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CAUTION Macon scored something of a victory in its fight against widening Houston Road on Thursday when "neighborhood-friendly" road planner Walter Kulash was assigned to look at the project.

The city-county road program's technical advisory committee decided to ask Kulash to evaluate the plan to widen Houston Road after citizens complained he wasn't involved with the project. Work to widen Houston Road to five lanes could begin as early as September.

CAUTION Macon, a grass-roots organization battling road projects and development, had pushed for Kulash's hiring in the first place. But Kulash hadn't been offered a chance to work on one of the road program's most controversial projects - Houston Road.

The committee's decision brought applause from several citizens who complained about the project at the Thursday meeting.

"I've seen six homes for sale on Houston Road already," Rosalyn Puckett said. "They don't feel they can live on a five-lane highway. They can't fight it, so they choose to leave. If running people out of their homes is the goal of this program, you're being successful."

After the meeting, county engineer Bob Fountain said he wanted people to know the technical committee wants to do what's best for the entire county.

"We believe we're doing the right thing," Fountain said. "We do realize that some people are going to be hurt. We're trying to affect as few people as we possibly can. If we didn't believe that, we wouldn't be able to do this."

In other action Thursday, the advisory board approved:

• Altering the plan for widening Jeff Davis/Telfair Street. The road still will be four lanes after the project, which may begin late this fall, but the lanes will be narrower to protect property and trees on either side. Also, left-turn lanes at Knott Street and Williams/Plant streets have been taken out.

• Restricting truck traffic on Millerfield Road. Some residents initially didn't want the road widened because they thought it would encourage trucks to use the road as a shortcut from Jones County mines to Interstates 75 and 16.

• Changing the intersection of Bloomfield Road at Parkway Village just south of Eisenhower Parkway. The plan, which was approved but won't be scheduled until funds become available, would divert Bloomfield Village Drive so it connects to Bloomfield Parkway. Also, Bloomfield Road would become one-way south to Ross Street, making the intersection four-way instead of five-way. The intersection of Ross Street and Bloomfield Drive will get a traffic signal. Engineers said this plan will greatly reduce congestion in the Parkway Village area.