City to permanently close part of Crabapple Lane to through traffic

By
Cal Beverly
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46
5334

City also raising fees for licensing out-of-city golf carts — 

Peachtree City is closing the dirt portion of Crabapple Lane on the city’s northeastern border to all vehicular traffic by the end of this month. A similar blockade to all out-of-city golf cart traffic on Crabapple is scheduled to go into effect by June 1 of next year.

Map shows area of city likely to be affected by the closure. Graphic/Peachtree City Council.
Map shows area of city likely to be affected by the closure. Graphic/Peachtree City Council.

Tyrone golf cart users have been vocal in their disappointment in losing that access to Peachtree City’s 100-plus miles of paved multi-use paths.

City Manager Jon Rorie talks about closure of Crabapple Lane. Photo/Cal Beverly.

It’s mainly to prevent future traffic cut-through problems, City Manager Jon Rorie told the City Council and a small crowd Nov. 18. “If we do nothing, we will suffer the consequences. It’s time to act,” Rorie said. He noted similar cut-through problems that have arisen with Planterra Ridge that allows traffic on Ga. highways 54 and 74 to avoid a busy intersection at the expense of using streets within a residential neighborhood.

The dirt portion of Crabapple dumps both cars and trucks as well as golf carts from Tyrone and parts of the county into Kedron Hills subdivision, Rorie said. The city welcomes connections to its cart path system, but those connections must be along major roads, not residential streets, he said.

But the discussion also pointed out the city’s irritation that Fayette County included that cut-through on its recently adopted transportation plan without consulting the city.

To a person, the five council members emphasized that only city residents pay for the $3.2 million a year cost of maintaining more than 100 miles of paths, bridges and tunnels that represent Peachtree City’s most famous amenity.

Access to the city system just got more expensive for cart owners living outside Peachtree City. Beginning Jan. 1 of the new year, the non-resident cart fee will be $235 per year plus the $15 cart tag fee for each licensed cart, the only kind legally allowed on the paths. 

Two methods considered for licensing out of city carts. Graphic/Peachtree City Council.
Two methods considered for licensing out of city carts. Graphic/Peachtree City Council.

46 COMMENTS

  1. I don’t live in Kedron but I have lived in PTC for 19 years. In that time Tyrone has made very little progress putting in golf cart paths. They need to start putting in paths for their citizens. They can put a path in so that Tyrone residents can access PTC IF they want to spend the money. Honestly I will be surprised if they do. I think when Tyrone put in that golf cart crossing sign on Dogwood Trail it showed they planned on funneling everyone through Kedron permanently. If you watch the video of the meeting you can see that PTC is no longer planning on building a bridge across 74. Why? Because there is a way for PTC residents to get to the other side through the tunnel. That bridge probably would have been used by Tyrone residents more than PTC residents to get to crabapple elementary.

  2. There are several different perspectives for closing off Crabapple:

    A) Kedron Hills residents are concerned about the increased traffic when the new 90-house addition on Crabapple goes in. That addition only has access to Crabapple, not to Dogwood, so those residents would be inclined to drive on Loring Lane to access PTC, increasing traffic through the residential neighborhood.

    B) PTC council is upset that the builders along Dogwood are marketing their homes as “having direct access to Peachtree City”, but those homes do not pay PTC taxes. PTC taxes fund $2+ million per year for cart path maintenance. The funds raised by non-resident golf cart registrations don’t make a dent in this.

    C) Tyrone City Council is reluctant to build cart paths to connect to PTC because they want Tyrone residents to shop in Tyrone. (per Tyrone City Council Meeting). For example, the Dogwood residents can take backroads to Tyrone Publix rather than Kedron Kroger.

    Transportation plans show Tyrone building a cart path along Dogwood to connect to Dogwood Church, if they can fund it. That would give Tyrone residents access to Clayton State and Kedron shopping center without passing through Kedron Hills.

    And by the way, most of the housing additions along Peachtree Parkway only have one entrance, particularly those north of Highway 54, and south of McIntosh Trail, so that’s not much of an issue either.

    The Kedron Hills situation is unique because Crabapple Lane existed before the housing addition. In fact, Crabapple used to run where Loring Lane, Greenwood Lane, and the World Airline/Clayton State complex are now located, and that’s why it continues on the other side of Highway 74. So this isn’t the first time Crabapple Lane has been cut off.

