Commissioners spurn chairman’s proposal. Bus system would help deal with Cobb Parkway congestion.
by Dan Klepal dan.klepal@ajc.com
Cobb Commission Chairman Tim Lee made an impassioned plea Friday for the county’s political leadership to support the $500 million bus rapid transit system and to fund part of its cost with a proposed special purpose sales tax.
That appeal seemed to largely fall flat.
After the meeting of commissioners and mayors, all four district commissioners said they would not support including $100 million for the transit system on the list of projects for the Special Purpose Local
Option Sales Tax. That money is needed as a local match to qualify for a federal grant that could provide up to $250 million for the project.
Only commissioners can vote on which projects to include in the upcoming SPLOST, to be voted on in November. Faye DiMassimo, the county’s transportation director, has said that the transit project was dead without the SPLOST funding.
The bus rapid transit project would run from Kennesaw State University, down Cobb Parkway and past the new Atlanta Braves stadium, then on to a MARTA station in Midtown. It involves a train-like bus with rubber tires that would travel in a dedicated lane along Cobb Parkway.
Lee said the project was necessary because the Cobb Parkway corridor is exploding with growth and is already one of the most congested roadways in the state. He said the road can’t be widened, so the only option is to improve transit.
“It’s up to us to decide if we’re going to look forward and invest in our future, or are we going to do the safe thing and do nothing and let it get
worse,” Lee said. “Is it perfect? No. Does it have problems? Yes. Will we work through them? Absolutely. I’m asking you to support this project.”
There was none of that among commissioners.
Commissioner Lisa Cupid, whose district includes southern Cobb, said the amount of passion Lee expressed for the Cobb Parkway transit line was “very frustrating.”
“I’m quite disappointed to hear that amount of passion, when I represent people with tremendous, observable need for transit that continues to go unaddressed,” Cupid said.
Commissioners JoAnn Birrell said she hasn’t heard any support for the transit line from her constituents, while Bob Ott said there was nothing in Lee’s speech that changed his mind. Helen Goreham, who is stepping down from her commission seat at the end of the year, said she would like to see the transit system have a separate referendum from the SPLOST. She would not favor including it in the SPLOST vote, she said. “I do not want to risk the passage of the SPLOST by including a line item for bus rapid transit,” Goreham said. “I think we can take the two issues separately and allow the voters to make that decision.”Commissioners will vote next month on SPLOST projects.
Source: AJC, 6/21/14 fwd. Field Searcy, Transportation Leadership Coalition, LLC www.repealregionalism.com and www.traffictruth.net
See:http://www.repealregionalism.com/index.php/category/region-3-atlanta-regional-commission/
Comments
David Welden, TLC
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It has nothing to do with tangible benefits. The increase
to property values will come from the mere fact that they can say the
property is served by a modern, fixed guideway transit system. As you say,
the operational benefits are non-existent. To the taxpayers of our county,
the costs will be large, both initially and ongoing. Only the property owners
and those of the development community will make money.
And, don't forget, with the elimination of grade
separations, congestion will get worse for motorists. And, many of the
existing small businesses on 41 will go out of business because of it all.
But, Pope & Land, Leithead, Rivers and many of the Cobb Chamber bigwigs
will make a killing. You should be happy for them. [?]
Larry Savage TLC
David, I'm not sure the case can even be made that
commercial property owners will benefit. Owners in the Cumberland CID MAYBE
will see a benefit from the shuttle around the area that connects hotels to
the stadium. Even that is suspect as the thing would have to connect to every
office building and hotel and to the mall and to the stadium and to all
parking. The cost of such a shuttle system would be astronomical both to
build and to operate. The shuttle bus would have to come along every five
minutes or so or no one would use it. Then, if it's comprehensive service throughout
the area, touching all the bases, a complete lap would take a long time,
eliminating other possible users.
If the BRT is to operate as described it will screw up
normal traffic on 41 and every intersecting street. It could easily become a
major negative for the area. The stadium shuttle may very well have its own
problems interfacing with normal traffic. The bridge spanning 285 for
pedestrians and the shuttle is looking less and less likely due to cost and
technical issues. That means the shuttle will have to operate in the streets.
David Welden TLC
They want it to increase the value of commercial property
in the corridor. The property owners and developers will make a lot of money.
It has absolutely no benefit in improving transportation and it would
probably increase traffic congestion for most folks. Someone once said:
*"No
matter what they say it's about, it's always about
money".*
The commissioners have been needing something positive to
say about themselves.
Norb Leahy TLC
Private bus service will find its way to real consumer
demand. It requires no tax subsidies. It’s
cheaper and it runs on regular roads. Royal has operated on Buford Highway
for years. It schedules buses to meet high demand times and has regular
customers. Bus drivers know your name.
Clayton and Cobb might need them and they are free to decide, based on
their financial analysis. Isn’t that
refreshing ? It’s called the private
sector free market.
Source: (TLC) Transportation Leadership Coalition.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader, TLC
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