What's Another Billion Amongst Friends? - The NUR Transportation Wish List

With the HB277 regional transportation referendum coming up in 2012 and the wish list of regional transportation projects starting to take form, I thought it would be fun to put a regional wishlist of my own together.  Below are the eight projects that I would like to see prioritized: 

1. Beltline - Prioritization of the BeltLine transit component should be a top consideration.  This project will do more to reign in the traffic inducing sprawl than any other in the metro area by bringing development closer to the regional core.  If done right, new residents who would normally consider the outlying suburbs as well as some of the existing residents of the burbs will consider moving closer into town.

2. Cover the Connector - There is an incredible amount of downtown real estate that is not being used.  Where is it?  Aside from all the surface parking lots.... I'm talking about the space above the connector from 17th street south to the Capitol.  Although I too use the term connector, it's actually not correct.  The road is a major divider of the downtown core.  I would envision a system of parks and boulevards on top of the connector that would bring the east and the west sides of the city together.  

Here's a picture of the interstate under construction at Ga Tech and the Varsity.  Yes, where we have divided the city, there used to actually be neighborhoods.  Covering the connector will do nothing for traffic but it will to an incredible amount for the city and region.

3. Multi-Modal Passenger Terminal - The rail and transit infrastructure in Atlanta has suffered for some time.  The multi-modal passenger terminal that has been proposed by the city will do a lot to change that.  It would accommodate subway, commuter rail, buses and future high speed rail (if that ever happens).  The city recently selected the proposal by Cousins Properties.  Their vision outlined in the proposal is as follows:

"Below the street" is a central transit hub, a connecting point. "Above" is a vibrant, mixed-use urban environment, driven by the market, linking downtown Atlanta neighborhoods and activity centers with reconnected street grids and green spaces.  The transportation connectivity below drives the Region and the State, while the development above creates new linkages that reconnect the City.

Man, that was a lot of buzzword planning jargon du-jour.  I'm not opposed to any of it and I'd love to see it realized.  Unfortunately, they did not provide any renderings but one of the competing bids from Perkins+Will did.  Here's a rough image of their proposal which probably isn't too different from the Cousins vision.

4. Put Rail in the Center Lanes - So, you want to figure out how to run transit through our cities without having to pay insane amounts for right of way?  Take the center lanes away and turn them into rail.  It would look something like the center lane down 400 just north of the Buckhead business district.

5. Create a Truly Regional Transit System & Rebranding MARTA - If we are going to create a regional transportation system, we need a regional governing body to manage that system.  MARTA sucks.. let's face it.  There is a stigma that isn't going away... ever.  We need to bring Fulton, Dekalb, Gwinnett, Cobb, Clayton, et al. together and act like a region.  I believe Atlanta's image will suffer until we can coalesce into a coherent region.  

I've floated the name ARTSY in a previous post.  Since then, I heard that some folks are pushing the name "The ATL" for a new regional system.  I'm okay with that as it is a reference that many people use and identify with the region and it would constantly remind people of the fact that they are part of a larger region 'The ATL.'

The planning efforts should follow the Concept 3 plan and work to spread rail and light rail to the suburban city centers.  The map below is a great place to start.  Unfortunately, the work detailed in the map would cost upwards of $100B and our region isn't going to have that type of cash.. ever.  So, we should take the best pieces and make them work.

 

  
6. Tell Art Blank NO NEW STADIUM - This isn't really transportation related but do we really need a new stadium? Right next to the existing stadium? When that stadium isn't going to be torn down?  I don't think so.  Plus, I think the several hundred million of taxpayer dollars that will undoubtedly go into a new stadium could be better allocated to some of the projects that will be on the HB277 list.  Plus, the Georgia Dome just makes more sense.  It's located right in between two MARTA stations and it's only 20 years old!

7. 200 miles of dedicated bike/pedestrian paths connecting the region - I know this seems a bit ridiculous but I personally think we could make huge strides in health, community and energy consumption if more people felt like they could safely bike around their town.  I'm not talking bike lanes.  I'm talking dedicated trails such as the Alpharetta Greenway, Silver Comet Trail and the Beltline trail system.

8. Road Work - Take the rest and dedicate to road repair, maintenance and bottleneck reduction on our roads.  It's going to cost a lot to maintain this monstrosity which was one of GDOT's 'highlights' of 2009.

That's it. There isn't much directly for Roswell itself on my list but many of the items incorporate expansion of transit alternatives into the suburbs and I would prioritize the extension of the North Springs line to Windward Parkway.  If you want to drive jobs and development to our city and region in this day and age, the best way to do it is to invest in our city centers and regional center and provide high quality mobility choices.  The days of the American love affair with the car are numbered.  We need to get used to the idea that mobility won't be as cheap or easy and start thinking about ways to mitigate that.  

