Fresh Loaf

Better transit in Atlanta? Hell yes! More bike lanes? You bet! Safe sidewalks and shorter city blocks that would encourage people to walk instead of drive? Man, that sounds fantastic.

But how are we gonna pay for it?

That was the conundrum Tuesday night at a mayoral candidate forum hosted by the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition, Citizens for Progressive Transit and PEDS at the Atlanta Regional Commission.

Seated before a packed and transit-savvy audience, mayoral candidates Lisa Borders, Mary Norwood, Kasim Reed and Jesse Spikes outlined their positions on how people could move around Atlanta without having to use their cars — and what they would do, if elected, to make it happen.

First, the question we’re sure a lot of people are probably asking: How do the candidates feel about Georgia gubernatorial candidate John Oxendine’s idea of “talking” about a possible asphalt artery that would cut through East Atlanta?

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RAIL RALLY Beltline supporters say Amtrak, GDOT's plans jeopardize Beltline

When it comes to the future of public transit in Atlanta, there’s good news and there’s bad news.

The good news: After decades of bowing at the throne of roadbuilders, the Georgia Department of Transportation says it’s finally taking off the kneepads and getting serious about train service that would connect Atlanta to other cities in the Southeast.

The bad news: Thanks to an unexpected tiff between GDOT and city of Atlanta officials, the Beltline — the transformative 22-mile loop of parks, trails and transit that would one day circle the city — might be in jeopardy. That’s because the train service that GDOT is suddenly embracing would have to run on or near the proposed Beltline tracks. What’s more, Piedmont Park, the city’s most iconic greenspace, might have to be severed by a heavy-rail route in order to accommodate GDOT’s vision.

Last week, CL first reported that GDOT — working in tandem with Amtrak — threw a wrench in Beltline officials’ plans for light-rail, trails and additional green space near Piedmont Park. Just as Norfolk Southern, the current owner of the tracks in question, was about to surrender them to the city, GDOT and Amtrak stepped in and halted the proceedings. Those two agencies now say the tracks in dispute are vital to their own vision for commuter rail.

“Simply put, because of GDOT’s boorish behavior and AMTRAK’s willingness to play along, the future of the city of Atlanta is at stake,” Mayor Shirley Franklin wrote in an urgent letter to U.S. Congressman John Lewis to seek his assistance.

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A transit plan designed to make mobility in metro Atlanta more than just cars, cars and cars inched forward today.

The Atlanta Regional Commission this afternoon approved Concept 3, a regional transit plan that advocates are calling “the most far-reaching transit expansion plan in decades.” Designed by the Transit Planning Board, Concept 3 includes heavy rail, express buses, light rail and streetcars. Included in the design are the Beltline and portions of the Brain Train.

“If we actually build the projects in Concept 3, it will transform metro Atlanta in the 21st century just as assuredly as the railroads did in the 19th Century and the Airport and highways did in the 20th Century,” Lee Biola, president of Citizens for Progressive Transit, said in a press release.

To be clear, the commission’s seal of approval doesn’t mean we’ll be riding light-rail to Roswell in a year, it just makes it eligible to be added to a future regional transportation plan, or RTP — a necessary step if the plan hopes to compete for sorely-needed federal funding. A commission spokeswoman says transportation projects in the RTP fall under one of two designations  — one for plans whose funding has been identified, and another for those the commission “aspires” to see come to fruition. Concept 3 would be considered the latter, she says.

A little wonkish, yes, but stick with me here. As I reported last week, there’s a movement underway — yet again — to find more funding for transportation projects. Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle has pledged — scout’s honor — to re-introduce a regional sales tax to pay for transportation fixes. (It failed by three votes in the lieutenant governor’s chamber last session.) Dick Anderson, executive director of the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority, says he’s been examining a number of new funding mechanisms, including the oh-so controversial public-private partnership.

So while today’s news might not be like breaking ground to lay rails, it’s a start.

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