As each day goes by, the likelihood

increases that The Avenue at Peachtree City will open without a traffic

light off Ga. Highway 54 to provide access.

So the city has prepared a

contingency plan to allow The Avenue to open its doors at the end of March

without the stoplight in place, said Jim Williams, the city's director

of developmental services.

All access points to the shopping

center on Hwy. 54 will be limited to right in/right out intersections

for starters, Williams said. Also, the developer is responsible for initiating

a "public education plan" to notify residents and others of

the best ways to maneuver in and out of the development, he said.

The public education plan would

include signs to direct traffic in addition to the placing of messages

in various publications, Williams added.

The Georgia Department of Transportation

has indicated it wants to wait for The Avenue to open to determine whether

the traffic light is needed or not. So far, the DOT has opted not to issue

a permit for that light.

Williams is hoping the DOT

will change its mind.

"I'd hate to put it on

hold," Williams said Friday morning. "It was a very important

part of the traffic plan."

Without the light, one significant

problem will be for motorists wanting to leave The Avenue and turn left

onto Hwy. 54 West, Williams said.

An alternate route would be

to exit the shopping center at Clover Reach, drive to Paschal Road and

turn left to access Hwy. 74 North at the traffic light. The other option

is to turn left on Paschal and take another left onto Huddleston Road,

which brings traffic to Hwy. 54 where left turns are allowed to go westbound.

Cousins Properties, the developer

of the shopping center, had originally offered to hire a traffic officer

to direct traffic in the area. But that idea has been shot down by city

officials, who claim such a proposition is extremely unsafe.

In a letter sent to Cousins

Properties, city planner David Rast said the other alternative to the

city's proposal is for the city to deny a certificate of occupancy for

The Avenue until the traffic light at its entrance on Hwy. 54 is operational.