State and

federal agencies and environmental groups have settled

their lawsuit over road building projects and Coweta

County commuters will be happy with the results.

According

to a settlement involving the state and federal

departments of transportation, the Atlanta Regional

Commission and several environmental organizations, road

improvement projects that were already under construction

when the suit began can proceed.

Coweta's

major road project involved in the lawsuit is the

widening of Ga. Highway 34 from Newnan to Thomas

Crossroads at Ga. Highway 154.

Neighboring

Fayette county did not fare so well.

Neither of

Fayette's major road projects - widening of Ga.

Highway 74 from Ga. Highway 85 to Ga. Highway 54, and

widening of Hwy. 54 from McDonough Road to the Clayton

County line - were far enough along to meet that

test.

"I

don't much like it," said Fayette County Commission

Chairman Harold Bost, who sits on the ARC Board of

Directors. "But there wasn't anything we could have

done about it."

The U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency halted all road

construction in the Atlanta area two years ago after the

region failed to meet EPA's air quality standards, but

exempted 61 projects - including the two in Fayette

- that were far along in the planning process or

were underway.

Environmental

groups like the Georgia Conservancy filed suit to stop

construction on the "grandfathered" projects, a

suit that has been rendered moot by the settlement.

Atlanta

Regional Commission spokesman Joe Padilla said Tuesday

that the agency is still working on a 20-year

transportation plan that it hopes will meet EPA's

environmental standards.

"It

will be a plan that will ensure mobility for the region

for the next 25 years," Padilla added.

In

addition, the plan will include more than $450 million

for bike path and similar projects throughout the region.

Officials

of the agency have learned from the lawsuit, Padilla

said. "It's certainly something we don't ever want

to see happen again," he said.

By

broadening the scope of transportation planning to

include more public and alternative transportation

projects, he said, local counties can avoid seeing

traffic pile up while road improvements are put on hold.

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