54 West CCD - Round 3

It appears after the Council Meeting, as described in my last post on this issue, another permit request was submitted... and again denied.

The rejection this time said:

• The spacing is approximately 800'.
  
• Minimum required spacing is 1,000'.
• The plans needs to be reevaluated and include alternatives such as:
• Right in/right out only access to 54.
• Connections to the McDuff and Planterra Way lights.
• Closing the median strip on 54.
• Combinations of the above.
• The above options would provide safer traffic circulation within the development and reduce impact on 54.
• The revised study and plan must be approved by Peachtree City.
• A plan approved by Peachtree City must then be submitted to and approved by the GDOT along with a driveway permit application.

Here are issues with these options:

• Right in/Right only only:
• Would require a U-Turn for west bound traffic to access the site.
• Makes exiting the site more difficult and dangerous in heavy traffic.
• Drivers wanting to go to Walmart, etc., would have to cross traffic to the get to the turn lane in a very short driving distance. There will be accidents.
• How many Big Boxes would rent in at a site with no light? Or stay over time?
  
• Connecting to the Planterra Way issues:
• Would only go to Planterra Way, not Huddleston.
• Would promote cut through traffic in Planterra.
• Right in/right on only on Planterra Way has already been deemed too dangerous.
• Connecting to McDuff:
•  Forces west bound entry and east bound exit traffic to be on 54 longer.
• Offers no traffic relief, as the Secondary Road to Huddleston would, thus promoting future cut through traffic on Planterra Way.

There are also the issue that the Special Use Permit was conditioned upon getting the light and the road abandonment upon getting the Special Use Permit.

As said before, this is far from over.

54 West CCD Revisited

In my last posting I said:

I read into the minutes the following email forwarded to Councilman Sturbaum and me by a constituent:

In response to your inquiry xxxxxxxxxxx submitted on 6/6/2008 12:26:57 PM to Georgia Department of Transportation:

xxxxxxxxxxx,

Thank you for contacting YOUR Georgia Department of Transportation.

Our District Traffic Operations Engineer spoke with a consultant from A and R Engineering last September; October concerning this area and the installation of another traffic signal. This intersection of Line Creek Drive and Hwy 54 in Peachtree City sits between two existing traffic signals. Adding another signal to this area would not meet with our guidelines for spacing requirements between two signals, a minimum of 1000 feet. The consultant was offered different suggestions at the initial meeting and has not made another request to Georgia DOT for the installation of a traffic signal at this mentioned location.

Again, we thank you for submitting your inquiry to the Georgia DOT. Please continue to contact us with your comments and questions.

Thanks,

Constituency Services
Georgia DOT

So, you can see this issue may be far from over.

According to another independent source GDOT has again confirmed no light will be granted and that in fact CCD has not filed for again for a permit to install a light.

But Doug McMurrain, of CCD, at the Council Meeting, said it is still in process and could take up to 9 months for approval.

Obviously, this issue is not over and there will be follow up work to do. Some efforts are being pursued to gain access to the light for The Shoppes at the Piazzas, which, without a light at Line Creek, opens up another set of issues, including CCD asking to build a portion of the South Secondary Road to connect to Planterra Way, which Cardiff Park and some in Planterra Park oppose.

Bottom line is the Special Use Permit is not a done deal yet, a Secondary Road to Huddleston is far from off the table, the status of the Road Abandonment is now in question and what kind of development will occur on the CCD property is unknown, if any at all ends up being built.

A lot of questions without any real answers at this point in time.