My wife Sharon and I retired to Fayetteville in October 2014. We purchased a new home in the Bellemeade development off Redwine Road. There is a “City of Fayetteville” sign immediately near the top of the hill about a hundred yards from the Bellemeade development.
As many senior citizens do, we take a long walk each day crossing Redwine Road to the golf cart path on the other side of the street. We cross over and back either at the crosswalk at the Bellemeade entrance or at the cross walk at Kiwanis Park. Each day we walk past the traffic circle to the City Cafe and back.
We are very concerned that sooner or later someone will be killed in crosswalks. Cars speed down Redwine with absolutely no regard for those crossing in the marked crosswalks. Candidly, when we cross at the Bellemeade entrance with no cars visible from either direction cars, pickup trucks and larger trucks inevitably come tearing over the hill at speeds exceeding 60 mph. They do not even slow down when they see you. Many actually speed up and when they pass you they scream or give you “the finger” or honk, sometimes all three.
The same happens in the crosswalk at the Kiwanis Park. It is indeed rare that any car actually stops to allow one to cross. Some do most do not. The same situation, if not worse, occurs at the traffic circle. Also, the stop signs at the Orchards development entrance are constantly ignored. Believe it or not, Saturday and Sunday mornings around 10 a.m. are the worst. Morning rush hour or afternoon rush hour, forget even trying to cross.
All one needs to do to confirm our concern is travel Redwine Road from Bellemeade to the circle. The wild animal carnage is disgusting. Dead deer, squirrels, armadillos, possums, raccoons and rabbits are seen each and every day.
We realize that sometimes animals run out and are hit by those who obey the speed limit. We would bet, however, that most of these animals are slaughtered due to excessive speed and an “I don’t care, I need to get somewhere” attitude. As practicing Catholics we believe all life is precious.
While walking we can see numerous drivers talking on phones or actually texting. We live in a wonderful neighborhood with wonderful people, but there are times when we have observed cars leaving and entering Bellemeade with the driver on a cell phone or texting. The Bellemeade entrance stop sign is always not obeyed. There is an electrical pad directly across the street from the Bellemeade entrance. Perhaps that would be a good place for authorities to park and observe. We are certain there other locations up and down Redwine.
Perhaps, with this letter something can be done before a tragedy happens.
Dave and Sharon Velmosky
Fayetteville, Ga.
