Also with that will be a diminution

in the tranquility and quality of life of their neighborhood. A sad fact,

but true.

On a related note, I feel certain

that the residents of Smokerise Crossing and Smokerise Estates may or

may not be aware of the same diminution of tranquility and quality of

life that their subdivisions have effected on the residents of Smokerise

Plantation.

Unwittingly or with complete

knowledge, the city of Peachtree City and the developers of the original

Smokerise Plantation have created a traffic debacle on Smokerise Trace.

When I became a resident of

Smokerise Plantation in 1993, you could only access Smokerise Plantation

via the subdivision's entrance off Peachtree Parkway. There was one way

in and one way out.

As the '90s progressed, so

did the development we now call Smokerise Estates and now Smokerise Crossing.

The story behind how all this happened would take much longer than this

letter allows, but suffice it to say that it is evident that traffic impact

studies, traffic flow studies, street design, etc., were never done prior

to the erection of some 150-plus homes to the east of Smokerise Plantation.

And, there are more homes to come!

Then, with the paving of Sumner

Road from the Coweta-Fayette EMC building at Ga. Highway 54 to connect

with Smokerise Plantation subdivision came the onslaught of trucks, cars,

and buses that we experience today on the street called Smokerise Trace.

There are now two ways in and two ways out of Smokerise Plantation.

No other subdivision north

of McIntosh High School off Peachtree Parkway has this unique feature!

Unfortunately, through unbelievably poor planning on someone's part, Smokerise

Plantation has become a traffic anomaly.

At my request some 18 months

ago a traffic count was initiated to ascertain the vehicle volume on Smokerise

Trace. The City Engineering Department results showed that between 7 a.m.

and 7 p.m. approximately 1,500 vehicles drove through on Smokerise Trace.

That equates to one vehicle through Smokerise Plantation subdivision every

30 seconds! Two per minute! A far cry from the 50 or so per day in 1993.

Where have all those cars come

from? Mostly from Smokerise Estates and Smokerise Crossing and the cut-through

traffic off Hwy. 54 over to Peachtree Parkway. The residents of Estates

and Crossing choose to drive through on Smokerise Plantation's Smokerise

Trace street to go to Kedron Village Shopping Center for Blockbuster,

Kroger, Wendy's, Outback, etc., or are headed to I-85 to work. Why? Because

it's the shortest route.

It is unfortunate, but true,

that Smokerise Trace was just not designed for this volume of traffic

now generated. The tight curves and turns, blind spots, and dips at the

bridges, are just not conducive to safe driving conditions for the amount

of traffic on the street.

We have had cars drive off

bridges into the creek due to reckless driving, inebriated teenagers driving

60 mph, losing control of their cars, driving off into the woods, knocking

down mailboxes, etc. I am truly amazed that no one has been killed.

To say that speeding on Smokerise

Trace is a problem is an understatement. Residents of our subdivision

constantly are relating to me horror stories of near misses and reckless

driving on Smokerise Trace. The number one offenders are young people,

followed by construction-related vehicles, then, the residents themselves

of all Smokerise communities.

So do I have empathy for Gale

Bostwick's and Laurel Hart's plight? You bet I do! I live daily what they

and others will soon get just a small taste of. I cannot walk to my mailbox

at any time of the day and not have to step back off the pavement for

a passing car.

Lastly, if you are a resident

of Smokerise Estates or Smokerise Crossing, please know that I know that

this traffic volume we face was not created by you. The traffic quality,

however, is your responsibility and that of everyone else who drives on

Smokerise Trace.

The entire Smokerise communities

design of years ago was the responsibility of either the developers or

the city of Peachtree City or both. Getting to the bottom of the whole

mess has left me dizzy. So pick your target of who to blame. No one is

going to take responsibility anyway.

We all paid very substantial sums to live in the neighborhoods that we

do. All of us desire peace and quiet and some space to escape the pressures

of everyday life.

So, if you are driving through Smokerise Plantation subdivision on Smokerise

Trace, I respectfully ask you to remember that this is our neighborhood.

Please take thought to the fact that this is a residential street, not

the Atlanta Raceway.

Respect our residents' desire for as safe and as quiet a street as you

would want if you lived here. Respect the 30 mph speed limit as if your

life depended upon it. Our lives do depend upon it.

David W. Cree, President

Smokerise Plantation Homeowner's Association