The

Atlanta Regional Commission's new 25-year

transportation plan may be swinging the pendulum

a little too far as planners increase proposed

spending for public transit systems and reduce

funding for roads, says Fayetteville Mayor Mike

Wheat.

Wheat,

who serves on the ARC Board of Directors in his

capacity as mayor, said the automobile is still

the least costly way of moving people, and the

benefit of spending too much on other

alternatives may not be worth the cost.

Using

ARC's estimates for the number of trips people

will take over the next 25 years using the

various transportation options, Wheat said he

calculated that public transit will cost $1,000

per trip for construction, maintenance and

operation, whereas providing improved roads to

handle more traffic would cost only $55 per trip.

"Any

way you cut it, the cost of transit is very

high," said Wheat.

ARC

proposes to spend $11 billion on road widening

and improvement and new roads in the Atlanta

region, including Fayette, and $20 billion on

public transit options, including bus, light rail

and heavy rail.

Bus

transportation is much cheaper than rail, Wheat

said, but added that all the transit options cost

much more than roads.

"Maybe

we're going a little too far with this," he

said. "Maybe we could come up with a

transportation plan that is a little less

aggressive on transit that still can meet federal

clean air standards," he added.

The

plan being offered for public comment by ARC

would funnel $1.28 billion federal and state

dollars into transportation projects for Fayette

County.

Of

that, $20 million is earmarked for bus service

somewhere around 2010.

Not

included in the local figure is funding for a

passenger rail line from the MARTA line at

Hartsfield Airport through Fayette to Senoia in

neighboring Coweta County.

As

for road projects, a $36 million east

Fayetteville bypass and a $5 million west

Fayetteville bypass are not anticipated until

2020. Of more immediate local concern, the

widening of Ga. Highway 74 from Ga. Highway 54 to

Ga. Highway 85 ($25.3 million) is expected to be

completed in 2007. Widening projects on Ga.

Highway 85 and Ga. Highway 92 are slated for

2010.

Fayette

County commissioners last week voted unanimously

to alert Georgia Department of Transportation and

ARC officials that widening Hwy. 54 from Hwy. 74

to the Coweta County line is Fayette's highest

priority project, but that project doesn't show

up on the ARC plan for Fayette at all.

Officials

say they are hoping that's just an oversight.

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