Golf carts to Starr’s Mill complex?

A plan to develop a golf cart path for the three schools in that complex was recently developed by high school interns working with the Fayette County government and was given a tacit OK by the Fayette County Board of Education (BoE) on Monday.

 

The Fayette County Commission is already on board and Commission Chairman Steve Brown even spoke in favor of the plan during Monday’s BoE meeting.

 

BoE members agreed to survey each of the school principals in the complex to find out about possible parking needs, but want the other agencies involved to begin their work first.

 

The Starr’s Mill complex, located just south of Peachtree City’s southern limits, includes Peeples Elementary School, Rising Starr Middle School and Starr’s Mill High School.

 

“I don’t think anyone is philosophically opposed, but they want all the other pieces to come to fruition before our investment,” said School Superintendent Joseph C. Barrow Jr. “I think the board would feel better if we saw work happening and we could plug in our piece.”

 

If the school system began the work, “we would be encouraging people to do something that is not yet safe,” board member Leonard Presberg said.

 

Brown told BoE members the first step would be to follow the students’ recommendations and reduce the speed limit on Redwine Road, which can be done quickly. He asked school system officials to target possible parking lots and after that, staff members from the involved agencies can began making joint plans.

 

The project was developed by interns Tessa Strickland and Khalil Coleman after they were asked to find options for a safe golf cart path and crossing on Redwine Road.

 

Coleman, a rising junior at Whitewater High School, and Strickland, a rising junior at Starr’s Mill High School, met with county staff members, school system staff and the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office before recommending details for the plan.

 

Their proposal includes methods to reduce the speed on Redwine Road and on Panther Path to allow for safe crossings. The students suggest reducing the speed limit on Redwine to 25 miles per hour within the school zone, as is the case in 80 percent of the other school zones in the county.

 

The plan also calls for a new median with a built-in safe zone at the crossing at Redwine and Foreston Place where the cart path currently ends on the east side of Redwine. The plan calls for several other safety measures as well.

 

No cost estimate or completion schedule have been recommended. But Brown hopes the BoE and county government can jointly apply for a federal grant to help pay for the project. He anticipates a grant of about $2 million.

 

Fayette County’s McIntosh High School in Peachtree City has a very successful golf cart program with about 300 to 500 golf carts parked at the school each day. Students who are 15 years old and have a learner’s permit may drive the carts to school. Parents also use the carts to drop off and pick up students.

 

“It works very well for families,” Brown said, adding that the younger teens also enjoy the independence they get from driving the carts to school.

 

Presberg joked that parents in the Starr’s Mill group would be happy if their new path had opened yesterday.

 

BoE Chairman Marion Key mentioned other neighborhoods not directly affected by the planned path and asked how those residents will access the path. “It’s a process,” Brown responded. “We have to figure out how to do that.”