Images: The BeltLine Partnership | Atlanta Time Machine | Perkins+Will | marklarson Flickr | Citizens for Progressive Transit | Populous | Path Foundation | GDOT

Dirt Lots, Economic Development and Holcomb Bridge

Roswell

Roswell OKs Economic Development Contract - AJC

City Council voted recetly to approve a $103,775 contract to develop a strategic economic plan. The plan has been signed with RKG Associates. RKG is based out of New Hampshire but has consulted many local and regional muicipalities. One of the most notable to me is Greenville, SC which has done a fantastic job rejuvinating its downtown.

New Study will Pinpoint Ways to Improve Traffic on Holcomb Bridge - Alpharetta Neighbor

The study will look at the 1.5 miles between Warsaw Rd and Holcomb Woods Pkwy. The total cost of the study should not exceed $463k and Roswell's share will be just under $100k. I'm looking forward to seeing what comes out of this.

Big Creek Wetlands Workday - RoswellGov.com

The city is holding a work day for wetlants restoration, plantings, and litter removal at Big Creek on March 5th.

Region

Developer Promises No Dirt Lot at Mixed-Use Site Near GA 400 - Alpharetta-Milton Patch

There has been a lot of talk about the proposed development at the MetLife/Peridot campus in Alpharetta. Naysayers complain that Alpharetta doesn't need more mixed-use and are requesting a moratorium on approvals of proposals. Proponents say there is nothing even close to similar in N Fulton and that Alpharetta should encourage this type of development because demographic trends show that it is becoming more ad more desirable. We can all agree that another dirt lot similar to Prospect Park is undesirable.

Public Concerns Spur Alpharetta to Reconsider MetLife Project - AJC

The city council has tabled this until the February meeting. I hope they are not persuaded by the naysayers who are using faulty statistics and clinging to a 1990's land development model.

Tough Questions for Mayor of Johns Creek - CBS Atlanta

My only question is this: $400k for 9 Electric Bikes???

MARTA to Spend $117M on Train Control Technology - AJC

At first glance, this seems staggering but according to MARTA has been planned for some time. However, it was plainly obvious after the DC Metro crash in 2009 that MARTA would be spending some money since our systems are essentially identical (except that DC decided to build neighborhoods around their stations and we decided to build parking lots, that's another story though)

Beyond

Miami21 Wins National Planning Excellence Award - CEOs for Cities The form based code that has been adopted in Miami is a model for the 21st century. I would love to see something like this adopted here in Roswell and in the larger metro area. We're a long way off.

Are Cities Any Place for Children - Shareable

This is an interesting piece on why cities are percieved (in some cases rightly so) as bad places for children.

Survey Finds "Buy Local" Message Beneffiting Independent Business - NewRules.org

Notable Quote:

For the fourth year in a row, a national survey of independent businesses has found that those in communities with an active "buy local" campaign have experienced markedly stronger revenue growth compared to those located in areas without such a campaign.

I wonder how Roswell's buy local campaign Find it All Roswell is doing.

The Atlanta Streetcar Vision+

For those of you who are interested in the Downtown Streetcar concept, you may want to check out this link from the Revision Cloud blog.  It is a fantastic piece showing how the proposed streetcar could be expanded to better connect neighborhoods, the Beltline and MARTA.  

A Streetcar Named Opportunity - Revision|Cloud

New Urban Roswell Update

We've got a few news items of note this week from Roswell, around town and even outside the country.

Roswell

One large item to report here in Roswell from earlier this month is the groundbreaking of the midtown streetscape improvement project.  We haven't seen anything of note just yet but we can't wait to see the finished product in a year or so.

Milton County: Not This Year - NorthFulton.com - Personally, I'm not in favor of seceding from Fulton county.  I just don't personally feel that it's necessary.  I actually feel that if anything, there should be more county consolidation in the metro area.  The paying more tax for fewer benefits just doesn't resonate with me.  How many states should cut ties with the federal government under that argument. 

Metro

We were happy to see some progress on the Beltline this week.  

Second Portion of Beltline Complete - wsbradio.com - Another segment of the Beltline trail opened this weekend. From what we can tell, it looks very professional and it should be a symbol to people that the Beltline will actually happen.

Dunwoody Envisions Significant Mixed Use Development - Champion Newspaper - This is more of a 20 year vision but it is promising nonetheless.  

MARTA Faces Drastic Cuts - Creative Loafing - Can someone please do something about this?  It's not looking good for a transportation bill under the gold dome for the third consecutive year.  I think we can all agree that cutting MARTA train and bus service on Fridays would be bad for the local economy and bad for everyone's car commutes.  

