddleston Road. Georgia has not determined yet how to fund such commuter rail projects, which would be on existing rail networks.
Fayette County’s consulting firm on the project is Glatting Jackson Kercher Anglin of Atlanta.
