Atlanta Beltline

[dante2308]

I don't advocate balance. What I advocate is more nuanced than "balance."

I advocate the best option for public promotion and/or expenditure whatever it is. To say you support balance is to say that if we build a highway, one must also build a streetcar. I don't think that kind of policy is sound. I don't think transportation is a quota system.

If the best option is balance then I support that, but I don't support it unless it is the best option. I do however believe in democracy so if the city overwhemingly supports that Beltline, I think they should get it.

Getting off philosophies, what I advocate at this point is an UNBIASED extensive cost-benefit analysis on what to do with transportation in the second decade. We may have just passed and are on the other side of peak oil and that has massive implications completely changing the game from when oil use was exponential and housing market was booming.

Let me be the first to say that Atlanta is NOT going to grow at the same rates it did from 2000 to 2006 in the next six years. Sprawl in Atlanta is not exponential now either. This must be taken into account and I don't think anyone has. It seems like everyone is stuck in 2006 pretending that those days are on the other side of the recession. They are not. Let us figure out what the future holds and evaluate our transportation through that lens.

[dante2308]

Question #1: Is there demand for the build out of the Beltline from a private sector construction standpoint?

Question #2: If so, is it enough to cover TAD projections?

Question #3: If the plan has been disrupted by the crisis, is there another way to use the TAD funds that better responds to the current situation?

[smArTaLlone]

Originally Posted by shivtim

A few upcoming Beltline events:

You mean we can still post Beltline news in this thread? Awesome!

Here's the Stanton Park Master Plan

Stanton Park Groundbreaking Ceremony
Join Mayor Kasim Reed, Councilmember Carla Smith, Friends of Peoplestown Parks, Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. and The BeltLine Partnership as we celebrate the groundbreaking of Stanton Park with residents of the Peoplestown community and surrounding neighborhoods.
When: Saturday, March 27, 2010, 10am
Where: Stanton Park, in the Peoplestown neighborhood on Martin Street in southeast Atlanta.
This event is free and open to the public.

[reet]

Originally Posted by smArTaLlone

You mean we can still post Beltline news in this thread? Awesome!

Here's the Stanton Park Master Plan

Awesome park plan -- this makes me giddy. Here we see the beauty of a project like the Beltline: providing an improved, attractive public space for a community that has historically been a kinda unattractive spot. Keep 'em comin'.

[226_226]

...just passed by 10th & Monroe and I saw Mactec (engineering company) trucks on the trail under the Virginia bridge with surveyors equipment...

Anyone know the latest timetable on the paving of that 'temporary trail' from Piedmont Park to Inman Park? I walked the corridor from Piedmont Park to the North St bridge a few weeks ago and saw some trucks further down the path towards Inman Park, but I have no idea what they working on.

[L.ARCH]

Work should begin by the end of the year.

[TarHeelJ]

Originally Posted by dante2308

Let me be the first to say that Atlanta is NOT going to grow at the same rates it did from 2000 to 2006 in the next six years. Sprawl in Atlanta is not exponential now either. This must be taken into account and I don't think anyone has. It seems like everyone is stuck in 2006 pretending that those days are on the other side of the recession. They are not. Let us figure out what the future holds and evaluate our transportation through that lens.

If only we had the power to actually see the future...

[BlindFatSnake]

Originally Posted by TarHeelJ

If only we had the power to actually see the future...

That's one way to throw the fish in the frying pan...

When it comes to transportation (i.e. traffic), one thing is for sure: Atlanta's traffic in the future will NOT decrease. Therefore, planning for what the future holds is as simple as getting GDOT and the state government to be flexible in their approach to implementing transit alternative in metro ATL. Or, at least in the 5 core counties.

Anything else will just be a waste of time and taxpayer MONEY.

[TarHeelJ]

Originally Posted by BlindFatSnake

That's one way to throw the fish in the frying pan...

When it comes to transportation (i.e. traffic), one thing is for sure: Atlanta's traffic in the future will NOT decrease. Therefore, planning for what the future holds is as simple as getting GDOT and the state government to be flexible in their approach to implementing transit alternative in metro ATL. Or, at least in the 5 core counties.

