It's hoped

that a right turn lane and realignment of the intersection will help break

the logjam of traffic that has developed at McDonough Road and County

Line Road west of Fayetteville.

County commissioners

last week voted unanimously to authorize public works director Lee Hearn

to build a right turn lane for motorists turning onto County Line from

McDonough, and also to move forward with alignment of McElroy Road and

County Line.

McElroy forms

a "T" intersection with McDonough, a few dozen feet east of

where County Line forms a "T."

Recent installment

of a three-way stop at McDonough and County Line has traffic on McDonough

backed up to Ga. Highway 54 in afternoon rush hour, and it takes eight

to ten minutes to navigate through the intersection.

After handling

a flurry of phone calls, commissioners earlier discussed doing away with

the stop sign. "We may have created a problem rather than solved

a problem," said Commissioner Glen Gosa.

But Hearn suggested

that motorists entering McDonough from McElroy Road and then turning right

onto County Line Road might be causing a lot of the backup.

Aligning the

two roads would allow traffic to go straight across, alleviating the problem,

he said.

Commissioners

last week agreed to try that solution. Earlier, they also voted to send

a letter to the state Department of Transportation, urging quick action

for a proposed traffic light at the intersection.

A new traffic

light also will soon appear at Ga. Highway 314 and New Hope Road and,

when it does, it will be tied into a new fiber optic system designed to

improve traffic flow in and around Fayetteville.

County commissioners

last week agreed to spend $15,000 to erect the light and $6,468 to link

it with 14 other traffic signals on Ga. highways 85 and 54. Synchronization

of the lights is expected to move traffic better and allow easier pedestrian

crossings on Fayetteville's Courthouse Square.

Commissioners

also agreed to pay $11,900 toward the study and programming of the original

14 lights.

Commissioner

Linda Wells voted against the expenditures in a 4-1 decision.