and By JOHN

THOMPSON

[email protected]

After years

of hibernation, development is increasing at a dizzying pace along Ga.

Highway 74 north from Peachtree City to I-85.

And no one

is dizzier than Peachtree City Mayor Steve Brown.

While the city's

strict land use plan and controlled growth will ensure that Hwy. 74 won't

ever resemble Old National Highway, the city has no way of making sure

that won't happen beyond the city limits, and that's what worries Brown.

Enter a group

of Georgia Tech researchers, who have volunteered to help find ways to

control growth along the road using a futuristic analysis of "space"

that's so abstract, it makes the head spin.

Proponents

of the highway hope the proposed Tech study helps clear up potential traffic

problems years down the road.

"Actually,

the 'Space Syntax' tool is so out of the box that it is difficult to describe,"

admitted Brown, who has led efforts to open discussion on Hwy.74's future

lay claim to a stretch of the highway.

City Manager

Bernard McMullen said the Tech application won't be a replacement for

traditional planning methods, like zoning, ordinances, overlays and the

like.

"They

explained in the meeting that what they provide is not a substitute for

doing the transportation planning, but it's a tool that can be used for

transportation planning," said McMullen. "One of the biggest

advantages of this tool could be the ease of examining diffrerent alternatives

to traffic. You can do a lot of different scenarios for a lot less trouble

or expense."

While the road

does not run through Senoia's city limits, city administrator Murray McAfee

said the road is vital for residents who commute to Peachtree City or

Atlanta.

"Our growth

rate is going to be 100 percent in the next five years. We're looking

at 900 more housing units on Rockaway Road," he said.

McAfee has

attended both meetings on the development of the road and is anxious that

something be done now, instead of later.

"We've

got a real serious problem now. We warrant a traffic light at Rockaway

and 74 now," he said.

McAfee saw

the Space Syntax and understands its being used by some cities in Europe

to try and fix their traffic woes.

Brown agreed,

and said there was the potential for a developer who wants to develop

a subdivision near the intersection to realign Rockaway Road with the

traffic light currently at the Publix shopping center on Hwy.74.

And the potential

scenarios are endless.

As the main

north-south corridor for western Fayette County and the direct truck route

to the city's industrial park, Hwy. 74 is vital to the future of Fayette

County's tax base, Brown contends.

Peachtree City

commuters going to jobs in Atlanta know that what used to be a quick 10-minute

dash to the freeway now often ends in a two-mile long backup, snaking

its way onto the I-85 entrance ramp in Fulton County.

Bernard McMullen,

who commuted to a job in downtown Atlanta for 10 years until he was named

city manager in June, acknowledged the vital impact overdevelopment on

Hwy. 74 would have on the well-being of Peachtree City.

"That

is the main connection for us out to the interstate system, the main transportation

corridor for us to the airport and to downtown," he said. "So

it's critical we work to keep it as accessible as possible."

It's concerns

like that which prompted Brown to pull together a "Highway 74 Study

Group" earlier this summer that includes officials from most of the

jurisidictions touched by the highway, including Senoia, Coweta County,

Tyrone, Fairburn and Fulton County.

Last month,

the group met for the second time to discuss launching an impact study

of the entire length of the highway, from Interstate 85 to where it merges

with Ga. Highway 85 at Starr's Mill.

"This

is truly an exciting first in Metro Atlanta five jurisdictions from three

counties voluntarily working on a sub-regional solution," Brown said.

Clearly, though,

Peachtree City has to accept some of the blame for the demands put on

the roadway. A planned expansion of Kedron Village shopping center, on

Hwy. 74 at Peachtree Parkway, is a good example.

A Target store

will be included in the 260,000 square feet of retail space. It will have

room for nearly 1,200 parking spots.

Brown said

the Kedron Village commercial node won't make much of a difference to

the Hwy. 74 corridor. He's more worried about the traffic Target will

generate on Peachtree Parkway, which provides a handy shortcut from the

south and eastern parts of the city.

Kedron will

be bigger than The Avenues once completed. The upscale shopping village

has made things all the worse where 74 meets 54. Already the busiest intersection

in the city, it's also one of the most dangerous in the county. Through

June of this year, police had worked 35 accidents at that spot.

Early next

year, work will start on widening Hwy. 54 into Coweta County. Long-range

plans call for turning the intersection into a "flyover," with

Hwy. 74 rising above Hwy. 54 so through-traffic headed southbound wouldn't

have to stop at all.

And more development

is on the boards on the city's southern fringe, where the highway meets

Rockaway Road. Last year, the city approved a developer's conceptual plan

to built 120 houses, retail and a Kroger center in the area across from

the South Complex.

On the northern

border of Hwy.74, commuters already see changes occurring. What used to

be pine forests is now 24-hour fast food joints and numerous gas stations.

Fairburn City

Administrator Jim Williams, who used to work as Peachtree City's planning

director, is watching the growth of his town move towards the state highway.

But Williams

said the biggest impact could come from a large development in Fulton

County, just off Hwy.74.

"I think

they're planning on about 2,000 homes over there, and it's already been

approved.

Work is expected

to start this fall on the TDK Boulevard Extension, continuing Crosstown

Road-TDK corridor across Line Creek and into Coweta County. The counties

and city are sharing the cost of the controversial project. Brown opposed

it on the grounds it would just create more traffic headaches for that

stretch of the highway, which the state doesn't plan to widen before the

end of this decade.

For now, Brown

reports that each of the municipal governments involved has signed off

on a definition of the study area the length of Hwy. 74 from the I-85

intersection to Ga. Hwy. 85 at Starr's Mill, and a half mile in either

direction.

They've also

pinpointed sections of the highway length that are most critical for the

Tech researchers to model.

The Tech proposal

will get further review at a September meeting, Brown said. A date has

not been set.