Peachtree City neighborhood takes action: Gates to combat cut-through traffic

Neighborhood upset by cut-through traffic

A Peachtree City neighborhood is fed up with drivers cutting through their subdivision street to avoid heavy traffic at a notoriously congested intersection.

PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. -  Peachtree City neighborhood is fed up with drivers cutting through their subdivision streets to avoid heavy traffic at a nearby notoriously congested intersection.

The backstory:

There has been a long history of safety concerns at the Planttera Ridge subdivision in Peachtree City. So, with the approval of city leaders, homeowners, at their own expense, are having gates constructed on Kelly Drive that will close off one end of the subdivision and allow entry by residents only Monday through Friday between the hours of 3:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Prior to the gates, they tried a lot of things to discourage cut-through drivers. They installed speed tables, posted signs and police have written tickets.

One big contributor to the problem is the nearby intersection of State Road 54 and State Road 74, one of the busiest in south Metro Atlanta. Drivers trying to avoid this heavy congestion cut through the Planterra subdivision.

What they're saying:

They hope that will stop the long lines of cut-through traffic stretching through the neighborhood in the evenings with many of the cars on their way to neighboring Coweta County.

Another safety concern, and it’s a big one, is speed. We are told Peachtree City Police have clocked a cut-through driver going over 80 miles and hours.

Residents say one cut-through driver was going so fast recently that their car struck a tree and overturned.

What's next:

The gates at Kelly Drive will block off one end of the subdivision and allow only residents in. First responders and mail carriers will have access. The gates are expected to be operational in September.

Big picture view:

It’s a pretty unique solution, the city and residents working together to solve the problem. Cut-through drivers are a very serious safety concern throughout metro Atlanta.