    But I ramble…

  4. This is probably a new level of ignorant for Peachtree City. If there’s a crash and gridlock in front of them on Peachtree Parkway, they’re all trapped. Sure they could drive their car on a cart path to escape, but if anyone needs help it ain’t coming since emergency services won’t be able to get in.

    If this is the future they want, I say let them have it – put the financial burden of undoing it on the Kedron Hills residents so the rest of us don’t have to foot the bill in a year for their safety.

    • Although I don’t agree with the city’s stance, this argument doesn’t really hold much water. Numerous people have mentioned safety. Yes, while the increased traffic at the main entrance may increase – will it increase that much? I have used the neighborhood as a cut through. I am using both entry/exit points. When they block Crabapple, I will no longer be able to cut-through and will only be visiting the neighborhood once in a while to visit friends and most likely will going there on a golf cart, since I live close.

      Second, if there’s an accident at the entrance, what are the chances that the whole entrance will be blocked? There will already be first responders at the scene and depending on the severity, they would make the appropriate decisions on how best to respond to a second emergency. The scene where there is absolute gridlock where no response teams could get to the scene are fairly remote.

      • Both of the entrances dump out into almost the same place on Peachtree Parkway – so if there’s an accident its extremely likely the traffic will impact both entering and exiting traffic. It happens now.

        The chances of it aren’t that remote over a long enough timeline. There are a number of large neighborhoods in the county that specifically had to build additional exits for this exact reason (err… likely because they had smart folks on the council).

        If Grandma has a stroke and it takes an extra 5 minutes to get to the back of Kedron Hills because of an accident at the front, I hope the benefit of cutting off a few extra cars was worth it. Just give it time.

        • Well, it is possible, I’ll give you that. I guess the residents of Kedron Hills will have to move MeMaw somewhere else because of the possibilities.

          On a more serious note – maybe the city can put a locked gate across Crabapple for these emergencies you speak of.

      • Let’s just wait and see. Even one remote incident that causes injury to even one person is enough for me to say don’t block Crabapple. It is just not worth it if it takes the fire department a fraction longer to get around a gridlock at the Kedron entrance that ultimately means a life. I’ll have to give it a lot of thought because I have lived in Kedron Hills a long time and really like it but moving is sounding better and better. With this un-thought out decision, PTC and Kedron HOA greed trumps safety.

  5. Speeding and Traffic? That’s BS. No one in their right minds would use Crabapple as a consistent cut through to access PTC in a car. ITS PTC snobbery at it’s best (worst).
    What’s so ironic is that PTCwas established as a planned community with multi use paths not only as a convenience factor, but as a way to cut down on traffic and pollution. With this decision PTC council pretty much throws that out the window.

  7. I have lived in Kedron Hills since 2000. Crabapple Lane, to me, is a second access in and out. I can not tell you how many wrecks I have seen in front of the neighborhood since I moved here. If there is a wreck or some other crisis that prevents entry or exit at the main entrance , everyone is stuck. No one in and no one out. If you are having an emergency then that’s just too bad. This decision is unsafe.

      • There is a special needs child that uses this route to go back and forth from the Kedron Kroger on a golf cart. According to the article in the Citizen it affords the child a modicum of independence. It appears that that is not possible. I think it is sad that this is no longer possible. I wish we could all nicer to one another.

          • A benefit the city allows. You can buy the out-of-city registration, you just access the benefit. And let’s be completely clear – PTC is not some exclusive enclave. The multi-use paths are no different from any other “extra” a city provides. Ever been to another town and walked on their trails? Ever been to another town and used their park or a part of their recreational facilities? PTC continues to be a town where the residents think they are better than others. It’s not a good look.

          • Dawn, who mentioned anything about people walking or going to parks?

            I live right down the street from a big park, I see out of the area tags all the time. This article is not about that…are you confused?

          • In every town I’ve ever lived in, there are clearly marked signs at any municipal or county public recreational facility that stipulates that the use of that facility is limited to residents, or requires non-residents to pay a fee for use. This isn’t even remotely a PTC thing.

            So the question here is whether you are completely oblivious to that fact, or whether you’re of the mindset that just because you’ve never been cited for trespassing, that it must me okay. Which is precisely the entitled taker’s mentality.

          • This was definitely not a well-thought-out decision. If the front entrance is blocked for some reason, and it has been blocked in the past, you can’t leave if that is out only way out. Fire trucks can not get in or out, ambulances can’t get in or out, and you can’t get to the hospital when your wife is having a baby. PTC and Kedron Hills HOA are only thinking about the money and not the safety of the residents in Kedron Hills. I do hope it’s not you or your family member that is affected. Then, what are you going to say?

