This year's news is no better

than last year's concerning Fayette County's transportation needs.

"They're going to take

all that money and put it into big projects and there's not going to be

any money left over for the counties," Fayette Commission Chairman

Greg Dunn said following a hearing last week on the Atlanta Regional Commission's

long-range and short-range transportation plans.

ARC Executive Director Chick

Krautler headed up the session as about 20 staff members of the planning

agency displayed maps and charts showing plans for the region for the

next three years and for the next 20. Several county staffers also were

on hand to answer questions, but only a handful of residents attended.

Dunn cast the only "no"

vote when the ARC Board of Directors approved the draft Transportation

Improvement Plan for 2003-05 last month. He told The Citizen this week

that several other board members privately agreed with him that the plan

doesn't help the counties with their transportation problems. "But

they're afraid if they don't vote for the TIP they won't get any money

for their projects," he said.

He said he doesn't believe

the counties will get the money anyway, because too much is going into

major projects like the northern arc of a future outer perimeter highway.

The northern arc is Gov. Roy Barnes' stated top priority, he said, adding

he believes the $2.2 billion estimate of its cost is too conservative.

"When the TIP is OK'd,

we set in motion a snowball that's going to grow," he said. "It

could be disastrous."

Fayette County's top priority

project, widening of Ga. Highway 54 from Peachtree City into Coweta County,

is moving forward, and a previous oversight has been corrected: the bridge

over the railroad tracks that was left out of previous plans has now been

included.

But Dunn said the next priority

is Ga. Highway 74 from Hwy. 54 south to Ga. Highway 85, and ARC's plans

place that project ten years out, with no funding yet in sight.

"We need to concentrate

on the 74 widening," he said. "It was promised by Gov. [Zell]

Miller if Cooper Lighting would come here. Truck traffic is going to destroy

the two-lane road that's there now. This is a contract the state of Georgia

made with Cooper Lighting and we should follow through with it."

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