Initial meetings set for LaFayette Road master plan
by Dennis Norwood
Sep 28, 2012 | 3835 views | 5 5 comments | 13 13 recommendations | email to a friend | print
This section of LaFayette Road is slated to be redone under the new master plan. (Catoosa News photo/Dennis Norwood)
This section of LaFayette Road is slated to be redone under the new master plan. (Catoosa News photo/Dennis Norwood)
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Planning is set to begin on the LaFayette Road master plan in Fort Oglethorpe. Two initial sessions have been set by the plan's project management team at Chattanooga-based Jaeger Co.

William Shealy, project manager, said the meetings are set for Oct. 4 and Oct. 18. Both meetings are to be held at the city hall. The Oct. 4 meeting is scheduled for 6-8 p.m. and will include REFRESH committee members, applica-ble city staff, and business and property owners from the project area.

The second meeting will be held on Oct. 18 from 4:30 until 8 p.m. This meeting will be open to the public and will include time for those in attendance to give input.

"The intention of each meeting,” Shealy said, “is to present our work up to date, including inventory and analysis of the corridor and draft concepts. Between the first and second meeting we will update the presentation and con-cepts to reflect input received."

City manager Ron Goulart said, "This planning is important because we have been debating over the past decade the revitalization of LaFayette Road. We've never had a good plan and this gives us an opportunity to come up with a plan that everyone can agree with.

"It will give us the opportunity to revitalize this area and, at the same time, allow us to let people know they are about to enter the national park."

Some of the concepts include new facades on the aging buildings, greenways, sidewalk lighting and standardized signs.

Comments
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Bernard22
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September 28, 2012
Agree, Planning is good first step. I look forward to the revitalization of the Lafayette Road not only from the Battlefield to the Rt2 intersetion but also to the Catoosa boundry line in front of Rusty's meat market. It would be so nice to see the area cleaned up and made nice for walking and a nice view for tourist headed to the Battlefield along LaFayette Road.

Next step would be for Walker County to clean-up LaFayette/Chickamauga Road from Tennessee line to Catoosa border. Now that will be a challenge!
ssrusty
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September 29, 2012
Does Walker county/Rossville even have the money to do a "study" on the state line to Catoosa County line, I doubt it. Although it would be nice to see the area renovated, who is going to pay for it? As far as the road and signage, I say it should be the city, as far as private property, if it's the City's plan, than it should be the city to pay for those renovations as well!! The well established businesses such as Sears and Walker's Oak and More should NOT have to pay for the whims of city leaders. I would love to know what idea(s) they come up with for the Long John Silvers and old Goodlets/Family Dollar building. Sooo many eye sores through there, but who will have to front the money?
Frankenchrist
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September 28, 2012
Planning is a good first step. Second and third are bulldoze and redo it all.
Deltenney
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September 29, 2012
I agree with Frankenchrist and Bernard22 to an extent. It would be a good idea to look at some cities that have succeeded in make-overs that provided a charming draw to surrounding areas; for example, Bryson City, NC; Cartersville, GA; this move is long overdue and it is time we moved forward with a plan that will discourage helter-skelter development of trashy temporary store fronts that assault the eyes of the beholders.This is a beginning.
CCRES40
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October 01, 2012
Amen to that bulldozer idea! I worked at a restaurant in the 80's on that strip and it has not changed or improved in 25 years. Ugh!! No wonder nobody ever knows there are still any businesses open down through there. They better do something quick before it starts to look like Rossville Blvd and Ringgold Road. It's about that way now.
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