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As the city of LaGrange continues to expand, traffic has been cited as a concern among law enforcement, city council and community members. With new developments bringing in more people to Troup County, the city must figure out how to accommodate the surge in vehicle-related traffic.

Lieutenant Marshall McCoy said he knows this traffic problem on a professional level in his work with the LaGrange Police Department.

“I traveled to Atlanta on a lot of Saturday mornings. Saturday mornings, the Atlanta traffic is nothing. If I travel there on Friday or Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m. or 4 p.m., it is going to be gridlock,” McCoy said. “We experience the same things here in LaGrange. The biggest question is what needs to occur to divert that traffic through town?”

McCoy said one of the biggest challenges he has seen is in regards to Vernon Rd, a state highway. He said it is due to the area in that part of town developing.

“Vernon Road is already crowded, so the new development is definitely going to increase traffic. We can’t speak for the Department of Transportation. Vernon Road is a D.O.T highway and the city has been working with [them] to come up with some kind of widening and I think there is something in the plans,” he said.

Mayor Jim Thornton said he has worked with the D.O.T. to address these concerns as they arise in the community.

“We have talked repeatedly to the D.O.T. about two possibilities. We’ve talked about the possibility of widening the burden. We’ve also talked about the possibility of creating an alternative to Vernon around the south side of the city. Both of those are very expensive propositions,” Thornton said.