Peachtree

City officials last week saw a graphic display of the

traffic situation around Ga. highways 54 and 75, and it

was not a pretty picture.

An

hour-long discussion during the regular City Council

meeting was highlighted by a computerized traffic

simulator presented by Dames and Moore, the traffic

consultant commissioned by Cousins Properties for The

Avenue, the shopping center being built at City Circle.

That

presentation projected on the big screen what motorists

who navigate this corridor every day already know -

it's crowded, and there's little relief in sight.

The city is

paying particular attention to Hwy. 54 on the western end

of town, from Hwy. 74 to Line Creek and the Coweta County

line. As that area sees an increasing amount of

commercial development, city officials are considering

measures specifically aimed at slowing things down.

To that

end, a public hearing will be conducted at the Sept. 16

City Council meeting to discuss a traffic impact

ordinance or possible building moratorium for the area.

Development

director Jim Williams recommended last week that the city

adopt a traffic model for the entire corridor similar to

the one Dames and Moore worked up for The Avenue. Any

proposed development would then be plugged into the

model, and if it shows a worsening of the traffic

situation, there's no development.

The

consultants have already recommended an additional

traffic light for The Avenue, on Hwy. 54 across from Don

Pablo's restaurant.

The Avenue

is scheduled to open some time next year. But several

other commercial ventures are set to open in the same

neighborhood well before that, such as Chili's and On The

Border restaurants and a Staples office superstore.

Those will

sit across the highway from The Avenue, near Longhorn and

Don Pablo's. So in a few months, cars will be spilling

out from both sides of Hwy. 54 in record numbers.

"People

wanting to turn left [onto Hwy. 54] will grow beards and

age while waiting," said Williams.

On a more

somber note were the comments from Police Chief James

Murray and Fire Chief Gerald Reed. Their departments have

to contend with getting emergency vehicles to accident

scenes where traffic is already snarled.

Murray

noted that traffic signals and other improvements on Hwy.

54 are good, but they still leave a two-lane road that

becomes completely blocked when an accident occurs, and

they are becoming more frequent - a total of 40 in

the first six months of 1999 just at the intersection of

54 and 74.

"I

don't see any relief until it's four-laned," said

Murray.

Reed said

that when responding to the west side of the city, his

vehicles often have to take the opposite lanes, which is

considerably more dangerous for everyone.

A resident

of Wynnmeade put the traffic volume in perspective when

he said, "We're putting ten pounds of sand in a

two-pound pail."

With

development continuing both in Peachtree City and across

the line in Coweta, the logical answer would seem to be

widening Hwy. 54. But federal air-quality guidelines and

the resulting litigation have stopped those plans cold.

A project

manager for the Georgia Department of Transportation said

that the original schedule called for right of way

acquisition to begin this summer, as most of the

preliminary engineering has already been done.

As a result

of the lawsuit that has put road projects on hold

throughout metro Atlanta, the widening of Hwy. 54 has

been rescheduled, with right of way acquisition starting

in 2003 and construction being completed about 2008.

Mayor Pro

Tem Annie McMenamin asked if municipalities could go

ahead and do projects themselves if they so wished. She

was told that the issue is a bit murky in that regard,

but tampering with a federally funded project could lead

to some liability down the road.

Councilman

Jim Pace asked if any relief could be found on Hwy. 74,

and if a "back door" for Wynnmeade could be

created. Those questions will be considered as well when

addressing the needs of the entire corridor.

City

manager Jim Basinger pointed out that since Dames and

Moore has already conducted a study for a portion of the

area, it would be considerably cheaper to go ahead and

commission them for the model Williams suggested. The

City Council agreed with this.

City

attorney Rick Lindsey laid out the guidelines for a

possible moratorium, including the public hearing next

month, saying that all affected property owners and

developers would have to be considered based on what they

have already invested in their respective projects.

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