GDOT Traffic Operations Engineer

Marion Waters stated, "If somebody has to wait on a secondary road,

so be it." Now why would GDOT support the notion that it is acceptable

for current and nearly completed businesses to suffer at the hands of

a gigantic Wal-Mart store yet to be developed?

Police officers were going

to be used to direct traffic at The Avenue-Market Place Boulevard intersection.

However, in an official memo from City Planner David Rast (dated Feb.

20, 2001) it states, "The police chief has indicated that neither

the city police department nor the county sheriff will be permitted on

Hwy. 54 to direct traffic into or out of this development. This is due

to the high volumes of traffic on Hwy. 54 and in consideration of safety

issues for traffic control personnel."

In the official city newsletter

(The Update) Mayor Bob Lenox stated, "In late October the developer's

engineer submitted a design proposal that our engineer, after thorough

analysis and testing, assured us would meet the requirements of the Traffic

Impact Ordinance."

The Mayor went on to say, "Council

members Brooks and Fritz and I felt that, despite any personal opinions

we held on the matter, our traffic engineer's findings and the approval

presented from the DOT, under the rule of law, left no choice but to grant

the appeal and, in essence, approve the Wal-Mart."

The city's traffic engineer

made an analysis based upon a computer model that incorporated a traffic

signal at The AvenuesMarket Place Boulevard that was connected via fiber

optics down the highway corridor beyond the Hwy. 74­54 intersection

eastward. I learned after speaking with GDOT engineer Keith Rohling that

his "approval" was made based upon nothing more than basic sketches

of the site and absolutely no traffic data.

Obviously, the model that supposedly

allowed for the Wal-Mart is now corrupted. The traffic conditions used

to approve the Wal-Mart are no longer valid.

At this point, only Mayor Lenox

and Council member Carol Fritz can recall the previous vote and call for

a new vote. Hopefully, they will remember the mayor's statement in the

Update, "Had you not elected us, some perhaps all of us would have

been in the audience on Nov. 2 to protest [along with those against the

Wal-Mart mitigation plan]."

If you want this situation

handled for the public good, please do the following: Call the GDOT Office

of Communications (404-656-5267) and have them notify GDOT Commissioner

Tom Coleman and GDOT-Thomaston District Engineer Glenn Durance that we

do not want our health, safety and welfare compromised by their desire

to accommodate a Wal-Mart store. Let them know that the Wal-Mart developer

must abide by our Traffic Impact Ordinance and that our current businesses

in that area should not be allowed to suffer.

Commissioner Coleman states

on the GDOT website that he is "committed to a safe, efficient and

sustainable transportation system for all users" (www.dot.state.ga.us).

Remind them that the Wal-Mart plan is neither safe, efficient nor sustainable.

E-mail our councilmembers,

Carol Fritz ([email protected]), Dan Tennant ([email protected])

and Mayor Bob Lenox ([email protected]) to let them know that we want

another vote on the Wal-Mart mitigation plan. They need to know that current

situation is a threat to our health, safety and property values. Please

copy your correspondence to GDOT engineer Keith Rohling ([email protected]).

Steve Brown

Peachtree City

[email protected]