Fresh Loaf

A new study by the Transit Planning Board shows metro Atlanta voters strongly support transit solutions rather than business as usual when it comes to people moving. In a telephone poll of 4,123 registered voters in 11 metro counties, an overwhelming majority of respondents say that while roads must be maintained and improved, regions need to invest in transit expansion and options for pedestrians.

The numbers from the report:

Increased investment in public transportation would strengthen metro Atlanta’s economy, create jobs, reduce traffic congestion, air pollution and fuel consumption (85% agree, 12% disagree).
Metro Atlanta needs to continue funding road construction, but also needs to spend additional money on new public transportation options (80% agree, 17% disagree).
My community needs more sidewalks and bike lanes (77% agree, 21% disagree).
My community needs more transportation options like commuter rail service, light rail, buses and trolleys (74% agree, 23% disagree).

In contrast, less than half of voters agree with the statement: Metro Atlanta can solve its transportation problems by building new and wider roads, without including new public transportation options (40% agree, 56% disagree).

The study also shows that a regional sales tax that offered a glimmer of hope to the metro Atlanta’s crippling congestion woes may have found strong support had it survived. Of those polled, 58 percent say they would have supported a funding strategy similar to the one that has helped cities such as Charlotte build a light-rail project. The study says voters of all demographics appear open to allow MARTA act as the implementer of those funds.

Perhaps most eye-opening is that 90 percent of those polled say they drive to work alone, with many commuting from neighboring counties into Fulton. Worrisome is that significant numbers of voters say they prefer driving to work. Of those asked who work full time, 31 percent say congestion is a “very serious” problem in metro Atlanta.

Public transit earned applause as well — 81 percent of respondents say they were satisfied with experiences on the service during the last year.

To view PDFs of the poll surveys, click here for DeKalb, here for Fulton, here for City of Atlanta, and here for Clayton.

The board, a coalition of the Georgia Department of Transportation, Atlanta Regional Commission, Georgia Regional Transit Authority, MARTA and other agencies, commissioned the study, which was funded by several community improvement districts throughout the region. To view the board’s vision of a more mobile metro region, click here.

(Photo by Jim Stawniak)

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Lost in the headlines about the DOT romance between former board Chairman Mike Evans and Commissioner Gena Abraham was the news that commuter rail earned a shot in the arm on Monday. The board passed a resolution that directs agency staff to determine how feasible a new funding concept would be to cover much of the costs — including the tricky operating costs — of a commuter rail network in metro Atlanta. Probable first on the list: A line between Atlanta and the awesomely named hamlet of Lovejoy. The project already has nearly $110 million in DOT funding earmarked as well as promised federal funding.

I heard what you said. “Lovejoy? Why not somewhere more populous and exciting, like Marietta? White Water’s fixing to open soon, yo.” My thoughts exactly.

But to create a vibrant rail corridor to Macon, a long-planned vision for the state, Lovejoy would be a good first stop. Also, when the idea was first brought to light years ago, the city to our south is as far as the money would take them. DOT Board member Larry Walker said that the money is there, time had been invested by certain parties, and it was the most feasible.

Walker says the resolution is not just a toothless vote that will add to the pile of such actions passed over the years.

“What’s the difference between this motion and the motions in the past?” said Robert Brown during Monday’s meeting.

“We want it done,” said Larry Walker, a board member who has been one of the biggest pushers for commuter rail. “We can keep coming back and talking about debt and what’s it going to cost, but we might be here in five years talking about the same thing.”

Walker’s not alone in wanting to see commuter trains run from Atlanta to Lovejoy.

“We’ve been talking about this too long,” said Bill Kuhlke, who became acting chairman after Garland Pinholster resigned from the position. “And frankly we can’t build enough roads to ease that congestion.”

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Be on the lookout if you live, work or plan on going anywhere near Midtown.

From the DOT:

LANE CLOSURES ON 14th STREET BETWEEN WILLIAMS AND SPRING STREETS

WHEN: Immediately today, Tuesday April 22
WHERE: Metro Atlanta on 14th Street between Williams and Spring streets.
WHAT: Georgia DOT work crews will close one lane in each direction on 14th Street between Williams and Spring streets for emergency pavement repairs. This work will be conducted during afternoon rush hour and possibly into Wednesday morning rush hour. Significant congestion is expected and motorists are encouraged to avoid the area and use alternate routes.

