'Through lane'

at Huddleston Road must first be approved by state traffic engineer

MUNFORD

[email protected]

The proposed

"through lane" for Ga. Highway 54 West at Huddleston Road isn't

a done deal yet.

The through

lane concept was hailed as the main factor in deciding the planned Wal-Mart

Superstore could meet the city's traffic ordinance. The City Council voted

3-2 to approve the concept plan for the Wal-Mart based on that decision,

but the final say on the through lane is out of council's hands.

The Georgia

Department of Transportation's state traffic engineer must sign off on

the concept before it can be built, said Keith Rohling, district traffic

operations engineer for the Thomaston district office.

"Usually,

with a design like this they'll look at it a little harder," Rohling

said, estimating it could take four weeks after the revised drawings are

received for a final decision from the DOT.

The revised

drawings for that plan haven't yet been received by the DOT, Rohling said

Wednesday morning.

The through

lane would allow westbound traffic on Hwy. 54 west to continuously flow

through the intersection instead of stopping at the traffic light at Huddleston

Road.

A concrete

island would separate the through lane from the current lane of traffic,

which would accept vehicles turning left off Huddleston Road onto Hwy.

54 west. Those two lanes would eventually merge into one lane before the

traffic would reach the bridge that crosses into Coweta County.

The stoplight

at the intersection would remain, but it would only affect the eastbound

traffic on Hwy. 54 and the traffic entering the highway from Huddleston

Road.

Rohling said

he was not familiar with a similarly designed traffic improvement anywhere

in Georgia.

"It's

not a conventional design, but it's not something I feel would be unsafe,"

Rohling said. "I felt like we could try it, but I don't know what

Atlanta's going to say."

For large developments

along state highways, the DOT typically receives recommendations from

a traffic engineer employed by the developer, Rohling said. The DOT then

studies that proposal, checks the numbers and sometimes negotiates with

the developer on how the final construction will be allowed, Rohling added.

At a council

meeting in October, Mayor Bob Lenox announced that the through lane concept

was what made the city's traffic consulting firm, Dames and Moore, change

its mind about the Wal-Mart Superstore's ability to meet the city's traffic

ordinance.

Until then,

Dames and Moore had contended that the Wal-Mart store couldn't meet the

traffic ordinance and therefore couldn't be built until the highway was

widened to four lanes.

The City Council

approved the concept plan 3-2, with Carol Fritz, Robert Brooks and Mayor

Lenox for approval and Annie McMenamin and Dan Tennant against. The action

came before a packed crowd at City Hall, many of whom spoke out against

the Wal-Mart plan being approved.

Several citizens

complained that the through lane concept couldn't work since the westbound

traffic on Hwy. 54 must be funneled through the bridge over the CSX railroad

tracks before it reaches the intersection of Huddleston Road.

RAM Development

has already secured DOT permits for other traffic improvements in the

area of the Wal-Mart/Home Depot project, including:

New turn lanes

in front of the Wal-Mart/Home Depot site;

Another turn

lane that will be added to the Hwy. 54/74 intersection to feed traffic

onto Hwy. 74 south;