Published Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Moreland moving ahead with 29/Church St. improvements

By Winston Skinner

The Times-Herald

The Town of Moreland is moving ahead with plans to rework the intersection of U. S. Highway 29 and Church Street -- and hoping for some funding from the Georgia Department of Transportation.

Wayne Smith of D.W. Smith Design Group in McDonough talked with council members about plans for the intersection at the monthly council meeting Tuesday in the council chambers at the Moreland Mill. He said the preliminary plans have been reviewed by DOT staff.

Smith's proposal calls for realigning Church Street's access to the highway, which bisects the south Coweta town. "The current street comes in at a very severe angle," Smith said.

His proposal is to rework that end of Church Street so that a 90-degree angle is formed -- forcing vehicles to slow to a near stop before turning off Highway 29 and increasing sight distance for motorists exiting Church Street.

"It's really going to help the safety, especially for pedestrians," Smith said. Smith said the changes would amount to "a definite safety enhancement" and that DOT funding might be available to help with the project.

Councilwoman Karen King said she wanted to be sure residents near the Church Street/29 intersection would have easy access to their property after the work is done. Smith said they would. "We were trying to be mindful of that," he said.

Smith said the plans are about 95 percent complete. He said his first step would be to complete the plans. After that, DOT could be approached about approval and possible funding for the project. "I can't guarantee there's funding available, but it doesn't cost anything to ask," Smith said.

Smith said it is hard to determine the potential cost of the Church Street project. "I'm ballparking $75,000," he said. He said he believes the Church Street improvements will be cheaper than the $98,000 project done earlier at Camp Street because there is less work involved, all the work is on one side of the highway and the market is better for people seeking to get work done.

If the project can be moved forward, the actual work might be accomplished "in the summer when there's no school traffic," Smith said. The project will involve acquiring some property which is adjacent to the Lewis Grizzard Memorial Museum.

"This is something that will benefit the town greatly. There no time like the present to go ahead and move and get it done," King said.

Jerry Smith, a former Moreland mayor and a retired DOT employee, spoke positively about the Church Street proposal. The proposed changes "would be compatible with DOT's goals," he said.

"It's a good set of plans. It's basic. There are no great changes. There's no great impact there," Jerry Smith said.

King made a motion to move forward with getting the plans examined by DOT. Councilman Jeff Burgess seconded the motion which passed unanimously.

Wayne Smith said the plans would need to be available at Moreland Town Hall for about 30 days. "We want to identify local, reputable contractors who could do the job," he said.

Local resident Charles Carmical questioned the wisdom of the Church Street proposal. He said he had never known of an accident at Church Street and Highway 29 and said the changes could make the intersection more -- not less -- dangerous. "I just don't see how that can be any safer," he said.

"I think we're going to cause more wrecks," Carmical added. Mayor Kendal Hurst said the plans arose because of concerns by "the residents who live on that street."

"It looks like a waste of money to me," Carmical stated.

Wayne Smith also talked with the council about plans to improve the intersection of Couch Street and Highway 29 and to possibly widen West Couch Street. The proposal would "add a little bit of radius ... on Couch Street," Wayne Smith said. "There is room to where we could widen it (the street) a little bit."

The council decided not to take any action on the Couch Street plans at present. Councilman Jeff Burgess said he was "not interested in doing anything with that street."

Wayne Smith said if the city wanted to do some work on Couch Street in the future, they plans are "bought and paid for" and provide something "you could use."