An estimated $857 million would go to construct a commuter rail line connecting Cumberland Mall in Cobb with Midtown Atlanta. The catch — or at least one of them — is that only about a mile of that $1.2 billion, 12-mile line, and only one station, would be in Cobb.
So what else would Cobb get from the TSPLOST, based on the project list hashed out last week at a pow-wow of regional leaders?
* South Cobb Drive would be widened from I-285 to Oakdale Road. Cost: $60 million.
* A short stretch of Macland Road from Lost Mountain Road to the Paulding County line would be four-laned. Cost: $31 million.
* S.R. 92 would be widened from Cobb Parkway across Lake Allatoona to Cherokee Street in Acworth. Cost of the 2.5-mile project: $29.1 million.
* A four-lane divided road would be built parallel to I-75 between Terrell Mill Road and Windy Hill Road to relieve traffic on I-75. Cost: $26 million.
* A road would be built to relieve congestion between the Busbee Frey Connector and Frey Road in Kennesaw, including a bridge over I-75 and new on/off-ramps. Cost: $19 million.
* Nine intersection improvements for Cobb Parkway. Cost: $9.8 million.
* A bridge would be built over the CSX Railroad tracks in downtown Kennesaw and the existing Cherokee Street track crossing would be closed. Cost: $4.5 million.
* And McCollum Airport would get a new traffic control tower and runway lighting. Cost: $3.2 million.
Among the urgently needed Cobb projects that didn’t make the cut were the $120 million upgrade of the I-285/Windy Hill Road interchange to lessen congestion northbound on I-75 and the $110 million makeover of the Windy Hill/Cobb Parkway intersection.
Indeed, one can only wonder why the TSPLOST committee felt like gaining a degree of traffic relief a decade or more in the future courtesy of a rail line that barely noses into Cobb was a higher priority than those two much cheaper and much simpler asphalt projects that likely could pay substantial congestion-relief dividends before this decade is out. One also wonders why many of these projects could not be handled via a Cobb TSPLOST rather than a regional TSPLOST.
IN LIGHT OF the “all or nothing” push for rail, a number of considerations come into play.
* Density: Does Cobb have the density to support such rail? No, if you’re comparing us to NYC or even to Washington, D.C., and its very popular Metro rail system. An argument can be made, though, that if Cobb is going to continue to grow, it makes sense to put the infrastructure in place now to handle it, rather than trying to backfit it later at even greater expense and aggravation.
* Who would pay the operating costs for such a rail system? Depending on Washington to do so looks like a crap shoot in light of the severe budget problems there and the expectation that deep cuts in spending are the wave of the immediate future.
* The MARTA factor: We suspect most Cobb residents want nothing to do with MARTA rail and will see this as bringing MARTA to Cobb under a different name. The proposed rail line would have to interface with MARTA rail at some point, most likely the Arts Center Station in Midtown. That means most travelers would be transferring onto MARTA trains or buses to complete their trips. Although it’s common for NYC subway riders to transfer trains several times per trip, such transfers would be a steep learning curve for local residents to become accustomed to. We strongly suspect most of them would decide to skip rail altogether and Drive to their destination.
* All Roads Lead to Rome: Or in this case, to Midtown. Cobb rail riders hoping to go to, say, the Perimeter Mall/Northside Hospital area would have to head south all the way to Midtown’s Arts Station, then catch a train back north to the mall area. Ditto for those heading up the I/85 corridor. In short, the proposal reflects MARTA’s hub-and-spoke design of 40 years ago, when Cobb and other suburbs were bedroom communities with huge numbers of workers making a daily commute downtown. The reality is that there’s much greater need for such a rail line in the northern arc of I-285 than there is for one to Midtown.
AS IT STANDS, the TSPLOST project list does not appear to be especially well thought-out. Maybe that’s no surprise, since there has been next to no leadership during the past decade on metro transportation issues from the Governor’s Mansion or the Legislature. And as far as Cobb’s share is concerned, the result is a project list drawn up in large part to satisfy the CID-area business interests and the Cobb Chamber. Once Cobb’s share of the rail project is subtracted from its $1 billion bounty, there’s not much left for anything else.
Cobb residents need to be asking themselves, and their leaders, whether putting nearly all of Cobb’s TSPLOST eggs in one basket (the rail proposal) is the most effective way of addressing local congestion issues, or whether the emphasis should be on adding road capacity, or some other approach, instead. As it is, the TSPLOST proposal leaves its proponents playing defense against the charge that Cobb does not stand to get much “bang” for its TSPLOST bucks.
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If you look at this closely, it seems that the Cobb Chamber and the CID's are pulling the local strings on this one and who knows where their interests lie in these curious times.
Why would they abandon Cobb County to support Kasim Reed and the powerful business and political interests in Atlanta?
