The design of HB 277: Transportation Funding virtually assures the give and take of political discussion. It is the politicians who are deciding which projects are going to be on Atlanta’s list, but it will be the voters who decide if they’ve done a good job. In the language of the day, we no longer use the term “spending”, now it’s “investment.” As in the Transportation Investment Act of 2010. And, we don’t use the term “1% sales tax”, it’s a “penny sales tax”. As in “For pennies a day, you can support a stalled commuter in Atlanta.“ But I digress.
It’s a daunting reality, since I will be voting on projects in places that I do not know. And others from places that I do not know will be voting on projects that affect me. As a resident of the Brookhaven Free State (north DeKalb County), I do take an interest in some of these projects, even though they do not directly improve my life. The Atlanta Beltline is one such issue, and I’ve covered parts of it earlier. The original concept of the Beltline was that of a continuous ring around the City of Atlanta. Built in splendid isolation, the line would not connect to any other line. There would be no street running. From the beginning, the line was a gauzy combination of park, running trail, electric railroad and urban development plan. Reality was bound to stick its head in eventually, but I respect what the Beltline planners were able to accomplish, which is to get Atlanta to think about its transportation structure.
In my opinion, the first phase of the Beltline should have been constructed from the Lindbergh station complex down to DeKalb Avenue. Doing so would connect two MARTA heavy rail lines with Ansley Park, the Botanical Gardens, Piedmont Park, Grady High School, whatever they’re calling the old Sears building on Ponce, the new 4th Ward Park, the Carter Center and lots of residences along the way.
Of course, that would never do. Out of respect for the political implications, the City of Atlanta’s leadership has broken the Beltline project up into two parts. There will be a short segment of about 2 miles on the east side of Atlanta. And there will be a short segment of about 3 miles on the west side, along with another short segment of about 2 miles that connects the west side to the Atlanta Streetcar Project.
The cars used on the Beltline will probably similar to this Charlotte car:
Siemens S70 Type
The plan is to share storage and maintenance facilities with the Atlanta Streetcar project. Because these cars ride on flanged wheels rather than rubber tires, getting them out to the Beltline requires rail lines. For the east side Beltline, a 0.7 mile-long right of way runs from the Beltline along Irwin Street and Jackson Street, connecting to the Atlanta Streetcar at the corner of Jackson and Auburn.
In addition to the Beltline trackage itself (2.6 miles), the west side line requires a connection to the rest of the system. So the west side of the Beltline project will continue, operating on D. L. Hollowell Parkway to Northside Drive, then to North Avenue, ending at the North Avenue MARTA Station (2.2 miles). A short segment (.7 miles) connects the west side line to the Atlanta Streetcar line at Centennial Park. Here, the specifics of these two projects, complete with breathless bureaucratic prose:
TIA-AT-004
The red line is the Beltline right of way, the yellow line is the connector line to the Atlanta Streetcar project. Here’s the pitch from the promoters:
This project will improve rail transit access to multiple regional employment and activity centers, including downtown Atlanta, by extending the TIGER II‐funded streetcar to the northeast Atlanta BeltLine corridor. The project includes the construction of a streetcar line with stations approximately every ½ mile and 10 years of operations and maintenance funding. It also includes upgrades to the TIGER II‐funded streetcar light maintenance facility at Edgewood Avenue and I‐75/85 as necessary to support a larger vehicle fleet. This project is included in the Atlanta BeltLine Redevelopment Plan, Connect Atlanta Plan, and PLAN 2040. The project begins at the eastern terminus of the TIGER II‐funded streetcar and proceeds through the King Historic District to join the BeltLine corridor at Edgewood Avenue or Irwin Street. The alignment follows the Atlanta BeltLine corridor across North Highland Avenue, SR 10 (Freedom Parkway), North Avenue and US 78/278 (Ponce De Leon Avenue). It terminates north of the intersection of 10th Street and Monroe Drive, which is the southeast corner of Piedmont Park. The project connects Centennial Olympic Park, Downtown Atlanta, Georgia State University, Inman Park Village, Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site, Peachtree Center MARTA Station, Piedmont Park, Ponce City Market (AKA City Hall East), The Carter Center, and Woodruff Park.