Beyond

Mindspring Founder Takes New Urbanist Movement to Costa Rica - InsideCostaRica.com - Charles Brewer is nothing short of bold.  His development in south Atlanta, Glenwood Park, has won national acclaim and is truly a great accomplishment.  If you haven't seen it, you should take an opportunity to drive down and grab a bite to eat and walk through the neighborhood.  

Upcoming Events

Alive After Five- 4.15 - This year's Alive After Five season kicks off on tax day.  

Good Urbanism 101 - 4.15 - 5.4 - This is an educational event sponsored by the Georgia Conservancy.  There are six classes on quality urban design.  The course costs $200.

Dogwood Festival - 4.16 - 4.18 - The annual Dogwood Festival will be held in Piedmont Park.  This one is always a safe bet for a good time and you can appreciate Atlanta's largest park.

Inman Park Festival - 4.24 - 4.25 - The Inman Park Festival is Atlanta's largest festival.  We love this festival for many reasons but the fact that it is in the beautiful walkable neighborhood of Inman Park is probably the number one reason.  Inman Park is one of the few neighborhoods in Atlanta that exhibits many of New Urbanist characteristics.  Be sure to take MARTA if you go.

Congress for the New Urbanism - 5.19 - 5.22 - The most influential minds in the new urbanist movement will be here in Atlanta for the 18th congress.  The theme this year is Rx for Healthy Places and is a joint effort with the CDC.

Go Wild in Roswell - 5.20 - 6.6 - This is a citywide celebration of nature that will feature different events on different days.  Check out the link for details.

Atlanta Streets Alive - 5.23 - This one is still a little while away but it is a really interesting concept.  

Peach Bites

We haven't posted a Peach Bites column in a while so we have built up quite a backlog.  There has been a lot of buzz about water and transit over the past month and we've tried to capture the highlights in today's post.   

 

Georgia to Appeal Water Ruling - Who didn't see this one coming?  We'll see what happens but one thing I know for sure, the federal government will not cut millions of people off from their water source.  Well, I'm not 100% sure about that but politicans want votes and thirsty people don't vote for the politicians who let them go thirsty... - GPB

 

New Reservoir Proposed for North Georgia - I don't know what to think of this one.  On one hand, I say it may be a good idea since it will set aside 8,000 acres of the 10,000 acres of wilderness that the city owns in the Dawson Forest.  However, the other tells me that $650 million to build a dam that will disrupt natural habitat is insane when we haven't exhausted our water conservation efforts.  Atlanta Business Chronicle

 

Clayton County Among Nation's Most 'Water Wise' Counties - American Rivers recently named Clayton County one of the nation's most "water wise" communities.  The wetland filtration system that Clayton County created years ago is integral to its ranking.  While keeping wetlands in tact, Clayton County was able to maintain a 230 day drinking water supply at the height of the drought while Lake Lanier was as low as 90 days.  This is a win for the environment and for the people of Clayton county. - Atlanta Business Chronicle

 

Half a Penny for Metro Transportation Just Not Worth the Trouble - If you've ever been in sales (or politics), you learn quickly that compromise rarely means mean win-win.  Moving from a penny sales tax to a half-penny sales tax increase is a compromise that panders to political pressure and doesn't follow logic or the spirit of the tax.  It's boring stuff but worth a read if you are interested in the future (or lack thereof) of transit in Georgia. - Saporta Report

 

MARTA Could Run the Beltline - Sure... Let's see if MARTA can run MARTA first...  I have my thoughts on MARTA and it's future but that's not for a Peach Bite comment.  I'm sure it's inevitable and it would make for the most seamless transit experience but MARTA just has so many issues.  There is a better way and I'll touch on that in a later post. -  AJC

 

Atlanta Streetcar Makes Pitch for Public Funding - I'm a huge proponent of the Peachtree Streetcar.  Unfortunately, I get the feeling that the only reason other people are excited about it is because it is really the only 'shovel ready' transit project in Atlanta that affords us the opportunity to get some government cheese.  If we do build it, my prediction is that it will be wildly successful.  Expect to hear something from the Feds by Feb 2010. -  Saporta Report

 

Atlanta-Chattanooga MagLev Rail Gets Dose of Cash - This could be one of the first steps taken in the south to connect the region with a 21st century transit system.  The Federal Transit Administration is providing $14.2 million to pay for environmental and engineering studies on a MagLev train that could connect the two cities.  Imagine zipping to Chattanooga in 30 minutes. This would be good for business, recreation and image. - AJC

 

MagLev Train Shuttle to Braves Stadium? - Okay... Do I really think we need this??  NO.  But, it would be crazy cool.  Stepping back to reality though, let's take that money and move it to the Beltline.  Or just build a regular train service.  MagLev is totally unnecessary for this type of shuttle system.  Let's focus on the Atlanta-Chattanooga MagLev.   - Atlanta Unsheltered

