A right turn lane at Huddleston

Road to divert industrial park traffic during rush hour is the best remedy

for easing the logjam at the intersection of Ga. highways 54 and 74 in

Peachtree City, a planner told the City Council last week.

The 300-foot turn lane, estimated

to cost $85,000, could relieve traffic in the area by over 20 percent,

Jim Williams, director of developmental services, told council members

Thursday night.

The turn lane is to be financed

in part by John Wieland Homes, as part of its agreement with the city

for recent residential rezoning in the West Village area. A Wieland representative

at the meeting said the company would seek immediate state approval for

the project.

"We were trying to figure

out how our dollars could be best spent," Williams said. He presented

a list of seven road projects costing $1.04 million. After council discussion,

the list was whittled down to two immediate projects for about a quarter

of the originally proposed cost.

The second project to encourage

industrial park traffic to take the Huddleston route would be the redesigning

of the Huddleston/Dividend Drive/Paschall Road intersection, Williams

said. Currently, Huddleston doesn't connect directly with Dividend, instead

requiring a brief right onto Paschall followed by a brief left.

That project, with an estimated

cost of $175,000, should take second priority behind the Huddleston turn

lane off Hwy. 54, Williams said.

Now, the trick is for city

officials to find money to fund these projects. Time is of the essence

since roads can't be constructed during the winter months due to low temperatures

and other factors. Council has about $600,000 in its contingency fund.

Most of the projects Williams

discussed were actually part of the traffic mitigation plan for the Wal-Mart

and Home Depot retail center, and as such the projects were to be paid

for by the developer, RAM Development.

However, RAM has had Georgia

Department of Transportation permits for all but one of those traffic

improvement projects for some time, yet no work has been done, Williams

noted.

RAM indicated it would refund

the city for the traffic improvements on its list that are done and paid

for by the city, noted City Attorney Rick Lindsey. That matter will be

written into the development agreement, Lindsey said.

RAM told The Citizen last week

that the traffic improvements will be completed within the first three

months of breaking ground on the retail project. One catch is that the

project's traffic estimates have expired, so the figures must be updated

using the city's latest traffic model for the area, which would include

all other projects that have opened since the original estimate was conducted.

The delay has been on behalf

of the Georgia Department of Transportation, which has taken some time

to consider the latest proposed traffic improvement: a through lane for

westbound traffic on Hwy. 54 beginning at Huddleston Road.

"We can't make any assumptions

based on that development agreement being signed," Williams said,

warning council not to spend funds on all the improvement projects expecting

reimbursement from RAM.

Mayor Bob Lenox said there

is still a possibility the Home Depot-Wal-Mart retail center won't be

approved by the city.

Another of the projects Williams

suggested to relieve traffic at the Hwy. 54­74 intersection is extending

the left-turn lane for southbound traffic by 250 feet. At an estimated

cost of $40,000, that would help keep motorists turning left from cutting

off vehicles attempting to use the one southbound lane, Williams said.

Another idea is to add a second

southbound lane so two lanes of motorists could proceed through the 54-74

signal at the same time, Williams indicated. That would cost an estimated

$150,000.

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