Six tractor

trailer rigs have delivered their loads to Fayetteville's

First Manassas Mile Road water plant as the city prepares

to decorate downtown roadways in floral splendor.

"This

is a massive project," said Sherri Anderson,

director of the city's Main Street program. "There

are two and a half acres worth of plants in the staging

area. It's going to be just beautiful."

Travelers

on Ga. highways 54 and 85 should already see some

evidence of the project, as the ground is plowed and

crews began planting Thursday.

"They're

going to try to put in about 150 trees a day, and it will

take them about three weeks to get finished," said

Anderson.

The

ambitious beautification project has been on the city's

agenda for several months now. City Council recently

approved spending $138,852 to put thousands of plants

including crape myrtle, dwarf holly, barberry and many

varieties of flowering perennials in the medians along

Hwy. 54 from Gingercake Road all the way back to where 54

splits in downtown Fayetteville, on the east side of 54

to the city limits, and along Hwy. 85 from Jeff Davis

Drive to Fayette Pavilion.

Landscape

architect David Hollingsworth drew the plans and ordered

the plants and his crews will put the trees, bushes and

flowers in the ground.

Because of

delays in getting state Department of Transportation

approval, the project is getting underway later in the

spring than the landscapers would have liked, but

Anderson said the city is doing everything it can to make

sure the plants get plenty of water.

"We

have a 600-gallon water tank that's used to flush out

pipes," she said. "They'll need to be watered

at least every other day." City crews will fit the

tank with a pressure reduction nozzle and water the

medians as often as possible, she said.

Watering

already is a problem, though the plants aren't yet in the

ground. The only equipment available at the staging area

is a garden hose, she said.

"It's

hard to water two and a half acres with a garden

hose," she said.

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