Decatur’s Plans if Transportation Tax Passes
Decatur Metro | February 29, 2012 | 10:00 amYou may recall the post from a couple days back where I said I was checking with Decatur’s city staff about how transportation funding would be spent IF the 1-cent transportation sales tax passed in July. Well, city planner Amanda Thompson was good enough to provide us with a very thorough response regarding how much money Decatur is projected to receive, and which projects would receive top billing when decision time came around.
So, first things first, how much money is Decatur projected to receive if T-SPLOST passes?
Current GDOT estimates show that Decatur will receive $360,880 in 2013 per year for our 15% direct share from the sales tax. If this estimate remains steady over 10 years that will result in $3,608,800. A list of all the 15% estimates can be found here:
http://www.atlantaregionalroundtable.com/documents/discretionary_Money.pdf
Secondly, what is Decatur’s plan for spending the local share?
The City Commission recently reviewed a 10 year Capital Improvement Program to discuss funding options for various building and transportation projects. As part of this review, they considered how to spend the TIA local share. If the TIA is passed there are two ways Decatur will benefit – Portions of the Clairemont/Commerce/Church Street improvements and pedestrian improvements to East College Avenue are included in the large, multi-county project list. There are also three MARTA stations within the city limits that will receive upgrades as part of the large project list. Decatur will divide its 15% local share between the following categories: unfunded transportation improvements, Transportation Enhancement and Livable Centers Initiatives grant matches and maintenance of existing bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure.
In the 2008 Community Transportation Plan, the community prioritized reconstruction of intersections as the highest priority overall for transportation improvements and the installation of sidewalks and bicycle lanes as the highest priority for corridor improvements. In addition to sidewalk and crosswalk improvements throughout the city, the following projects have been funded with General Obligation bonds and grants:
- Oakhurst Streetscapes – Phases 1 & 2
- Downtown Streetscapes – Phase V
- McDonough & Candler Railroad Crossings
- North McDonough Streetscapes – Phase IV
- Commerce/Church/Clairemont Ped Safety & Bike Lane Improvements
- W Ponce de Leon Bicycle Lane
The following transportation projects adopted in the 2008 Community Transportation Plan and the 2010 Strategic Plan have NOT been funded. They are not listed in any particular order; however the Atlanta Avenue intersection is next on the list for grant funding so it can be coordinated with the other railroad crossing improvements.
Adopted, but Unfunded Transportation Projects (2012) Atlanta Avenue RR Crossing 2,000,000
S Columbia Multi Use Path 2,500,000
Howard Ave road diet 4,200,000
Circulator Shuttle 10,000,000
Sharrow Bicycle Network 500,000
MARTA bike lockers 100,000
College Ave Pedestrian Tunnel 5,000,000
S Candler bike lanes 1,500,000
PDL Ave Dtwn to east city limit Ped Improvements 1,500,000
New Street in Fairview Ave to Trinity 500,000
TOTAL 27,800,000
The City Commission will consider exactly how to allocate the TIA funds as part of the budget process each year with in the categories of unfunded transportation improvements, Transportation Enhancement and Livable Centers Initiatives grant matches and maintenance of existing bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure.
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I can’t believe a pedestrian underpass for College Ave would cost $5 million. Wow! No wonder we don’t have more of those. Maybe we should look at an overpass?
The overpass on the South Peachtree creek trail in Mason Mill park by the waterworks cost millions also. And very high over the tracks.
But even if it costs millions, it could still be millions less. And people might feel safer in an overpass rather than a tunnel.
Not that my irrational fears should matter, but you clearly don’t have my fear of heights or you would never suggest that people may prefer an overpass! I hate pedestrian overpasses (although I used one frequently in college), and everytime I walk across one, I imagine myself walking across one of the toothpick bridges I had to build for a third grade project.
That being said, for everyone like me, there are probably an equal number of people who are paralyzed by their claustrophobia in tunnels.
Underpasses are much easier to make ADA compliant than overpasses and require less maintenance.
I was shocked by that too – along with the low cost of building a new street! – and it got me thinking. Would residents feel different about prioritizing these things now that there’s a price attached?
I guess that’s up for the commission to decide, but I would think it’s hard to know if someone’s opinion of some of these would change if they had the costs next to them.
I don’t cross College much, so what do I know, but a $5 million pricetag, has me sorta shifting from “Huh, that would be nice.” to “Um, maybe not.”.
The price absolutely makes a difference. But, where will the proposed tunnel be on (or under) College? Is it intended for the numerous DHS and Renfroe students who cross College every day?
Yup. Makes you wonder if we could simply live with a painted crosswalk and some flashing lights.
$5 million for a tunnel does seem exorbitant. On the other hand, an underpass will last for generations. And I would feel so much better about the 11 to 18 year olds crossing the tracks all the time. Whereas MARTA lockers, much cheaper, will probably come and go. Will MARTA even be around long?
However, a tunnel SHOULD be well-lit. Otherwise it will become a haven for hanky panky at the best and criminal activity at the worst. Cameras would be a good idea too but maybe that’s asking too much.
The “new street” if you look at a map, really isn’t much – really just connecting existing streets between Ponce and Trinity (behind Watershed/Farm Burger building) – which explains the low cost.
However, you would get a lot of bang for the buck in connectivity on that side of downtown!
Can we PLEASE drop the “sharrow” project? They can be confusing to cyclists and drivers alike, and in any case do absolutely nothing to change the physical relationship of bikes and cars on the roadway.
I imagine there’s lots of other good projects we could spend half a million dollars on…like actual bike lanes!
+1
(and thank you!)
