Have you ever squared off against one of those carnival games with five holes that little heads pop out of? As soon as you smack one head down, another one pops up.
It seems as though county commissioners Frady, Hearn, and Horgan have orchestrated a very similar game with their West Fayetteville Bypass (WFB) project; as soon as citizens debunk one of their excuses for the project, the three arcade operators roll out another.
These commissioners, and the two who voters threw out last year over the project, have packaged a steady sequence of rationalizations in attempts to justify the $30 million WFB: traffic relief, emergency vehicle access, accommodation of future growth, and “bang for the buck.”
Citizens groups have researched and refuted each one. Now, County Administrator Jack Krakeel’s staff has briefed yet another.
After funding lower priority projects for about six years and then saying there’s insufficient money for the county’s #1 road project, Krakeel’s staff presented a proposal during this month’s retreat that would finally fund the East Fayetteville Bypass.
Issue resolved? Not so fast … this most current proposal still pushes ahead with the WFB, and provides full funding for the least supportable and most contentious component of the entire project — the $11 million stretch from Sandy Creek Road to Ga. Highway 92 to an intersection with no ready access to either Interstate 85 or to the Atlanta-Hartsfield Airport. Some bypass.
It’s time to disband the carnival sideshow and carry out the 2004 mandate that every Fayette County commissioner and municipal representative agreed was the top priority: the East Fayetteville Bypass.
Only after that priority is completed should any remaining portion of the WFB be given another nickel.
Robert Ross
Peachtree City, Ga.