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That’s what Rep. Carl Rogers, R-Gainesville, is saying to the Gainesville Times:

“I was told about some things going on, and I knew they would surface. I just didn’t know when,” Rogers said. “They had been seen together, and I couldn’t give you any particulars.”

Rumormongering! That’s my kind of a guy. Us scribble-happy muckrakers would have more to write about if only all our elected officials were so loose-lipped.

The article also spells out some other names being bandied about for former DOT Board Chairman Mike Evans’ seat. Worth a look. Sen. Chip Pearson, R-Dawsonville, announced he’s seeking a third term, so contrary to previous reports, he’s out of the running. Breathe easy, Jon — for now.

(Photo illustration by Thomas Wheatley)

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The Beltline — the 22-mile ring of trees, trails and transit planned to encircle the city — continues to take shape. Last Thursday at the Atlanta Public Schools, project planners and advocates addressed stakeholders and noted that, despite recent pitfalls and obstacles, the public-works effort is coursing ahead.

Atlanta Beltline Inc. CEO Terri Montague delivered a stirring response to a resident’s comments in which he said the project was moving too fast and may not live up to expectations. She said that the problems the Beltline was designed to address were not slowing down and that the immense project would transform the city and offer it solutions. Montague said she understood that the man had probably been given broken promises for the last 30 years, but that the Beltline was different. Her comments were rewarded with applause. (I’m working on getting a video of her statement.)

Rob Brawner of the Beltline Partnership, an outfit dedicated to raising awareness and gathering private-sector participation, said that a chief concern of residents has been ensuring that today’s Atlantans are given the chance to enjoy tomorrow’s Beltline. Numerous groups, startled by price speculators looking to cash in on the project and a housing market rattled by the subprime lending crisis, are skeptical of what the Beltline may do to the affordability of the city’s more impoverished neighborhoods — particularly those in Southwest Atlanta. In response to that, Brawner says, advocates are reaching out to partners to establish a community land trust that will create permanent affordable housing around the Beltline. On May 19-21, the National Community Land Trust Network will host a workshop at Morehouse College to examine the issue.

A second concern — one which is more abstract yet still important — involves public engagement and community input. Kristy Gilman of the Peachtree Hills neighborhood urged Montague and her staff to improve the community participation process and give residents a seat at the negotiating table. Attention to the issue has been building since the Tax Allocation District Advisory Committee, or TADAC, delivered a sharp criticism about the process in a late-February letter to Beltline planners. Residents have stated that while copious amounts of information is provided on Beltline Web sites and distributed through a variety of grassroots efforts, much of their hesitancy about the project hinges on just how much of a say the public has in how the Beltline takes shape, not how it learns about it.

WHERE THE PROJECT STANDS:

Master planning for the southeast subarea encompassing Grant Park is, for the most part, complete. The southwestern subarea, which encompasses much of Southwest Atlanta and neighborhoods hit hard by foreclosures, is slightly behind the rest of the project but continuing apace. Preliminary studies for areas in the northwest will begin soon.

The park planned to run from Ponce de Leon Avenue to Freedom Parkway is a marvel to view. Planned features include a skate park, a stormwater retention pond, and long expanses of green.

In Southwest Atlanta, a planned park will unite DL Stanton and Four Corners Parks. New amenities, such as a community center with a green roof, are planned for both. Beltline advocates hope that the new land-use concept will help the beleaguered section of the city and are envisioning local-serving retail that will help keep dollars in the community. Employment centers are planned in several points in subarea 2 that would offer diverse job opportunities for current and future residents. Southwest Atlantans are stressing that there needs to be heavy emphasis on the former.

In the northwest area of the Beltline, which today is largely an industrial and track-heavy corner of the city, planners have envisioned mixed-use, medium- to high-density developments surrounding the proposed West Side Reservoir Park. (That’s a working title for the park that is poised to surpass Piedmont Park in size.) This quadrant is one which could very well see the biggest transformation from the public-works project.

Beltline advocates and Barry Realty are evaluating the financing arrangement they have in place for a 60-acre chunk of the project’s northeast section they purchased from Wayne Mason in late 2007. In the coming months, the partnership will advertise the Beltline on billboard donated by the Lamar Outdoor Advertising company. Look for Beltline merchandise as well, Brawner said. Of the partnership’s $60 million annual fundraising goal, $28.9 million has been raised.