Allow me to push back just a smidge, KC. Your comment suggests that the physics of car vs. bike are the relevant issue and that separated facilities are the answer. I don’t disagree for some contexts but would argue cycling safety also has a cultural/behavioral component and that’s the side of the equation addressed by sharrows.
Bottom line, not all contexts allow for separated facilities. Some wonderful urban environments simply don’t have the width from curb to curb to give every user their own slice without destroying the very elements that make the place desirable to begin with. In these cases, an appropriate response is emphatically reminding people that sharing is sometimes necessary. Yes, sharrows are a new thing and have not yet become a universal symbol, but that’s just a matter of time. It certainly doesn’t bother me to live in a place on the front end of such issues, rather than playing catch up.
I guess what I’m saying is it’s better to have a lot of tools at your disposal, so you can apply the proper one for the job, than to force a one size fits all. As they say, when all you’ve got is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.
I’m still confused. Is it a 1-cent tax or a 1-PERcent tax? If it is a 1-PERcent tax, then it strikes me as a bit shady that proponents describe it as 1-cent.
Maybe I’m the dummy for not catching something that others might consider obvious/implied, but when I first read these signs during a Dekalb proposal several years back, I’ll admit that I thought “Oh – no big deal: 1 cent on each transaction to raise a few mil maintain parks and such? Sounds good.” I was new to the area and hadn’t ever encountered a “1-cent” type of tax. The impact is quite a bit different when you realize they mean 1-PERcent or 1-cent (on the dollar).
So I’m going to be generous and believe that I was naive to the wordsmithing by the proponents and that it isn’t under-educated Georgians not knowing the difference between 1-cent and 1-percent.
It’s a penny on every dollar, or a 1 percent tax, but your post got me wondering how I know that. Now that I have, I’m not sure. I guess I just picked it up along the way.
I could be wrong about this, but I don’t believe the “1 cent tax” term was the result of wordsmithing. Like so many other things, the term just got shortened over the years.
If you voted for or supported the tax without understanding it, wouldn’t that make you an under-educated transplant? Not trying to be an ass; just sticking up for all of us dumb hicks here in GA.
Like I said, maybe I was the goober for thinking it was per transaction – because why wouldn’t you just use the term “percent”? But name one other case in which someone describes percent rate as “cent.” Did your bank ever tell you that your interest rate on your savings account was 3-cent? Is your rate on your mortgage 5,6, or 7 – cent? What was your effective Federal Tax rate? 14-“cent”? Are you getting a solid 7-cents annual return on your investments?
Completely reasonable to believe that some slick politician modified the term to make a tax seem like less than it actually was.
Be curious how many people would give the right answer if you asked how much more they would pay for a $100 shopping trip. (UGA grads are allowed to use scrap paper and may have extra time).
“Completely reasonable to believe that some slick politician modified the term to make a tax seem like less than it actually was.” True, but it is a bit of a stretch to state that Georgians are under-educated and would fall for such a trick.
Scrap paper ain’t gonna help. Don’t know nothin’ ’bout no percentages.
Really my “under-educated” comment was misdirected and an uncalled for dig at Georgians, when it should have been specifically directed at recent Dekalb Gov’t officials. I do recall an issue for a Dekalb county 1% tax and I stand by my belief that the lot running Dekalb County, at least at that time, was likely under-educated. I could believe they wouldn’t know the difference between 1-cent and 1%.
I think referring to it as a “penny sales tax” was intended to make it more palatable (or less unpalatable, as the case may be). Re-phrasing from “penny” to “1-cent” was ignorant and/or careless on somebody’s part, and now it’s been replicated. Further evidence that all the copy editors in the world have tesseracted. (Although I don’t completely discount the possibility that somebody thought “1-cent” would successfully mislead people.)
You assume there are still such things as copy editors.
Tesseracted? Are you making up words again? It’s a good one though. Might could use it in a meeting just to see what kind of response it triggers…
“Now Bob, stop tesseracting Sue’s opinion and tell us your own thoughts on the new plan.”
I admit I don’t followhave your reference STG. A tesseract is a 4 dimensional cube – commonly referred to as a hypercube. Not sure what you are trying to say about the copy editors having been “hypercube” to further verb the noun…
I admit I don’t followhave your reference STG. A tesseract is a 4 dimensional cube – commonly referred to as a hypercube. Not sure what you are trying to say about the copy editors having been “hypercubed” to further verb the noun…
Ooooh… I know that word…but from where? Science fiction story from long, long ago? Time travel?
Got it! Thank you Wikipedia.
“A Wrinkle in Time is a science fantasy[1] novel by Madeleine L’Engle, first published in 1962.[2] The story revolves around a young girl whose father, a government scientist, has gone missing after working on a mysterious project called a tesseract. The book won a Newbery Medal, Sequoyah Book Award, and Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, and was runner-up for the Hans Christian Andersen Award.[3]”
Good one, STG!
Very good, Parker! In the book they used “tesseract” as a noun to refer to the time wrinkle and as a verb to refer to traveling through it (the time wrinkle). I re-read the book recently (for the first time since 4th or 5th grade) and was fascinated by how much of the imagery I had carried with me all these years (even though I could not have told you much of anything about it before re-reading).
BTW, let this be a plug for e-readers….I read an essay in the paper about the 50th anniversary of the publication of “A Wrinkle in Time,” vaguely remembered liking it as a child, so plucked it out of the ether right then. If I’d had to track it down at the library or in a bookstore, probably wouldn’t have gotten around to it.
A 1% tax is a tax on the One-percent. A one-cent tax is a tax on everyone else.