The T-SPLOST issue really didn’t focus on the bigger need, which is to build outer loop roads. Doing a tape and Band-Aid on existing road infrastructure is the same thing that has been going on here for years, with little results. I have lived here 20 years and have seen traffic explode over time.
Roy Barnes pushed for the Northern Arc project, but then Gov. Sonny Perdue came in and killed the project. Perdue was a small town boy who was short-sighted about big metro road projects. Too bad he never saw the bigger picture. Instead, he wanted to go fishing. Now, here we are again trying to address the same issues that should have been done 10 or 20 years ago.
So now we are all choking on the traffic congestion. It’s past time to build these outer loop roads, including the six-lane Northern Arc from I-85 to I-59 to I-20, and a six-lane road west from Macon on I-16 to Tennessee. Think about all the traffic that could bypass Atlanta, including many trucks, and the Florida/Michigan traffic. If there’s one accident on the existing roads today, just about the entire perimeter is at a standstill. Has anyone ever had to endure 285 East to 400 in the morning, or 285 West to I-75 North or I-20 West in the afternoon? It’s like this almost every day now. What a mess.
Let’s not forget rail traffic expansion that needs to be done too. One train can take at least 80 trucks off the highway. Talk about efficiency. Does Georgia government know that word? Whoever designed the downtown connector to merge three roads into I-20 on the OTHER side of downtown just didn’t have a clue. Heck, we can’t even get a rail spur built from Five Points to the Braves stadium. Instead, everyone has to endure the experience of walking thru Underground Atlanta and being harassed by the bums to get to the Braves bus shuttle. Think about all the MARTA buses and exhaust / air pollution that could be saved if this spur could ever be built! MARTA could actually report a profit for once.
I did not vote for TSPLOST because it does not address the real issues at hand. Build the outer loop roads, limit development on them, and get this traffic mess solved once and for all.
W.D. Holt
Marietta
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What route do you plan to build them on?
Whose property are you going to disrupt when building them?
Where is the money to purchase that property going to come from?
Do you think there is any political will to push forward such a project when you know there will be local opposition wherever these planned roads will eventually go?