What if a child is casualty of city traffic engineers' plan for hwys. 54-74?

What

if a child is casualty of city traffic engineers' plan

for hwys. 54-74?

"Virtual reality"

flashback:

I wrote to The Citizen

several times concerning the need for a traffic light at

Ga. Highway 74 and Kelly Drive. It distressed me, at that

time, to think that someone might lose their life before

the light was installed. Unfortunately, a life was lost

at that intersection, a resident of Griffin, and yes, a

light was eventually installed.

Flash Forward:

Now, Mr. Ellis of Dames and

Moore, shows the Planning Commission his

"virtual" traffic demonstration where traffic

will actually improve with the development of the

Huddleston property for Home Depot and Wal-Mart. Did Mr.

Ellis' demonstration show how one of the many businesses

along Huddleston Drive might "virtually"

disappear as a result of denying a left turn onto

Huddleston Drive? Who cares about the small business

owner, he is expendable, as we will all be

"virtually" better off with a Home Depot and

Wal-Mart nearby.

With the left turn at

Huddleston Drive denied, is there any doubt that the

cut-through traffic on Planterra Way from 7 a.m. - 5

p.m. will significantly increase? Surely, that would be

the easiest way to access many of the businesses in the

industrial area adjacent to Planterra Ridge. I'm starting

to get distressed again.

Mr. Ellis, and those from

the Home Depot staff, did your "virtual" model

consider that a child playing in the Planterra Ridge

subdivision might be a casualty of your traffic plan?

I know it's pretty easy to

be removed from these issues if you don't reside in the

area you are considering developing but try and plug that

ramification into your computer model and see what it

spits out.

It irks me that the people

involved with the traffic study and with the development

of Home Depot are assuming that the residents are wearing

rose-colored glasses. The negative impact from traffic to

the local businesses and the residents of Peachtree City,

especially Planterra Ridge, is painfully obvious.

I just hope the City

Council members don't wear their rose-colored glasses as

they consider this issue.

Lastly, I find it pretty

ironic that the name of Huddleston Drive has such a

familiar ring to it. Where have I heard that name before?

Steve Wilson

Peachtree City

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