A pedestrian/bike

path may soon connect Fayetteville with Kiwanis Park along Redwine Road.

County commissioners

last week approved engineering studies to once again submit a funding

package to the Atlanta Regional Commission to get the project underway.

The joint Fayetteville/county

project, originally planned for 1997, has been beset by funding problems

and other delays. County public works director Lee Hearn said last week

that ARC officials suddenly announced plans to put the project in their

budget for the 2002 fiscal year, which starts July 1, but there was a

catch.

"To get

construction funds we must have the concept plan and environmental assessment

That's too

soon for most consultants the county has talked to, he said, but Mallet

and Associates has promised to make the deadline.

Plans are eventually

to run the path all the way down Redwine Road. The first phase goes from

Grady Avenue to Horseshoe Circle.

Commissioner

Linda Wells voted against authorizing about $45,000 for the study, saying

plans for the project, and for future phases, are too vague.

Commission

Chairman Greg Dunn said he believes the project is needed. "People

ride bikes down there all the time and it's frightening the number of

near-crashes that you can witness."

The project

is expected to cost about $315,000, with the county and Fayetteville sharing

20 percent and federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality funds covering

the rest. The cost may be less, Hearn said, because Fayetteville officials

have decided they don't want the bike path in portions of Fayetteville,

opting for sidewalks instead.

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