An advisory

committee studying development of the West Village area is recommending

a slate of cart path system expansions and design elements totalling more

than $6.5 million.

Those projects

are listed in a draft of a plan compiled by city staff after multiple

meetings of the committee. The report also includes plans for access roads

to the north and south of Ga. Highway 54 which will be constructed by

developers.

Once the plan

is approved by the committee and the City Council, the report will be

filed with the Atlanta Regional Commission so the projects may be considered

for grant funding.

The ARC is

particularly interested in funding projects that encourage use of alternate

transportation. One such form of transportation the plan focuses on is

the city's existing cart path system and how it can be expanded to serve

new commercial and residential developments in the West Village area.

The plan also

briefly addresses a potential site for a commuter rail station should

the state begin operating a planned commuter rail line from Senoia to

Atlanta. The controversial topic was the subject of much debate initially,

but the committee eventually decided the best place to locate such a station

was in the Clover Reach area south of The Avenue at Peachtree City.

The committee

decided it wanted the rail station in a location where it would have a

local draw instead of a regional draw.

The rail station,

however, is not tabulated in the final list of projects recommended by

the committee with the exception of a cart path bridge which would be

built near the location in 2006.

Instead, the

main focus of the plan is on improvements to and the extension of the

city's cart path system which collectively total more than $3.5 million.

Those improvements

include $1.05 million for a path bridge over the railroad tracks adjacent

to Hwy. 54 and tunnels under the railroad bridge to provide access to

the eastern side of the area, including the Marketplace and The Avenue

at Peachtree City retail centers. The tunnels would connect to the bridge

in a unique cloverleaf design since the tunnels and bridge would be located

at significantly different elevations.

Another path

bridge is planned to cross Hwy. 54 near MacDuff Parkway; the bridge could

be designed as part of a scenic entrance to Peachtree City. Two path tunnels

are also included in the plan one for Hwy. 74 to link the Marketplace

center to the Westpark Walk center and another at Paschal Road.

Another $2.9

million in the plan is dedicated for landscaping and aesthetic enhancements

such as the burying of overhead power lines and planting along the median

and right of way of Hwy. 54.

The project

also calls for 10-foot wide sidewalks along Hwy. 54 on the north and south

for pedestrians.

Although they

will be funded by developers, the plans also refer to the creation of

access roads which will be developed north and south of Hwy. 54 so local

traffic can avoid using the highway to get around Peachtree City.

The northern

access road will extend from MacDuff Parkway to the planned Home Depot/Wal-Mart

access road, eventually linking up with Huddleston Road across the current

site of Line Creek Baptist Church.

The southern

access road would extend from an undeveloped commercial parcel west of

the Days Inn to a proposed roundabout intersection at Planterra Way. The

plan also calls for the relocation of the entrance to the Planterra Ridge

subdivision.

Big-ticket projects on the

West Village "wish list"

$1.05 million

for a cart path bridge and tunnels for the railroad bridge on Hwy. 54

to connect the West Village to developments at the intersection of Hwys.

54 and 74 (estimated for funding in 2003).

$875,000 for

a cart path bridge over the railroad tracks at the possible location for

a commuter rail station in the Clover Reach area (2006).

$600,000 for

a cart path bridge across Hwy. 54 near MacDuff Parkway (2003).

$400,000 for

a cart path tunnel under Hwy. 74 at Paschal Road (2006).

$350,000 for

a cart path tunnel under Hwy. 74 to connect the Marketplace retail center

with Westpark Walk (2006).

$200,000 to

construct a roundabout at Planterra Way where it would connect with an

access road (2005).

$1.2 million

to bury overhead power lines along Hwy. 54 (2003 and 2004).

$600,000 for

plants and landscaping in the median and right of way along Hwy. 54 after

it is widened to four lanes (2004).

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