MARTA eyeing major expansion up Georgia 400 corridor (Washington: luxury, cost of)

[bu2]

Originally Posted by magnetar

Not really; it stands to reason that this could re-use the existing HRT maintenance facility that the rest of the red line uses. A light rail line up there wouldn't be connected to any existing light rail infrastructure, though, so it would need its own maintenance and storage facility like the one built downtown for the streetcar. Not sure how it's in MARTA's interests to manipulate data one way or another; in fact in the article the MARTA spokeswoman was most positive about bus rapid transit, surprisingly.

In order to make it easier to qualify for federal funding and justify the locally preferred option.

None of the other options really make any sense in this corridor.

[MattCW]

Originally Posted by bu2

In order to make it easier to qualify for federal funding and justify the locally preferred option.

None of the other options really make any sense in this corridor.

Could you explain this? Why don't LRT and HRT make sense?

[bu2]

Originally Posted by MattCW

Could you explain this? Why don't LRT and HRT make sense?

LRT doesn't make sense for the reasons the previous poster said. Building an orphan LRT system to a spot 15 miles north of downtown forcing everyone to transfer makes no sense.

I think HRT is the only option that makes sense.

BRT has the same flaws as LRT. And there's very limited space in the lower 400 corridor to extend the bus lane further south. In the 85 and 75 corridor, you already have HOV lanes closer in.

[MattCW]

Oh ok, you're saying that HRT does make sense and LRT and BRT do not. I'm sorry, I thought you were pushing for BRT.

[10 feet tall]

It will be interesting to see whether they choose to run the track east or west of 400. The last existing transit station is east of 400 so it would be the most logical to continue on the east side, not to mention that I can't see how they could possibly switch the track over to the west side at that point. But going on the east side will affect many people, including building through the Dunwoody Springs and Woodland elementary school yards, office building property, and literally the back yards of some homeowners, particularly the neighborhoods off of Roberts and Spalding like around Spindlewick, Northridge Forest, Somerset, and a few others right there whose properties back up to 400. Having access to a MARTA station may help your property value, but having a track running through your backyard with no good access to a station is a killer. I wouldn't expect that to happen without a fight.

[toll_booth]

Originally Posted by 10 feet tall

It will be interesting to see whether they choose to run the track east or west of 400. The last existing transit station is east of 400 so it would be the most logical to continue on the east side, not to mention that I can't see how they could possibly switch the track over to the west side at that point. But going on the east side will affect many people, including building through the Dunwoody Springs and Woodland elementary school yards, office building property, and literally the back yards of some homeowners, particularly the neighborhoods off of Roberts and Spalding like around Spindlewick, Northridge Forest, Somerset, and a few others right there whose properties back up to 400. Having access to a MARTA station may help your property value, but having a track running through your backyard with no good access to a station is a killer. I wouldn't expect that to happen without a fight.

The fewer times it crosses 400, the better, because that's just going to elevate costs and jeopardize federal funding, and thus the entire project. Maybe it will run on the west side for a bit then switch back to the east and stay there.

[magnetar]

This may have been linked to earlier, but relevant to the current topic:

The reason MARTA is looking at a rail line east of Ga. 400 is simply the cost. Sidifall said each crossing of Ga. 400 is projected to add “a few hundred thousand dollars” to the cost of the project. If the train crosses to the west side of Ga. 400, it will at some point have to return to the east side, she said.

Sandy Springs and Dunwoody city officials have publicly expressed support for building the rail on the west side of the Ga. 400 highway, saying building on the east side would interfere with neighborhoods.

Residents: MARTA rail extension must go west of Ga. 400 - Reporter Newspapers

[MattCW]

I'm not sure what side I'm pulling for it to be on. Through the Northpoint area, the east side is the no brainer, the mall is there, tons of businesses, and plenty of room for parking for the park and ride stations. However, Northridge, Holcomb Bridge, and Old Milton seem to have more residential on the west side, while Windward has more businesses on the west side, but an existing park and ride on the east side. I'm leaning toward the opinion that this should primarily be a commuter line with the service oriented toward residential in the suburbs taking the train to Perimeter and Atlanta. However, the problem is road accessibility. Walkability is nice, and something to strive for, but in order for this extension to serve the most people, there must be provisions to allow a substantial numbers of vehicles to park, hopefully via concealed parking decks.

There might be some land on the west side of Northridge, but Holcomb Bridge on the west looks pretty full, depending on the plans for that development at Old Milton, there might not be easy room, and Windward looks the same. I could see this being solved possibly by a pedestrian bridge or tunnel across 400, but tunnels aren't exactly inviting and have security concerns, and bridges aren't the most pleasant places unless they're fully enclosed, but how much would that add?

[bryantm3]

Originally Posted by MattCW

I'm not sure what side I'm pulling for it to be on. Through the Northpoint area, the east side is the no brainer, the mall is there, tons of businesses, and plenty of room for parking for the park and ride stations. However, Northridge, Holcomb Bridge, and Old Milton seem to have more residential on the west side, while Windward has more businesses on the west side, but an existing park and ride on the east side. I'm leaning toward the opinion that this should primarily be a commuter line with the service oriented toward residential in the suburbs taking the train to Perimeter and Atlanta. However, the problem is road accessibility. Walkability is nice, and something to strive for, but in order for this extension to serve the most people, there must be provisions to allow a substantial numbers of vehicles to park, hopefully via concealed parking decks.

There might be some land on the west side of Northridge, but Holcomb Bridge on the west looks pretty full, depending on the plans for that development at Old Milton, there might not be easy room, and Windward looks the same. I could see this being solved possibly by a pedestrian bridge or tunnel across 400, but tunnels aren't exactly inviting and have security concerns, and bridges aren't the most pleasant places unless they're fully enclosed, but how much would that add?

if this were *really* designed to be a walkable transit line, we'd be looking at something like this:

http://goo.gl/maps/tvWJF

that would have commuter stations at key corridors, create new walkable areas, and connect to existing walkable areas.

the issue here is that we're looking at a sort of half-solution based on cost. it may not be perfect, but it's better than what we've got now. i think that the above link i posted is probably the "perfect solution", meaning if money and other constraints were not an issue, this is what most people would be happy with.

so i think what we've got to do is create connectivity to existing walkable areas, create new walkable areas, and accomodate commuters arriving at the stations by car or bus connections.

[Mutiny77]

Meanwhile, up the road: All aboard! Metro’s new Silver Line rolls down the tracks for the first time - The Washington Post