How long will it take for the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) to do their job? What will it take to wake them up — a fatal accident, perhaps?
On April 3, I sent an email to the Peachtree City Manager and Council describing inadequacies in signage over the westbound lanes of Ga. Highway 54, near the new Green-T intersection at Line Creek Drive. Specifically:
1. The sign indicating the left lane for “MacDuff Parkway South” is not realistic. It isn’t “MacDuff Parkway South,” it’s the parking lot for the “MacDuff Crossing” shopping center.
2. There is no sign telling people who want MacDuff Parkway North to get in and stay in the right lane.
3. The signs are too close to the divider that splits the westbound lanes to give people an opportunity to get into the proper lane, especially when traffic is “fast and heavy.” (Yes, I know, “fast and heavy” may be oxymoronic.) The signs need to be farther to the east to give folks adequate warning.
The city forwarded this to GDOT.
GDOT’s reply was not unexpected given their past performance.
First, they merely stated the obvious: “Drivers who wish to make a left turn into Macduff [sic] Crossing or a right turn at Macduff [sic] Parkway should already be in the proper lanes prior to arriving at the split.”
No kidding. By the way, that’s not always happening. I have anecdotal observations of people crossing from one lane to the other immediately after passing the divider. Yesterday, for example, a pickup pulling a trailer swerved from the left lane into the right lane in front of me immediately after passing the divider, and then turned onto MacDuff Parkway North. No turn signal, of course, but that’s another issue.
Second, GDOT inserted irrelevant information: “The intersections have less than 1,000 feet of spacing.” Yes. So what.
Third, they put the burden on the city to develop a plan to correct what is, in my opinion, clearly a failure of the GDOT. GDOT said, “… if the city wishes to recommend changes in signage or propose additional signage, you can submit a plan for our review.” This is nothing more than a way for GDOT to delay, perhaps avoid, doing their job.
According to GDOT, “We … do not feel that the complaint has a lot of validity.” What is “a lot of validity”? I see that as an admission that there is validity to my observations (which were not a complaint). It’s just that there’s not enough validity to get GDOT off their deceased donkey. I see their entire reply to the city as an acknowledgement that yes, there is a problem but no, GDOT isn’t going to do anything about it.
The city of Peachtree City has done its job; now, it’s time for GDOT to step up to the plate and do theirs.
Paul Lentz
Peachtree City, Ga.
