Mayor Lenox had presented the

shrouded traffic mitigation plan to the Commissioner of the Georgia Department

of Transportation (DOT). It is an embarrassment that he failed to present

it to some of the other council members and the citizens at large. As

if the secretive back-room process did not taint our governing process

enough, the plan has been presented to the Department of Transportation

as though we are in favor of both the mitigation and the development.

You are probably aware that

the state lost its federal highway funding as a result of poor air quality.

As part of a settlement of the lawsuit that strangled the funds, the state

(via the ARC) agreed to not allow projects that add automotive capacity

to our highways. The Wal-Mart mitigation plan contains a "through

lane" and most certainly increases capacity to Ga. Highway 34 [sic].

Is this a direct violation to the legal settlement?

To make matters worse, the

surreptitious Wal-Mart traffic mitigation plan most likely does not allow

for "regional traffic" factors. In other words it assumes that

only people from Peachtree City will be using the Big Boxes thus lowering

the traffic volume figures.

We need each person to call

Commissioner Tom Coleman of the Georgia Department of Transportation at

404-656-5206 and express your concern that the DOT should not approve

this the Wal-Mart mitigation plan. Let him know why you moved to Peachtree

City and that the mitigation plan threatens our health, safety and welfare

because of the narrow railroad bridge. Let him know that the mitigation

plan adds automotive capacity and that he should not approve the plan.

The DOT might try to forward

your call to someone else or have you leave a message for the commissioner.

Try calling him back later to see if he received your message. We need

to speak to him in person. Our mayor and several council members have

turned their backs on us, so we must make our appeal to the DOT. Your

response can make a difference. Get every family member to call.

Steve Brown

Peachtree City

[email protected]