Do you remember when the TDK Extension was touted to be an answer to traffic congestion in Peachtree City?
The West Fayetteville Bypass has been touted to be an answer to traffic congestion by some of the very same people who wanted the TDK Extension.
Just like the mega developments on the Coweta County side of the TDK Extension, there are more than several large developments connected to open land along the West Fayetteville Bypass.
Among others, one of the major developers owning land along the West Bypass is John Wieland.
The old Peachtree City mayors claimed the TDK Extension was in the best interest of Peachtree City just like commissioners Smith and Maxwell do for the bypass.
If the TDK Extension had been built, the amount of humanity and traffic that would have been dumped into Peachtree City and Tyrone would have shut down Ga. Highway 74, causing heavy traffic and gridlock.
If the almost 2,000 acres of developer land along the West Bypass comes to fruition, there will only be more traffic in Fayetteville because the bypass doesn’t go anywhere. The comparisons of the West Fayetteville Bypass to the TDK Extension are extremely close.
On both road projects, the public discovered that special developer interests were behind them. In Peachtree City, the Peachtree City Civic Association (PTCCA), a group of neighborhood associations, led the fight against the TDK Extension.
On Oct. 26, 2009, The West Fayetteville Bypass Coalition (WFBC) filed a letter of intent to sue Fayette County through the environmental law firm of Stack and Associates.
The PTCCA and citizens of Peachtree City got Mayor Logsdon to back down on the TDK Extension.
On July 16, 2009, The Citizen published an interview with Jack Smith. In a power move against the WFBC, Smith was quoted as saying, “Voters approved the [West Fayetteville] bypass in the last SPLOST. The money is there. The only thing that can stop that project from moving forward now is a court order.”
Commissioner Smith essentially said he is ramming this project down our throats whether we want it or not.
The Fayette and Coweta chambers of commerce jointly passed a resolution asking elected officials to ensure that the extension of TDK Boulevard remains a priority, and that they continue to work jointly to extend the road without delay. They were trying to pull the wool over our eyes. As we know now, the TDK Extension was never about traffic relief.
Now we have the same games being played with the West Fayetteville Bypass. The bypass is a road for the developers courtesy of our tax dollars.
Jack Smith has no proof the West Fayetteville Bypass will solve any traffic problem, but he is on the board of a bank that lends heavily to developers. The only way to make our dictatorial Commission chairman terminate this misuse of our tax dollars is to vote him out of office on July 20.
Just like the battle was won against building the TDK Extension, we can do the same with the West Fayetteville Bypass. There has never been a better time to vote the incumbents out of office.
Lynn Tolbert
Fayette County, Ga.
