When all is said and done with

the widening of Ga. Highway 54 West in Peachtree City to four lanes, the

project will look a little snazzier than your typical four-lane road.

Officials from Peachtree City

and the Georgia Department of Transportation have worked together to incorporate

several design elements not normally associated with similar road widening

projects.

The city plans to use decorative

lighting on the new bridge over the CSX railroad track in addition to

decorative lighting and decorative railing on the bridge itself, said

City Planner David Rast. Although there is no funding yet for the lighting,

the city has applied for grants and Cooper Lighting which is headquartered

in Peachtree City is assisting with the lighting design to serve as a

showcase for what it can do for clients, Rast said.

"I think it's just going

to be a massive transformation for the west side," Rast said, explaining

that the goal of much of the area's design is to get people out of their

cars.

There are also plans but no

money yet for installing decorative signal poles for all the traffic signals

in the corridor, Rast said.

"We normally do not include

those types of enhancements," said Mike Davidson, design group manager

for the DOT.

A new cart path bridge spanning

the railroad line will be built adjacent to the new highway bridge. A

cloverleaf design path will lead to the bridge, allowing carts and other

path users to cross the railroad tracks safely.

The DOT is funding the culverts

underneath the roadway for that project.

Even the sidewalks along the

highway will be a little out of the DOT's normal specifications. The south

side of the highway will have the typical five foot wide sidewalk located

two feet off the end of the highway's curb, the sidewalk on the north

side will actually be a cart path located further off the roadway, Rast

said. That project is being funded by the city and must meet guidelines

of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Davidson added.

The cart path and sidewalks

will connect with the signalized crosswalks the DOT will install, Rast

said. Another cart path will be between the commercial developments planned

on the north side of Hwy. 54 and the Summit Apartments. That path will

go under MacDuff Parkway to link up the Wynnmeade subdivision, Rast noted.

It will also lead toward another

cart path bridge the city plans to have crossing over Hwy. 54 near the

entrance to Wynnmeade. The city hopes to have that bridge installed as

the road is widened; a $600,000 grant has already been approved for the

project.

The road widening plan also

includes replacing the road bridges over the railroad and Line Creek.

"I think it's really going

to look good once it all gets completed," Davidson said. "It

will be an asset to the city."

Earlier this year, the Department

of Transportation sped up the time frame for widening Hwy. 54 to four

lanes by approximately six months.

Bids for the project will be

let in June, but the actual start date for the work won't be known until

a contractor is selected, according to DOT officials. The project is estimated

to take between two and two and a half years.

The widening project begins

at the intersection of hwys. 54 and 74 and ends in Coweta County near

Hwy. 154.

DOT officials have been working

on right-of-way acquisition for the project, with approximately 30 percent

of the right-of-way in hand for the side of the project that includes

Peachtree City; acquisition of right-of-way for the Sharpsburg side is

approximately 70 percent complete.

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