The observant will notice that they’ve squeezed in some money for the Atlanta Streetcar Project in the form of improvements for the yet-to-be built service facility which will be located under the Downtown Connector. In any case, the hard numbers: $173,941,758.
- Total Mileage: 2.6 miles
- Cost per mile: $66,644,351.
TIA-AT-007
The red line is the Beltline right of way itself, the green line is the necessary connection to the balance of the streetcar system, which will be a revenue generating route. The yellow line is the connector line to the Atlanta Streetcar project. And, the breathless prose:
This project will improve rail transit access to multiple regional employment and activity centers, including downtown and midtown Atlanta, by extending the TIGER II‐funded funded streetcar to the southwest Atlanta BeltLine corridor. The project includes the construction of a streetcar line with stations approximately every ½ mile, an infill station on the MARTA Green Line and 10 years of operations and maintenance funding. It also includes upgrades to the TIGER II‐funded streetcar light maintenance facility at Edgewood Avenue and I‐75/85 as necessary to support a larger vehicle fleet or a new light maintenance facility on the west side of Atlanta. This project is included in the Atlanta BeltLine Redevelopment Plan, Connect Atlanta Plan, and PLAN 2040. The alignment begins at the intersection of SR 139 (Ralph David Abernathy) and Cascade Avenue and follows the Atlanta BeltLine corridor north across I‐20, Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive and Joseph E. Boone Boulevard. At US 78/278 (Donald L. Hollowell Parkway), the alignment transitions to the street and follows US 78/278 (Donald L. Hollowell Parkway, Northside Drive and North Avenue) east to Luckie Street. At this point, the line splits with one branch turning south on Luckie Street to connect to the TIGER II‐funded streetcar at Centennial Olympic Park and the other branch continuing east on US 78/278 (North Avenue) to the North Avenue MARTA Station. The project includes an infill station on the MARTA Green Line at Joseph E. Boone Boulevard. The project connects Centennial Olympic Park, Downtown Atlanta, Georgia Aquarium, Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia State University, Historic West End, Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site, Midtown Atlanta, Peachtree Center MARTA Station, the Coca‐Cola Company headquarters, Washington Park, Woodruff Park and the World of Coca‐Cola.
The cost, tag, tax and dealer prep: $427,950,719.
- Total mileage: about 5.4
- Cost per mile: $80,283,673.
The cost per mile for this project is higher because of all the street trackage. One interesting addition is the “ infill station on the MARTA Green Line at Joseph E. Boone Boulevard.” At this location, the Beltline right of way is occupied by the underutilized MARTA Green Line, so they’ll have to have parallel trackage because the Beltline cars and the MARTA cars are not compatible. Since there will be track work built in close proximity to the MARTA line, they might as well build a station there. Of course, it’s only 3/4 of a mile down the track to the Bankhead station on both lines, so you wonder why they’re building this.
As I said at the outset, my sentiments are toward the construction of a longer segment somewhere, rather than a series of shorter disjointed segments everywhere. But that’s not the way the politics plays out. And this is all about politics. Also, there’s a lot of dewy-eyed optimism here, especially for the North Avenue to Bankhead Station segment. You can just hear the promoters sighing “If you Build it, They Will Come“. This quote comes from Field of Dreams, and it is helpful to remember that the movie was a work of fiction that centers on the absolute improbability of the events shown in it. Say what you will, the political process that accompanies this vote, however messy, at least exposes proposed projects to the scrutiny of those who will be paying for it.
The bigger questions remain unanswered. What is the intent of the Transportation Investment Act? Does the Beltline fit into this intent? How long will it take for the Beltline projects to have an effect upon Atlanta traffic?
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[...] you’re interested, my earlier coverage on the Beltline project is located here. This Beltline expenditure proposal was made after receiving a substantial amount of Federal [...]