Quick Poll

Do you give annually to the Coweta Can-A-Thon?

Related Story

Blogs

Angela McRae

Tea with friends

Deberah Williams

Everyday Finesse

Lorrie Lynch

Who's News

Published Wednesday, November 04, 2009 in Local

County to cut overgrowth along Hwy. 34

By Sarah Fay Campbell

The Times-Herald

Coweta County soon will be cutting the tall grass in the median of Ga. Hwy. 34 East between Thomas Crossroads and the Fayette County line, and it may elect to cut the grass in the future.

Commissioner Rodney Brooks brought up the issue at Tuesday's meeting of the Coweta County Board of Commissioners.

The "median is pretty high," Brooks said. He said he'd spoken to Coweta Administrator Theron Gay about getting county crews to cut the median, at least once.

"I think this would be a safety benefit. That's my motion," said Brooks.

Currently, Coweta County cuts the 34 median from the Newnan city limits to Ga. Hwy. 154. The rest of the highway is the responsibility of the Georgia Department of Transportation.

"Is this for a one-time event, or are you talking about a repeated process?" asked Commissioner Randolph Collins.

"I'm talking about -- if it's necessary to get it cut, get it cut," Brooks said. "Right now, I think it is one time."

But he would like to discuss the issue further at a work session. Brooks said he would like to study the cost of the county permanently taking over maintenance of that section of highway.

Collins asked how far the county's "quality development corridor" extends along Hwy. 34.

It ends somewhere around Andrew Bailey Road, said Gay.

Collins said he would like to see the county crews that regularly cut from Newnan to Hwy. 154 continue that regular maintenance to the edge of the quality development corridor.

"The quality corridor is a higher standard," Collins said. "We have been doing it for a portion of it and not doing it for the other side. I would like to amend the motion for us to continue the quality corridor on a permanent basis and, basically, a one-time deal on the rest," Collins said.

He said he'd recently spoken to someone with the DOT, and "he thinks, next year, they'll probably do a two-year cut" because of budget constraints.

"I'd like to address the whole issue at some point," Collins said, referring to median and right-of-way maintenance.

He is concerned about the county taking over maintenance of other state highways.

"As you know, the state is putting more and more on us to do," Collins said. "And they're fussing that we're not raising enough taxes to pay them for services they're not doing."

Collins said he doesn't think that Hwy. 34 has "been properly maintained since it's been widened."

"We've got to be careful here," said Chairman Paul Poole. "Everybody will want every state route to be cut."

Comment On This Story

Times-Herald.com does not necessarily agree with the comments posted below. Responsibility of comments rests solely with the writer. Comments posted in ALL CAPS will be deleted.

Submission of a comment does not guarantee publication. Comments will be posted by a moderator after being scanned for abusive language, relevance, etc. See our Comments FAQ for more details.