According to the Atlanta Business Chroncle, MARTA is working with the Georgia Legislature pass a bill this year that would ask voters to approve a sales tax increase that would fund $5.5 billion in new rail projects in Fulton and DeKalb County over the next couple of decades.

MARTA Board Chairman Robbie Ashe characterized the effort as ““What we’re looking for is to give Fulton and DeKalb the same thing Atlanta got in 2016,”.  In 2016, Atlanta residents the General Assembly passed and voters ratified $2.5 billion for new rail projects in the City of Atlanta, but nowhere else.

“Does this better connect the Decatur rail commuter to the broader region?”, you ask.  Why perhaps.  Perhaps indeed.  From the ABC…

Rail projects that could be funded through the new legislation include a light-rail line along the Clifton Corridor, an extension of MARTA’s North Line from Dunwoody to Alpharetta, an extension of MARTA heavy rail east along Interstate 20 and bus-rapid transit service, also along the I-20 corridor.

Here are a couple of Clifton Corridor maps that show the current alternatives for routes/stops as of late 2016 from a MARTA “fact sheet”. Click to enlarge.

More as this develops.

MARTA proposed map from 2015 courtesy of WABE

From a recent post on the Saporta Report detailing the upcoming December MARTA meetings to discuss the proposed routes and funding options to reinvigorate the Clifton Corridor rail project between Lindbergh and Avondale MARTA stations via Emory…

The state Legislature is expected to revisit in the transportation funding issue during the 2015 session. Any measure is likely to take two years to win approval, which means a funding mechanism could be in place with the environmental impact study of the Clifton Road route is complete, in 2015 or 2016.

Some lawmakers are discussing an increase in the statewide motor fuel tax. Another proposal would enable a few counties to unite to propose a transportation referendum, rather than the 10 counties that were involved in the 2012 referendum.

There are two meetings scheduled to discuss.  Details below:

Thursday, December 4, 2014, 6-8 pm
Westminster Presbyterian Church
1438 Sheridan Rd. NE, Atlanta, GA 30324

Tuesday, December 9, 2014, 6-8 pm
Emory Student Activity & Academic Center
Room 316
1946 Starvine Way, Decatur, GA 30033

Map courtesy of MARTA

TSPLOST may no longer be a household acronym, but apparently the Clifton Corridor light rail line is by no means dead.  From the Atlanta Business Chronicle…

The Federal Transit Administration and MARTA are moving forward with a study of a possible new light rail transit line that would run through the Clifton Corridor, two years after metro voters defeated a tax that would have funded the line.

The proposed 8.8 mile line would extend from the Lindbergh MARTA station through the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) headquarters and Emory University and Emory Hospital campuses to the Avondale MARTA station.

…Atlanta Business Chroniclereported last January that the CDC is considering an expansion over 10 years at its campus near Emory University that could lead to a 30 percent increase in workers and the construction of a big new laboratory and parking deck. At a public hearing on March 20, area residents expressed concerns that such an influx of new commuters would be too much for the already congested corridor.

Map courtesy of 2013 Clifton Corridor Steering Committee Presentation

Cara sends along MARTA’s official response to our May 9th posting regarding the Clifton Corridor proposal which would basically bypass Decatur entirely…

MARTA Continues to Review Transit Expansion Plans for Clifton Corridor

Community Encouraged to Continue Providing Input

On May 9, 2013, a posting on Decatur Metro discussed MARTA’s ongoing work with the community to review a variety of alignment options for the Clifton Corridor expansion project. MARTA would like to clarify some of the information included in the story to ensure the public has an accurate understanding of the project as we continue to work together to implement transit service that will effectively serve this heavily congested corridor.

First and foremost, no final decisions have been made about whether or not to change the alignment approved as part of the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA). As we have continued to study the challenges and opportunities in the Corridor, some community concerns, environmental considerations and financial impacts have led us to propose alternative alignments to Corridor stakeholders and community members. We will continue to meet with the Clifton Corridor Committee, our elected officials and the community prior to making any final recommendations on the LPA to the public and the MARTA Board of Directors.

Read the rest of this entry »

Rail lovers and transit wonks take note.

At Monday’s City Commission meeting, Commissioner Scott Drake mentioned a revision under consideration by the Clifton Corridor committee that “wasn’t on the table a month ago”.

The committee is now considering an option that would extend the transit line all the way down North Decatur to Suburban Plaza, instead of the previous plan to tunnel under Clair/emont Ave/Rd and then turn east onto Scott Boulevard to Suburban Plaza.  While the changed route would be less costly (no tunneling/shorter route), it would limit the impact the transit line would have on Decatur to just that little North Decatur/Superior Ave nub at the north end of the city.

Commissioner Drake said that there’s one more meeting of this committee before it pushes forward with a final plan.

Without a direct connection to downtown Decatur, it’s easy to see how the committee might not see the cost-benefit of extending the transit line barely into Decatur and just turn left and head right on out of the city again.

I guess when you’re message is “Untie Atlanta”, you invite questions about whether your $6 billion proposal will notably reduce traffic and commute times around Atlanta.

The AJC this morning has summarized the Atlanta Regional Commission’s findings from a 10-year traffic simulation program and shown that the figures overall are either impressive or underwhelming depend on what area you look at and/or which expert/non-expert you speak with.  Atlanta’s infrastructure is a big ol’ expensive mistress, and though $6 billion may sound big compared to, say, our annual salaries, it’s a drop in the bucket for the metro area’s connection of road and rail. Or Mark Zuckerberg for that matter. But some figures seem heartening…

On average, the number of metro Atlantans able to reach job centers in under 45 minutes would rise just 6 percent by car, and about 20 percent by bus or train, if the projects are built. The new transit projects expect perhaps 75,000 or more daily boardings.

Regional planners insist that in the world of transportation design, a 6 percent or 20 percent jump in good commutes is a big deal.

And Emory would get the biggest boost of all…

A $700 million rail line along the Clifton Corridor would take mass transit access there from miserable to some of the region’s best. If the rail line is built, 220,000 additional metro residents could reach jobs there by transit within a manageable 45-minute commute, a 729 percent increase. Realistically, planners expect daily ridership of about 10,000 boardings, slightly less than what’s expected for the Beltline.

But even if its the major selling point, should any conversation about T-SPLOST be solely focused on congestion relief?

As reported in the AJC, MARTA’s board will make a final determination today on the route and type of rail for the long-discussed Clifton Corridor line that would run from Lindbergh Station on MARTA’s North Line to Avondale Station on the East Line.  The suggestion before the board is light-rail through Emory’s campus, as shown in the map above.

Maybe even more interesting to those looking for specific impacts to their area are the new station maps that MARTA has posted on its website.

That’s the Suburban Plaza station above, which apparently is planned to have a direct underground connection to the proposed Walmart on the site.  Also of particular interest is the Clairmont @ N. Decatur Road Subway Station, which suggests redevelopment of the McDonalds/Chevron station and adjoining Sushi/Edward Jones/Hunan Dragon/Kaplan strip mall.

Read the rest of this entry »