The potential widening and reconstruction of Tyrone-Palmetto Road will be vetted through a scoping study.
The Fayette County Commission approved spending $30,000 for the study at its meeting Thursday night. Moreover, the county will approach Coweta County representatives to explore the chance of expanding the study’s scope to extend along the road’s path in Coweta County.
Once Tyrone-Palmetto Road crosses into Coweta County, it becomes Collinsworth Road and leads to an interchange with Interstate 85.
Tyrone officials requested the funding, which will come from the county’s 2003 transportation sales tax revenues.
The study will pay close attention to options for the intersection of Palmetto Road, Arrowood Road and Swanson Road, county officials said.
In addition to adding more capacity to the road, the study will also look at safety improvements, county officials said.
The study will help the county get a more accurate cost figure for improvements, but then the question will be where the money will come from.
The project could possibly qualify for funding from a regional transportation sales tax that voters will consider in 2012. Fayette is one of 10 metro Atlanta counties in the region, and the aggregate of votes region-wide will determine the fate of the tax proposal.
That means if the tax is approved region-wide, it will be implemented here, even if Fayette voters shoot it down at the polls.
The project list for the sales tax is currently being developed, and Fayette County has two representatives involved in that process: Fayetteville Mayor Ken Steele and County Commission Chairman Herb Frady.
Commissioner Steve Brown said Thursday night that he was skeptical of having any leftover county transportation sales tax revenues to fund construction of the project.