Anything else will just be a waste of time and taxpayer MONEY.

I agree that we should plan for the future...but it does seem that Atlanta's traffic has lessened over the past few years. We've gone from a perennial top 5 worst traffic city to sitting outside the top 10. The trends in Atlanta seem to be toward a decrease in daily traffic - no?

That's what MY crystal ball says anyway...

[Fiorenza]

That's my impression also. In MOST parts of the region, traffic volume has stabilized if not decreased.

[shivtim]

^Perhaps almost stabilized, but certainly not decreased.
The ARC reports that in 2008 (the most recent full-year data), vehicle miles travelled (VMT) in the Atlanta region were the highest they'd ever been, at 142.3 million. However, this number has been relatively stable, as it was 141.3 million in 2004. The main reason for the stabilization is that the per capita VMT is the lowest it's ever been.
ARC predicts traffic congestion will worsen - which is why they support MARTA expansion and the Beltline.

[Fiorenza]

ARC is a shill for lobbyists, members are recipients of lobbyist contributions.

[shivtim]

^Please show evidence of this.

ARC is a federally mandated organization. I know several people that work there, and they are experienced city planners who certainly receive no money from lobbyists. The ARCs work is all based on scientific research.

And exactly which lobbyists are you referring to? What, are there masses of rich pro-transit lobbyists in Georgia, just lavishing the ARC with money?

[shivtim]

USA Today article on new urban parks includes the Beltline.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/2008-04-13-urbanparks_N.htm

[cybele]

Originally Posted by Fiorenza

ARC is a shill for lobbyists, members are recipients of lobbyist contributions.

Well, the thing is you would be hard pressed to find anybody that's not true about these days. All these big outfits has people they cater to and whatnot. Unless I am wrong the ARC has been run by a man from the party.

[trainiac]

Originally Posted by cybele

Well, the thing is you would be hard pressed to find anybody that's not true about these days. All these big outfits has people they cater to and whatnot. Unless I am wrong the ARC has been run by a man from the party.

[Fiorenza]

shivtim,

I mean the politicians who sit on the ARC board, not the staff.

90% of the politicians in this state are corrupt, and take money from highway contractors, insurance companies, trial lawyers, hospital companies, and every other special interest dependent on their votes. It's epidemic.

[TarHeelJ]

Originally Posted by Fiorenza

shivtim,

I mean the politicians who sit on the ARC board, not the staff.

90% of the politicians in this state are corrupt, and take money from highway contractors, insurance companies, trial lawyers, hospital companies, and every other special interest dependent on their votes. It's epidemic.

You don't actually believe that corrupt politicians only exist in "this state" - do you? If so, I've got some news for you...Georgia is no different than any other state in that respect.

Also, there is a propensity for those of a negative mindset to assume ALL polititicians are the same. They aren't...and I certainly don't think that 90% of them are corrupt - that's practically all of them.

[shivtim]

Originally Posted by Fiorenza

shivtim,

I mean the politicians who sit on the ARC board, not the staff.

90% of the politicians in this state are corrupt, and take money from highway contractors, insurance companies, trial lawyers, hospital companies, and every other special interest dependent on their votes. It's epidemic.

I agree there is a lot of corruption, and we need an ethics bill. We also need lobbying reform. However, from what I've seen from the ARC, they put out quality work. The politicians who sit on ARCs board can't change the data and science that are behind ARCs documents. I think it's actually pretty amazing how much the ARC has been pushing for transit, even to the point of sending out a mass-email urging people to contact the legislature to push for the end of the MARTA 50/50 split.

As for the Beltline, the transportation component cant happen without ARC's blessing. Luckily, they seem to be fully onboard with the Beltline and a number of other transit projects.

[ATLaffinity]

Does anyone have a map of the Atlanta Memorial Trail.

I can find high-level maps but no detailed map of the trail.

You'd think somebody would put a simple trail like that in a google map.