The traffic light for the newly-opened section of Rockaway Road on Ga. Highway 74 south has been tweaked.
While the change may result in some traffic delays it has improved safety, according to Peachtree City Manager Bernie McMullen.
McMullen said the light was originally set to allow east and west bound traffic on Rockaway to go at the same time, but that created a safety hazard so the light’s timing has been changed.
Now those movements have been separated, meaning that when eastbound traffic has a green light, westbound traffic is stopped, and vice versa, McMullen explained.
Indeed on Thursday afternoon, traffic backed up significantly at 5 p.m. on the north and south bound lanes of Hwy. 74.
In part the difficulty is that there are no dedicated turn lanes to allow traffic to turn from Ga. Highway 74 onto Rockaway.
That of course will change once the widening of Hwy. 74 south is complete.
The realignment of Rockaway has been a long time in coming and eliminates major traffic backups that have traditionally occurred at peak traffic times.
The backups became so bad at times that cars traveling south on Hwy. 74 would stop completely in the middle of the road to let vehicles on Rockaway turn onto Hwy. 74.
There is a side road off the new Rockaway alignment that allows access to the city’s J.I. Meade sports complex and the city recycling center.
