The scheduled

paving of Sumner Road one of Peachtree City's last unpaved roads is being

questioned by homeowners in the area.

At its meeting

Thursday night, the City Council was presented with a plan to change the

road design to save more trees when it is paved. However, several residents

questioned whether the road needed to be paved at all.

Council tabled

the matter so staff could present more information before a final decision

is made. Councilman Robert Brooks was particularly concerned about narrowing

the road since it might have to handle more traffic in the future when

it hooks up to a planned connector road.

City Engineer

Troy Besseche told council that more trees could be saved along Sumner

Road if a smaller "clear zone" were used. But that will likely

cost the city $70,000 that the Georgia Department of Transportation was

going to contribute to the project since the DOT wants larger clear zones

for safety reasons.

A curb and

gutter system would help keep vehicles off the road and the speed limit

should be kept at 20 miles per hour for safety concerns, Besseche said.

Brooks said

he has received a number of phone calls from residents about the plan

to pave Sumner Road. Some don't want it paved and others wonder why it

has taken the city so long to pave it, he said.

Lenox pointed

out that a 20-mph speed would render the police department unable to enforce

that speed with its radar equipment.

"We're

going to have people hauling butt up and down that road," Lenox said.

Besseche said

some traffic calming measures, including speed humps, could be employed

to slow vehicles down.

Councilwoman

Carol Fritz said she wanted to wait to make a final decision because she

wanted to see how it would affect the residents along Sumner Road.

Sumner Road

resident Cele Eifert said paving the road would result in fewer trees,

which buffer nearby residents from noise and pollution caused by vehicles.

Phyllis Aguayo

suggested that the road could be "split" at certain areas to

slow down traffic and construct the road around special trees.

Sumner Road

resident Lynn Notti said paving the road would speed up traffic on the

road, which currently moves at 10 to 15 mph.

Besseche said

work on the paving was stopped when it was realized that the road's path

would result in the cutting down of several "specimen" trees.

The project is expected to resume in January, but City Manager Jim Basinger

said he thought waiting until the first council meeting of the year wouldn't

halt the project unnecessarily.