Residents sure appreciate all the tree-lined cart paths and scenic
views, too!
Serenity: the path winds through bright
green spring leaves along Flat Creek. (4-21-18)
Peachtree City's large network of multi-use paths was one of the
reasons why Jim and I chose to make this our (hopefully) final place to
own a house so we'd have a safe and easily accessible place to walk and
ride our bikes right out our door as we age in place.
After living here for over a year and a half, we know we made the
right decision to settle here. We love our house, yard, neighborhood,
and community.
Part of the path in our neighborhood
(7-23-18)
The cart paths are an even bigger part of our new lifestyle than we
thought they'd be. We spend a lot of our time walking on the extensive
network of paths by ourselves or with the dogs, as well as riding our
bikes and driving our golf cart to various places.
The paths connect all the neighborhood "villages" in Peachtree City (PTC)
to shopping centers, schools, parks, lakes, and oh, yes, three golf
courses with a total of 63 holes to play.
There are about 11,000 registered golf carts in Peachtree City, which
has a population of approximately 36,000 people. No, not everyone plays golf.
I'd venture to guess only about one-tenth of those carts are ever used
for golfing.
Colorful carts lined up at
the Night Market event at Drake Field (10-13-18)
We lucked out when the couple who sold us our house threw in the golf
cart as part of the deal. They were moving to a place where they
couldn't use it. That saved us having to buy one.
The dogs love to ride in the cart, either in the front seat next to
or between Jim and me or on the platform behind us. Jim modified the
back seat with a piece of plywood padded with throw rugs so Cody, Casey,
and/or Holly can ride back there comfortably. We always see lots of dogs
riding in golf carts when we're out and about.
Jim secures Holly (L) and Casey
in the back of the golf cart. (2-27-18)
Like other residents, we enjoy getting out in our cart on pretty days
just to ride by the lakes and parks, go shopping and run errands at both
large and small businesses with access to the paths, take the dogs to the
vet (shorter by cart than by car), attend special events, and
take other trips around town.
It still amuses us to go to various shopping centers in town and see
all the golf carts in their little spaces near the big sedans, SUVs, and
pickup trucks. More than half the kids at McIntosh HS drive golf carts
to school instead of cars, even though many parents can afford to buy
them cars when they're old enough to drive. The HS senior who lives next door,
e.g., has his own (used) Mercedes but usually takes the family's golf cart to
class.
Just a few of the golf carts at
the Night Market in October
When we attended the Night Market at Drake Field (north end of Lake
Peachtree) in October we were amazed at the number of golf carts parked in the
grass. Several thousand people, the most in the markets' one-year history, attended this
popular monthly artists' market with live music. Most like us drove their
carts because passenger car parking is so scarce in that area.
One reasons so many people attended the market in October was to
celebrate the end product of some major renovations to Drake Field and
Lake Peachtree during the past year.
This entry focuses on those and several other completed and proposed
projects in Peachtree City. Because of the number of photos I'm
including, I'm splitting them into two pages.
IMPROVEMENTS AROUND LAKE PEACHTREE
The city's namesake lake is back!!!
Folks relax on the swings near
the Battery Way pier on the east side of Lake Peachtree (10-30-18)
Lake Peachtree is the center of Peachtree City, both literally and
figuratively. The lake was formed when Flat Creek was dammed in the late
1950s, when this large planned community was conceived and
chartered. It has been one of the main centers of activities for residents ever since.
I don't know how many times the lake has been partially drained for maintenance
and/or construction projects in the last 60 years but I do know the lake
has been significantly lowered most of the time in the past 3½
years. That's unfortunate for the folks who have water-front property and
everyone else who enjoys the lake.
Looking across the "lake" from
the area near the pier on 10-31-17, when the lake was very,
very low; homeowners' docks across the lake
were left high and dry for over a year.
Two recent projects have each taken over
a year to complete, leaving lots of mud and weeds exposed in the meantime.
We missed the first big project. From
March of 2015 to April of 2016, water was lowered while the lake was
dredged for silt removal, spillway and dam repairs, and subsequent
vegetation removal. When the water was low and a lot of
mud/silt was exposed, the weeds grew fast.
Fortunately, we saw Lake Peachtree at
full pond for a few months after we moved here in the spring of 2017:
"Full pond" near the Battery Way
pier on 8-23-17
Then,
after a large SPLOST (Special Local Option Sales Tax) was passed and both PTC and Fayette County
had sufficient funds, the most recent project began -- removal of the old
spillway near the dam and construction of a new, modern "piano key weir"
designed spillway that is very cool now that it's done.
The old spillway was nothing to
write home about. (5-19-17)
The new spillway is also built to
withstand a major flood. That was the main reason for its construction,
of course, not the aesthetics, but everyone is glad to see such an
attractive water feature at the southern end of the lake now. I'll show
photos of it in a little bit.
Officials began lowering the lake in August, 2017.
Here are some photos I took from the
north end of the lake from or near the GA 54 bridge that show varying
levels of water and the increase in vegetative growth in the mud/silt:
Going . . . (9-9-17)
. . . going . . .
(9-15-17)
. . . GREEN!! That didn't
take long. (10-1-17)
The weeds were much higher by summer.
(6-18-18)
The next pictures are from the Battery Way pier area:
Water very low on 10-1-17 (another photo
farther up in this entry shows the muddy view across the lake)
The water was still very low in June but the green
weeds at least made the scene look less barren. (6-1-18)
During July workers were out in the middle of the mud
and muck for several days, mowing the weeds with some sort of land-amphibious
contraption that fascinated us:
This is what the lake bed near the pier looked like soon after the
weeds were mowed:
What lake??? This
looks more like a farm field.
(7-26-18)
North end of the lake
before and after the weeds were mowed:
7-4-18
7-26-18
We had a lot of rain in August, which made the weeds grow back again.
That meant some more mowing before the lake got filled.
Continued on the next page: construction of the
unique spillway, improvements at Drake Field and Spyglass Island, and other
projects to enhance Peachtree City
Happy trails,
Sue
"Runtrails & Company" - Sue Norwood, Jim O'Neil,
Cody, Casey, and Holly-pup
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© 2018 Sue Norwood and Jim O'Neil