          • Spyglass – in a word, no. I am not confused. If you can’t see the correlation of city owned, taxpayer funded amenities, I don’t know what to tell ya! A good place to start is by opening your mind.

            PTCitizen – How many cities have you lived? You’re often very quick to embellish a story or details. Can you please show me the sign at Drake Field indicating that the facility is only for residents? How about the kids playground behind the City complex next door? Can you show me that sign? How about the sign at Line Creek? How about the signs at Piedmont Park in Atlanta, the park’s systems in Roswell, Alpharetta, Milton, and numerous park systems throughout the metro and the state? Yes, while there are plenty of “pay-to-play” parks and recreation areas, there are many more that are not. People may wonder why I am comparing parks and rec to our cart paths. It’s because they are both municipal owned, taxpayer funded amenities.

            Now, please show me the signs on the cart paths indicating that the multi-use path is only for residents? I’ve never seen a one on my end of town. The city allows non-residents to bike, walk, run, skate, etc. on the multi-use paths. They also provide non-residents the use of their golf carts on our paths, provided they register their carts. They do all this and then turn around and block some of those people from accessing the system.

            Amenities attract dollars to a city. Those dollars reduce the strain of the costs that residents must carry. Your short-sighted stance only furthers to cost you more. The very thing you love to rail against.

            Honestly, the closure in Kedron Hills won’t really affect me at all. I’ve used it numerous times, but it isn’t the end of the world for me. There are people it will affect. The city’s decision further strains relationships with neighboring communities. As I said before – it isn’t a good look.

            People will find a way around the barriers. If I owned the adjoining piece of property next to the barrier, I would cut a path for those with carts to go around. It’s all a waste of time and money.

          • “Amenities attract dollars to a city.” That is probably a trues statement. Amenities also attract liabilities. Coastal beaches attract both. National parks attract both. Out multipurpose pathways attract both. It’s a kind of/sort of “follow the money” and/or follow the crowd thing. If a municipality seeks revenue from gatherings of people (e.g., tourism, conferences, retail, etc.) then okay. Does the municipality’s costs to protect the gathering population offset the income? If an out-of-town party drives to the spillway, or any of our 11 neighborhood parks, to walk, run or ride bicycles on our paths, do they necessarily contribute to our city’s revenue or do they cost our city in public safety resources? The three golf courses, tennis center and Kedron pool are amenities, but I’m not familiar with how much revenue the city collects from them. Now, if the amenity attracts people to purchase real property, or otherwise invest in the city, I believe the costs are offset with increased property value revenue. However, I believe municipal sponsored amenities, in general, are provided to support the municipalities population.

            Peachtree City’s residential population has been fairly stable over the years, with most growth coming from annexations and development of the limited property available for development. If one compares the residential populations’ per capita public safety costs over the past 30 years, nonresidential use of our amenities may actually cost the city more than it is seeing in additional revenue. It may also be strange to see the Highways 54/74 intersection and the traffic along those highways are providing a detracting buffer to limit the number of out-of-towners proliferating our amenities.

          • Plausible argument Doug. Your logic points in the direction that non-residents cause significant public safety issues. I’d have to see the data on that – if there is any.

  9. I appreciate the safety concerns, speeding is never ok. However, ON AVERAGE people from out-of-town with a golf cart are more affluent than PTC people with a cart. Peachtree City cannot afford to miss out on these economic opportunities. By blocking all access to PTC you’ll also miss out on the Golf Cart Tag revenue, which out-of-town folks are more than happy to pay.

  11. Well I guess I’ll just stop shopping at Kedron.
    I actually agree with the increased out-of-town fee but blocking off the street is just spiteful.
    Just another reason to boycott PTC in addition to the 54-74 traffic atrocity and the ‘deadend’ Walmart/Home Depot chaos

    • This was done to address numerous complaints and concerns from Kedron Hills homeowners and the HOA. For many of them, this is a double-edged sword in that they now lose a rather significant “shortcut” to accessing points east (Fayetteville) and north (74/Tyrone/85). But the increased traffic and speeding became the compelling issue.

      Ceasing to patronize Kedron businesses is your right but I’m not sure how that’s different from kicking your neighbor’s dog when you had a bad day at work.