The MacDuff Parkway Extension to Ga. Highway 74 at Kedron Drive is now one year behind schedule. Additionally, the City Council broke a promise to the citizens that no more certificates of occupancy would be granted along MacDuff until the extension was completed. This is documented in the May 15, 2014 Council meeting, Agenda Item 04-14-02.
Council broke this promise and granted 100 certificates of occupancy based on the documented developer’s schedule to complete the extension by Sept. 30, 2015. Council owns this schedule and the broken promise to the citizens of Peachtree City.
I believe that the MacDuff Extension has perhaps a 50 percent chance of being completed by this time next year. This is based on my professional experience as a program manager. It is clear that Council was clueless in May 2014 when they accepted — over my objections — the developer’s schedule for a September 2015 completion.
I told Council that the developer’s schedule presented in May 2014 was nonsense. The current Council members, with the exception of Council member Prebor, who wasn’t on Council at the time, bought the developer’s schedule hook line and sinker, and granted those additional certificates of occupancy.
Council must have thought this would not cause any additional traffic problems. That’s already been proven wrong before a single house has been sold. I can only offer my apology to folks who live along MacDuff Parkway for not succeeding in stopping Council’s action.
The developer has consistently discovered drawbacks and excuses. The most invidious is a permit from CSX to allow the bridge to be built over their railroad tracks. It’s unclear if the developer has the CSX permit, and Council has been closed-mouth about this.
A council member recently said the MacDuff Extension would be complete by July 2017. Does this council member know the status of the railroad permit? Might we be told why there is such confidence in this date?
Council’s track record for holding contractors and developers to schedules — is dreadful.
Reports from the city say the developer will start working on the bridge over the railroad in December 2016. That same city said it would then take 12-18 months to complete the bridge. Depending on the weather, of course. That disclaimer is always good as an excuse. Remember the dredging of Lake Peachtree?
I hope, for the sake of folks living along MacDuff Parkway, that the project will be completed within a year, and certainly before Council caves to a developer’s demands for more certificates of occupancy.
Completion of the MacDuff Parkway extension is at best two years behind schedule. This is totally unacceptable and our City Council needs to be held accountable for this debacle.
I have been saying for over a year that the target date for MacDuff’s opening ribbon-cutting ceremony should be Nov. 7, 2017. Why have I chosen that date? It is to remind citizens of another event. Nov. 7, 2017, is Election Day for a new City Council.
Eric Imker
Candidate for Mayor
Peachtree City, Ga.
