Rail, not buses, for the Beltline
January 17, 2007 at 5:24 pm by Web Editor in NewsIn case you missed it (and apparently the AJC did), MARTA’s board voted Jan. 8 that "unspecified rail technology" be the transportation mode of choice for the Beltline, the proposed 22-mile loop of transit and trails circling the city.
MARTA’s decision, which has mostly gone unreported, rules out a bus rapid-transit system that, though cheaper than rail, was widely frowned upon. After all, why place noisy and polluting buses alongside a network of parks and trails?
MARTA did not specify whether light rail was preferable to streetcars, though a MARTA study found that streetcars would be less expensive and easier to build.
The vote will help the city move forward in its quest to obtain federal funding for some of the 20-year, $2.4 billion project. Before seeking those funds, the city’s transit agency had to choose the "locally preferred alternative" for the type of transit traversing the Beltline.
To date, the city has not obtained any of the right-of-way for the transit component of the Beltline. (The city has obtained a significant amount of land for parks and greenspace.) And though the federal funding will help in the purchase of property for the transit loop, the real cash flow for the project is supposed to come from a tax-allocation district approved last year by City Council, the Atlanta School Board and the Fulton County Commission.
The TAD, unfortunately, is on hold pending a legal challenge. "Everybody is waiting with bated breath," says Terri Montague, CEO of the non-profit agency Beltline Inc. that’s responsible for planning and implementing the massive project. Montague adds: "There’s a lot that’s been going on behind the scenes in order to preserve our momentum. … I can assure you that conversations are underway to really accelerate the rail right-of-way acquisition."
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