When is MARTA going to submit an Environmental Impact Statement to the FTA so Connect 400 can get funding?

[JMatl]

Originally Posted by bryantm3

so is this still the "streetcars running in lanes on clifton road" plan, or is exclusive right-of-way back on the table?

I was under the impression that the Clifton Road alignment was always an exclusive Right of Way with a buffer? Please correct me if I am mistaken.

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by Gulch

My mistake, I got confused.

FWIW, I do support the annexation and the subsequent CC extension.

NP. Just trying to put the info out there and clear up any confusion.

Originally Posted by JMatl

I was under the impression that the Clifton Road alignment was always an exclusive Right of Way with a buffer? Please correct me if I am mistaken.

AFAIK you're right. It was to be median running in dedicated right of way for the most part.

The final routing is still being settled, and we'll see more detail whenever the EIS is finished.

[cqholt]

That money was, no matter what, going to be set aside. The ONLY thing that Emory's joining actually changes, is that we can actually move forward with phase 1's implementation without DeKalb, using money that was always going to be set aside.

The way Ben Limmer put it at, the final list approved by Atlanta City Council. Any project on that list can be funded using the Atlanta Transit Sales Tax funds, City Council will work with MARTA on which projects get funded and the timeline.

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by cqholt

The way Ben Limmer put it at, the final list approved by Atlanta City Council. Any project on that list can be funded using the Atlanta Transit Sales Tax funds, City Council will work with MARTA on which projects get funded and the timeline.

That is a fair way of saying it, yes, but the Clifton Corridor is a regionally significant project that's been in planning far longer than nearly any other project on the list.

Its funding is very much a key thing to getting the entire route built, and without that funding, it's very possible that there would not be a Clifton Corridor at all. If it does not get funding, it would not surprise me if DeKalb simply doesn't push for a MARTA expansion at all, not given the potential pull back from a joint-funding agreement like that.

Really, the primary limiting factor on how much of the project list we can accomplish will be federal backing. Given the kinds of timelines in play for actually getting to the funding point, though, we could very well be beyond the current uncertainty by then. Or Robosherman could have marched from the sea, burning everything in his path. Or North Korea could have nuked the U.S.. Or any number of other things could have happened that mean we don't get to everything.

I'm expecting us to, eventually, be able to build out nearly the entire list, with priorities given to those longer term projects. Much like the original $8-Billion proposal, the priority is on those projects that have been on the books for years and years, now (minus the I-20 west extension, maybe). The remaining funding then goes to what it can.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by fourthwarden

The final routing is still being settled, and we'll see more detail whenever the EIS is finished.

How long have they been working on the EIS? On a daily basis, who is working on it and what are they doing?

I am just asking rhetorically, you may not know personally, fourthwarden.

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by arjay57

How long have they been working on the EIS? On a daily basis, who is working on it and what are they doing?

I am just asking rhetorically, you may not know personally, fourthwarden.

Well, remember that this one came after the first LPA was set. There was a rework of the routeing to find a less expensive, and potentially more community pleasing route. The efforts of that are what's in review now, so it makes sense that the timelines would be stretched out.

[fset]

Amazon is looking to expand in an area which specifically has mass transit links. ATL would be in the running, particularly if they had a stronger presence in MARTA.
Amazon is looking for diversity in employment.