With the pending widening of Ga. Highway 74 to four lanes, Peachtree City will pay just under $8,300 to install a flashing yellow warning light at the entrance to the city’s Baseball and Soccer Complex.
The cost was more than halved by using solar-powered beacons instead of those powered by conventional electricity.
And the Georgia Department of Transportation will be installing the lights, at a further savings to the city.
The expenditure was unanimously approved by council at its regular meeting Thursday night. Funding for the flashing beacon will come from funds the city has set aside to move the monument signs for BSC after the road widening is complete.
The flashing light and warning signs will be installed at the northern entrance to the park, as it will have a median cut allowing motorists to go straight across the southbound lanes to go northbound. The southern entrance will be changed to a right-in, right-out only intersection.
Last year city staff raised concerns that motorists leaving the complex would face a dangerous situation after the widening of Hwy. 74 is complete. Because so many residents would be turning to go north across four lanes of traffic, the potential for a serious accident or worse would go up significantly, officials worried.
The city had previously lobbied GDOT for a fully-operational traffic light, but there was never enough traffic at the intersection to meet statistical requirements for a light, officials said.
In December, several council members personally petitioned the state’s DOT commissioner to lobby for the full traffic light. Instead, DOT agreed to the flashing yellow light, and also that it would go back and conduct an in-depth review of the intersection to see if it meets the guidelines which require a light to be installed.
Councilman Doug Sturbaum thanked DOT Commissioner Vance Smith for agreeing to help, and for taking the time to meet with the city’s contingent of elected officials and staff members.
There is a chance that after the widening the conditions might justify an exception to the statistical data requirement for traffic counts at the intersection, officials said.
The beacons will be located at the northern entrance to BSC, and the southern entrance will be made a right-in, right-out only when the road is widened, officials have said previously.
