Georgia Wins $4.1 Million Grant to Plan for Atlanta-Charlotte Rail
Decatur Metro | October 26, 2010This is almost a day old now, but hey, us transit lovers are used to things taking a bit longer than usual, am I right?? (Ah, how I love self-flagellation. Who needs enemies when you have yourself?).
Just days after receiving word that Atlanta would receive a lot of federal cash for its downtown streetcar, the state learned that it would be receiving $4.1 million to develop high-speed rail between Atlanta and Charlotte. It seems like for all of Atlanta (and Georgia’s) mistakes in getting their railroady fingers on the fed’s transit money as of late, Atlanta’s location as a regional hub makes it sorta hard to ignore.
From the AJC…
North Carolina has invested heavily in rail programs over the past two decades, and in January, it won a $545 million grant to build high-speed rail. Florida has invested, too, and also won a $1.25 billion construction grant to partially fund a line from Tampa to Orlando. This week, the Obama administration will award Florida an additional $800 million for the line, according to U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla.
[U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood] added, “Whoever gets elected governor will be getting a phone call from me, really trying to figure out if Georgia’s going to be in the mix on high-speed intercity rail. They should be. They’re an important region of the country. We want them to be, but it’s going to take extraordinary leadership from the state.”
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“…but it’s going to take extraordinary leadership from the state.”
That’s it, then, we’re screwed…
LOL. You nailed it, as “leadership” in this state is mighty scarce.
What kind of plan are we going to get for 4 million dollars? An Autocad showing rail spiked over the HOV lane and median grass?
$4.1 million doesn’t seem like it’ll get us too far….
Good point. That’s barely enough to pay a couple of consultants.
That seems like a lot to me for a couple of consultants unless there’s a major cost beyond salary, benefits, and overhead (indirect).
It’s for planning, right? Not for anything actually tangible?
As an old politician once said, “That’s walking around money”.
Nice timing. Here is a little cash to make headlines before the election- maybe you will get more money with strong ( Democrat) leadership – hint hint. The 4 mil is vote buying slush funds that will be wasted. Change we can believe in!
You are too much of a cynic. Florida has a repug Governor now and as stated “has invested, too, and also won a $1.25 billion construction grant to partially fund a line from Tampa to Orlando”. Maybe Florida repugs are not like our more “down home” guys?
Given the price tag on the streetcar in downtown Atlanta (roughly $20 million per mile), I’m figuring this $4 million will get us a good .2 miles.
Forgive me here, but I am getting these various transportation scenarios and projects muddled in my brain. I get that the high-speed rail and streetcars are 2 different animals
But does the City of Atlanta control the new streetcar project entirely, or is that manged by the state somehow also?
I realize that high-speed rail is just in the brainstorming phase, but is that somehow tied to whatever the idea was about putting a train depot downtown that was discussed a while back?
We need some charts and graphs here!
Rebeccab, I can spare you the trouble:
Neither the downtown trolley project nor the ATL-CLT rail project will do anything to aleviate the real traffic congestion in the metro region. The Beltline will help, if it is allowed to work as intended, but these other two projects are a ridiculous waste of meager resources…
The HSR may not do anything to help Atlanta traffic, but if/when HSR is more fully implemented it would do a lot a alleviate airport congestion.
To be fair, alleviating traffic congestion isn’t a goal of the streetcar. It’s meant to enhance mobility, spur pedestrian-oriented development and reconnect the eastern and western sections of downtown. It will refashion the streetscape for people instead of cars and make the historic Sweet Auburn area a more pleasant place to walk around and operate a business in. The city, metro and state will all benefit from having a more pedestrian-oriented downtown to attract visitors and businesses — and from undoing the damage to a historic area that has been under-performing for decades due to the fragmentation caused by the interstate.
Though I love the BeItline as a park project, I doubt the ability of the Beltline as a transit project in itself t to be useful for alleviating traffic since the route doesn’t connect well with major jobs centers or MARTA train stations. Some day, if other transit routes connect well to the Beltline in multiple spots, I can see it being more useful in that regard.
Yes- I would rather see that money go to the belt line.
Florida got that money because it is a swing state, and HSR makes more sense there. Orlando ( major tourist destination) – Tampa ( has beach, etc – and is closer than Charlotte is to ATL)
Georgia should have developed these rail systems on their own dime a LONG TIME AGO!
And I heard why they routed Amtrak through Gainesville instead of Athens, which would have made a lot more sense and would have a lot more customers both ways. Georgia is not very forward looking in these matters, much as I love living here. But I moved here from a bad state, so by comparison, Georgia is an improvement.
Oh come on. You know you want to tell us which one.
Actually, Southern Railway, which has the line through Gainesville, did not join Amtrak until 1979 and ran their own trains from the inception of Amtrak in 1971. Since there was already service by that route to Atlanta, it would not have made sense for Amtrak to use the SCL line through Athens, which, BTW, would not have served Charlotte, Spartanburg or Greenville.
Until the influence of Stewart Brothers grading can be put back into modest proportions, all forms of transit not done via roads will be in jeopardy. The $4.1 million for the study is like pocket change for SB Grading. They are a MAJOR road block (pun intended) to any form of mass transit in GA.