 

Beltline Names New CEO - Brian Leary, vice president of Atlantic Station, was recently named the new CEO of Atlanta Beltline Inc.  This looks to be a good move.  With this though, I am predicting a change of the northwestern path of the Beltline to now cut through Atlantic Station instead of going to the north and west of it.  We shall see.. - Creative Loafing

 

Beltline's Feasibility Rides to Forefront - The worrisome thing about the Beltline is that the financial plan around securing funding is primarily based on increasing property tax revenues.  The plan was devised prior to the real estate market crash back in 2005 and hasn't been changed.  Finding $1.7 billion from property tax revenues might prove impossible in the new environment.  Personally, I believe that the project is integral to the city and the 'leadership' will find a way to make it happen regardless. - AJC

 

Metro Atlanta Needs a Metro Solution to Transportation - Jay Bookman gives some very interesting insight on the history of transportation planning in the state and the current and future needs.  A really notable fact is that the state of Georgia ranks 49th in per capita dollars spent on transportation.  The other was that metro Atlanta accounts for ~28% of transportation spending.  I wanted to see if that was proportionate to the population and found that it is significantly below.  Approximately 60% of the residents of GA live in the metro area.  We need to let to politicians know that change is needed. -  Jay Bookman (AJC)

 

MARTA Wins Solar Energy Grant - Marta is planning to use $10.8 million in federal grants to put solar panels on top of bus canopies.  The panels will be installed at the Laredo Bus Maintenance Facility in Decatur. This will be the largest PV system in GA. - Atlanta Business Chronicle

 

Atlanta Bests San Francisco for Green Building - For some reason, Atlanta doesn't seem to get the respect it deserves in this area.  We're good but we could be better.  Right now, we're 5th in the nation in LEED certified buildings at 53.  Chicago has 88, Portland has 73, Seattle has 63 and DC has 57.  San Fran is right behind us at 50. - San Francisco Chronicle via Chicago Tribune

 

Lovett's New Green Middle School - The unfortunate thing is that most Atlantans can't afford to send their kids to Lovett.  But, the school's commitment to sustainability and environmental issues is something to be commended.  The new facility is seeking LEED Gold certification and has a green roof and rainwater harvesting system among other features. - WSBTV

 

Going Green Pays Off - Man, I hate the phrase "going green."  What does it mean?  It seems to me that it's up to anyone's interpretation.  Am I 'going green' because I use CFLs or bring reusable shopping bags to Whole Foods for my groceries??  Well, that's not the point of the article.  The exciting thing that I took from this article is that the Westin downtown will finally be replacing the windows lost during the tornado.  And... those windows will be thicker, darker and better insulating.  There are a few other buildings that are highlighted like 1180 Peachtree and the Emory University Conference Center Hotel. - AJC

 

Don Wells Named Atlanta's 2009 Cox Conserves Hero - Mountain Stewards, Wells' non profit organization, will receive a $5,000 donation from Cox Enterprises. - Trust for Public Land

Recycling Pick-Up Back On in the City of Atlanta - How exciting!  Recycling!  Wow!  How are other cities going to compete with us now that we have recycling again? We are truly 'going green' here in Atlanta. -  The Buckhead Blog

Stay tuned for next week's installment of Peach Bites.  Feel free to send me any articles or stories that you come across at michaeldhadden@gmail.com

MARTA Was a Pioneer.. Was...

This is a very depressing little video from Citizens for Progressive Transit. What it tells me is that Atlanta has been passed by simply by letting the status quo rule the political scene. For too long now, there has been an atmosphere of complacency. Unfortunately, we are now seeing what complacency leads to. It is still unbelievable to me that Cobb and Gwinnett county have never become part of MARTA. Now, we have Oxendine talking about building a parallel connector. When will the politicians understand that building more roads is a 20th century solution to our transportation woes??

Revolutionizing Transit in Atlanta - Wouldn't That be Nice

image courtesy of Citizens for Progressive Transit

We stumbled upon the website for Citizens for Progressive Transit (www.cfpt.org) the other day and their ideas definitely piqued our interest.  They are a grassroots organization that is committed to bringing improvments to public transit in our region by working with MARTA and our regional leaders.  There isn't much substance to the website yet but we really found their transit map very interesting.  It takes the current north/south, east/west MARTA lines and completely revolutionizes them.  Obviously, it is a pie in the sky type vision given that we can't even get movement around how to use existing funds for our transit needs.  However, it is nice to see a vision.  The Beltline was once just a vision too and today we see a great amount of progress on that project. 

Take a few minutes of your time and just imagine how a revolutionary transit system would change the face of the city.