(Photo Courtesy of the Beltline Partnership)

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Cupid fires his bow and in the process shakes up the state’s most powerful agency.

In a whirlwind series of events more akin to a Lifetime television movie, DOT Board Chairman Mike Evans resigned on Thursday two weeks after disclosing that he and DOT Commissioner Gena Abraham had begun a relationship that was deeper than just traffic plans and public-private initiatives — a no-no according to the agency’s rules.

On Monday the board scolded Abraham with a written reprimand but decided to keep her at the helm — a move that surely pleased such voices of support as Gov. Sonny Perdue, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and many associations who have eyed Abraham as the breath of fresh air DOT needs. All while this was happening, WSBTV reported board member Garland Pinholster, who resigned his position as acting chairman today, is the subject of a sexual harrassment investigation.

Evans was the deciding vote in a contentious political battle to appoint Abraham as commissioner. Many applauded the budding couple’s disclosure as a by-the-book step in the right direction, although that’s likely to be change if it’s revealed their relationship began earlier than the couple has described.

Cagle and House Speaker Glenn Richardson must now announce a special election to fill Evans’ seat for the North Georgia district which he served.

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Let’s begin with a beautiful quote:

“There’s no light switch in the relationship that comes on one day. It’s not like that. We establish relationships — when you work with somebody you develop a mutual respect, it becomes an admiration, and then it develops into deeper feelings than that.”

That was Gov. Sonny Perdue waxing poetic about the magic of amor in a press conference at the Capitol. Standing alongside Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, the governor voiced his support for DOT Commissioner Gena Abraham and said that while surprised by the revelation that she and now-former DOT Board Chairman Mike Evans had begun a relationship, he still thinks she is the right person to reform the state agency.

“I still have absolute confidence in Gena’s ability,” Perdue said when asked by a reporter if he would ask Abraham to resign. “For the last five months she’s been dealing with tremendous change in the DOT. The fact is change is tough and needs to take place. The change she’s talking about is good for the state, good for the public, good for Georgia’s infrastructure, and transportation, and I’m convinced she’s resolved to see that change through.”

Cagle agreed with the governor, saying that he thinks Abraham still has “the fight in her” to lead the dysfunctional agency.

Perdue said that Abraham told him about the relationship on Wednesday while he was in Texas at an energy summit — which was actually a Republican Governors Association conference, but whatever.

“It was a much more distraught Gena Abraham than I’ve seen before,” he said of their conversation. “She’s usually always much more in command of her thoughts and is very disciplined in her approach to solutions. And [their conversation] was very uncharacteristic of that.”

He said that he’s spoken with members of the DOT board and expressed his confidence in the commissioner. Abraham did not offer him her resignation, he said.

When asked if he would still support Abraham if evidence reveals their relationship started earlier than one month ago — the time Evans and Abraham have said they started developing feelings for one another — Perdue effectively dodged the question and said he trusts what he’s been told.

There may be more fallout from Evans’ and Abraham’s relationship. Earlier in the press conference the AJC’s Ariel Hart asked the governor if rumors that a private investigator’s discovery had triggered Evans’ announcement. Perdue laughed and said he hadn’t heard about such a thing. Before Cagle left the briefing, she asked him if he had convinced Evans to resign. He chuckled and made a swift exit. Whatever the case, on Monday we find out whether Abraham stays or goes.

(Photo by Thomas Wheatley)

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ALL SHOOK UP: Illinois quake measured 5.4 on the Richter scale, was felt in Georgia and as far south as north Florida.

GWCC: Tornado damage is about $100 million, but officials say it will open April 28.

ASPHALT MAKES THE HEART GROW FONDER: As Thomas reported yesterday, DOT chairman and commissioner are in love, and the former has resigned. Now Gov. Perdue has to grumble back into town to handle things.

SHOT IN THE DARK: Entire Charter cable TV, phone and Internet service knocked out Wednesday night in Hall County by a single bullet.

COAST IS CLEAR: Vidalia emergency room doctor is one of several volunteers being honored for working to fill potholes and doing other maintenance on coastal wildlife refuges that might otherwise not get done due to budget cuts.

FLU OFF THE HANDLE: Bad vaccine-mixing made 2007-08 the worst flu season in several years.

HONEYTASED HAM: Cops Tase a frenzied pig on I-75 after it falls off the back of a truck, the second time in two weeks a hoofed animal has caused an uproar on the interstate.