I know it sounds a little paranoid, but if you look at the TSPLOST list for Cobb County can you come to any other logical conclusion?
That said, concerning the Owens Group system, if I were serious about getting my system into the running, I would be wide open and full force about getting real details supporting the claimed advantages out to the public ASAP to conjure up interest and public support. I would not be waiting for a government study (...unless, perhaps, I knew the fix was in and I was going to get the contract come hell or high water once the study was done??). Hummm.
If the claims being touted by NWCobber can't be supported or demonstrated, then by all means, eliminate that particular technolgy, but at least, consider it. Especially if the Owens Group is located in Cobb County and helping pay for the sudy with their tax dollars!!
My fear is that the results of the so called "Analysis" may be predetermined. Let's make sure that it isn't.
Another fine example of the effective representation of our RINO elected officials. First they negotiate with themselves to bring us the debit "deal", now, locally, they agree that Cobb taxpayers should pay into the TSPLOST, but get VERY little out of it. RINOS: the great negotiators!
If NWcobber and/or the Owens group would ever give some more details or point us to an example of where their proposed system has been effectively implemented so that it meets the claims they are putting forth, I would be interested in hearing about it(yes, I have looked at their web site! and the documents they have posted ---may be OK for a government decision makers, but falls short of the detail a private sector decision maker wants). Until then, NWcobber's continuous regurgitation of broad unsupported claims about an elevated rail system that the Owens group has something to do with aren't going very far in raising public support.
Unfortunately. even the most efficiently and safely run transit systems in the country require HUGE operating subsidies.
Even if they were built for free by the feds, the 70% operating deficits are still not very attractive.
Cobbtaxpayer:
The list can be changed, but I am afraid that our elected officials do not have the cahunas to stand up to the CID's, the Cobb Chamber and Kasim Reed. The die is cast for the project list.
They are way out of their league on this one!!
The only alternative you have at this point is to vote against the TSPLOST.
Too bad, because with the RIGHT project list it could have been a good tool to use in addressing our transportation needs.
Let's get $500 million moved from that MARTA train to road projects. Looks like we have an ample list of road jobs that will help congestion.
Please do an article explaining who we need to lobby to get Tim and Mark's list changed, and what the next step of the list making process is.
It might not be too late to fix the list before the MARTA train leaves the station.
Change the reputation, management and customer service of what is now called MARTA (and change the name and the color scheme while you're at it) and you may go a long way towards changing Cobb residents' view and perception of what is currently a much-maligned and derided transit agency throughout much of the metro area and region.
Even more conservative Cobb residents will ride a transit system like MARTA if it is a transit system that presents itself as something that people will actually want to ride instead of presenting itself as a system that exists only to cater the very low income and the homeless.
I think that everyone can agree that if a transit agency like MARTA is to effectively serve a region of six million people, then MARTA really absolutely must have an "EXTREME MAKEOVER" into something that is appealing to all socioeconomic classes in Metro Atlanta and NOT just welfare recipents, mobs of unruly lawless thugs and homeless people.
@ConsiderIt: I think politics and ad money from Siemens have something to do with it... allegedly.
We have a traffic problem. There are more cars than room for them on the road at commuter times. I saw a partial solution many years ago in Hartford CT. They made roads one way into Hartford at morning commute and reversed it in the afternoon hours for exiting the city.It was not perfect, but it worked reasonably well.
Enough with scarring the scenery of our beautiful county.
If this TSPLOST project list passes Cobb will be getting very little.
Once the rail line is extended to Cumberland (in ten or, more likely, twenty years!!) it will stop there for another several decades.
Which I am sure would be just fine with the property owners in the Cumberland area.
I thought our political (Cobb Commission) and business leaders (the Chamber) were supposed to be acting on behalf of all of Cobb County.
It appears they are only interested in the large developers in Cumberland and currying favor with the City of Atlanta, not looking out for the citizens of Cobb County.
HighRoad has been reviewed in-depth by industry experts and found to be extremely cost-effective to construct. (~$36M/mile vs lite rail's $100M/mile)
HighRoad's design is elevated as an integral part of its infrastructure, keeping it and its passengers grade-separated from ground-level traffic at all times.
HighRoad already has an in-depth financial plan in place for operational expenses and, under the right configuration, CAN be self-sufficient. (NOTE: Systems of the past HAVE been self-sufficient, contrary to detractors' drone-like claims.)
HighRoad's extensive service area, cost-competitive fare point, and speed of travel, make it truly viable for middle- and even upper-class riders. Buses and light rail do not.
HighRoad stands ready to serve a growing 'senior tsunami' of citizens who don't want to face the challenges of driving on interstates.
The list goes on and on. But the fact remains, it takes leadership in our community to bring such a common sense solution to fruition. MDJ, you are part of our community's leadership. Please look into HighRoad as a way to save Cobb from a decade (or more) of taxation with NOTHING to show for it!