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From the Gainesville Times:

Those being mentioned as possible successors to Evans include Chris Riley, chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Gainesville, and state Sen. Eugene “Chip” Pearson of Dawsonville. Pearson has reportedly told legislative leaders that he would not seek re-election to his Senate seat this year.

Pearson, as you may recall, was one of this year’s distinguished recipients of a Golden Sleaze award. He got the nod for blocking Jekyll Island legislation, pushing a bill that would exempt the DOT from forcing contractors to pay soil erosion fines, and other pieces of past legislation that would’ve placed the environment at risk.

(Photo courtesy of the Senate Press Office)

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I just want to thank my colleague Thomas Wheatley for reporting about the drama at the Georgia Department of Transportation today.

I finally have an explanation for all of the weird road signs I’ve been seeing around Atlanta lately.

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From the DOT:

STATEMENT BY BOARD CHAIRMAN MIKE EVANS

The following statement was made at today’s meeting of the State Transportation Board by Chairman Mike Evans in announcing his resignation:

“In the past five months, I have worked closely with Commissioner Abraham to work towards change within the Department. Over the course of those five months, I have grown to admire her and respect her more and more every day. Her sense of integrity and work ethic is well known throughout state government and I can see why. Over the last month or so we have grown to care for each other more than on a professional level, she became my friend. As our friendship developed, we realized that there was the possibility of something more than friendship. At this point we met with the Vice-Chairman, Garland Pinholster, to discuss and determine the best direction and concluded that it was best to also inform the Board, which was done in Executive Session yesterday.

DOT Policy does not permit relationships other than professional or friendship within the direct chain of command. As Chairman of this Board, I strongly believe that I should be the model for respect and adherence to policy that I wish to see in all GDOT employees, especially with the challenges that we face. In doing so, I must therefore tender my resignation today as Chairman and a member of the Georgia Department of Transportation Board.

I have served as a member of this Board for five years and it has been my honor and privilege to do so as a representative for District 9. My heart is heavy today because I know that in tendering my resignation, I am also disappointing a great number of people who have supported me throughout the years, in particular, during my re-election to the Board this year. There are those who suffered great losses in support of me. I will be eternally grateful for their support.

I will spend the rest of my days trying to restore their trust and in gaining their forgiveness for having stepped down at this point in my term.

I want to thank my colleagues on the Board who have been a support to me as well. As I leave my seat and return to my daily routine, I will still remain an advocate for systemic reform for Transportation in Georgia. It is still a worthwhile and noble cause that I will always believe in.

To the employees of the department, I have said how great they are and what dedicated public servants they are. I hope the board and senior staff will honor their service by doing everything they can to give them the department they deserve.

To the board, I hope you will continue the momentum and change that I have been pushing for the last five years, and that has accelerated over the last five months.

To the cities, counties and individuals whose dedicated support helped me win re-election I apologize for my untimely departure and will never forget their loyal support.

As always, I am honored to serve the people of the 9th District and the state of Georgia.

Again, I thank everyone for the opportunity to serve.”

At this time, there will be no further comment from the Department on this matter.

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Love will tear us apart … from our positions on powerful state agencies!

Georgia Department of Transportation Chairman Mike Evans admitted to the state agency’s executive board today that he and new Commissioner Gena Abraham have been “dating,” a DOT spokesperson says. Evans will resign from the chairman position and the board effective immediately. Evans was elected to the DOT board in 2003 and was elected chairman in 2006.

No word as to how long they’ve been dating and how much their relationship played a role into Evans joining Gov. Sonny Perdue to support Abraham over state Rep. Vance Smith, R-Pine Mountain. Speaker Glenn Richardson wanted Smith in the job. That battle was a nasty one, resulting in House members who opted for Abraham to be stripped of their prized office spaces and placed on committees for not kowtowing to the Speaker’s wishes.

Lots of unanswered questions. Why now? Apparently, Abraham and Evans both came to DOT Board Vice Chairman Garland Pinholster two weeks ago and informed him of their budding relationship. They wanted to disclose it, Evans says, and move forward appropriately. Will Abraham face any punishment or penalty? We’ll find out April 21. The board has scheduled a special meeting for that date. Why does Mike Evans remind me so much of Huey Lewis? Unfortunately, this is more of a personal issue that I prefer to allow figure itself out.

We’ll have more on this as the day unfolds.

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