DOT Releases MMPT Designs (Atlanta, Savannah: moving, transportation, suburban)

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by toll_booth

For starters, something needs to be done about the Hulsey Yard. That place is a cluster****.

It would make for a great mixed-use mid-rise development with the Beltline running through it's center. CSX would probably make a nice profit too.

[cqholt]

According to the MMPT's Spring 2013 newsletter, the preferred design is Option C:

It certainly would compliment the Solarium proposal of the Falcon's stadium.

For starters, something needs to be done about the Hulsey Yard. That place is a cluster****.

What's wrong with keeping some industry inside the city? That place runs like clockwork. Its already surrounded by residental, let some of those lots be infilled before a new mixed-use development goes up again.

[tikigod311]

Originally Posted by waronxmas

No, NS just needs to stop being jerks about passenger service. The Southern Railway used to run passenger service on all the so called freight lines we see today. Every single one of them. That service began to erode in the 70s and ended when NS took over Southern and sold the Crescent to AMTRAK. We could find a solution to this problem, if only the players involved would get on board.

I don't have numbers. But I would be willing to bet some amount of money that the volume of train freight traffic has increased significantly since the 70s.

I know its probably never going to happen, but a tunnel from the gulch area, running north under Luckie St / Tech Pkwy and joining up with tracks north of the Junction would be phenomenal. Set it up in a Local / Express fashion allowing for some local heavy rail stops in West Midtown. Its a unrealistic scenario, but optimal for future growth.

[Zanarkand A East]

Originally Posted by tikigod311

I don't have numbers. But I would be willing to bet some amount of money that the volume of train freight traffic has increased significantly since the 70s.

I know its probably never going to happen, but a tunnel from the gulch area, running north under Luckie St / Tech Pkwy and joining up with tracks north of the Junction would be phenomenal. Set it up in a Local / Express fashion allowing for some local heavy rail stops in West Midtown. Its a unrealistic scenario, but optimal for future growth.

That would be awesome. Any heavy rail stops in West Midtown would be a good thing!

[Zanarkand A East]

Originally Posted by waronxmas

No, NS just needs to stop being jerks about passenger service. The Southern Railway used to run passenger service on all the so called freight lines we see today. Every single one of them. That service began to erode in the 70s and ended when NS took over Southern and sold the Crescent to AMTRAK. We could find a solution to this problem, if only the players involved would get on board.

Agreed. This needs to be downtown.

[MDAllstar]

Originally Posted by testa50

Not sure I agree necessarily, although it does irk me when people say "Just buy some buses and you've got BRT!"

- I think BRT would work somewhat poorly in HOV lanes. They definitely need dedicated HOV entrances in a lot more places.
- I think BRT would be decent in non-grade separated HOT lanes. These tend to flow a lot better and have less movement in and out of the lane.
- I think BRT would be great in grade-separated HOT lanes. These don't get hung up very often at all and will provide most of the benefits of a dedicated ROW.

So I think the devil is in the details. Fortunately, the state is committed to building a big grade-separated HOT project, and its direction is firmly in more of these throughout the metro. When life gives you lemons...

You could definitely get more conservative outer counties on board with grade-separated HOT lanes serving BRT than you could for dedicated rail projects. We're adding both automobile and public transit capacity at the same time. Everybody wins!

I see this as the beginnings of a public transit bill that Republicans could actually allow to not die: tying together funding for grade-separated HOT lanes and BRT expansion.

That is not what BRT should be built for. To build a successful BRT system, it should act as a rapid transit providing a means of travel for everyday trips around the area. It should not act as a commuter bus funneling workers in and out of the city. BRT should be built in on streets where dense development exists to foster ridership. Peachtree would be an excellent candidate for BRT. That is the kind of development that is needed to have a real BRT system. Without that type of development, evening and weekend ridership would be non-existent which defeats the purpose of having BRT.

[cqholt]

Peachtree would be an excellent candidate for BRT. That is the kind of development that is needed to have a real BRT system. Without that type of development, evening and weekend ridership would be non-existent which defeats the purpose of having BRT.

Peachtree is the premier street of the city and should be streetcar. The 110, between Arts Center and Lenox Stations, is heavily used.

[MDAllstar]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Peachtree is the premier street of the city and should be streetcar. The 110, between Arts Center and Lenox Stations, is heavily used.

Streetcar or BRT would work. I don't know if streetcars travel fast enough for that stretch in mixed traffic. It would have to be light rail on Peachtree. I do think that is where BRT would be most successful in Atlanta when it comes to getting people to give up their cars. I think the problem with Atlanta is that things are too far apart since the density runs linear. This would give people a quick way to get around downtown, Midtown, and Buckhead for places not near a Marta Station.

[testa50]

Originally Posted by MDAllstar

That is not what BRT should be built for. To build a successful BRT system, it should act as a rapid transit providing a means of travel for everyday trips around the area. It should not act as a commuter bus funneling workers in and out of the city. BRT should be built in on streets where dense development exists to foster ridership. Peachtree would be an excellent candidate for BRT. That is the kind of development that is needed to have a real BRT system. Without that type of development, evening and weekend ridership would be non-existent which defeats the purpose of having BRT.

Honestly I'm less concerned with having a "real" BRT system and more concerned with alleviating suburban traffic woes and mobility issues.

The only part of Peachtree that really needs BRT or similar is the portion between Arts Center and Buckhead stations. About a 4.5 mile drag. Streetcar would work just as well as BRT (although neither would probably ever get its own ROW, which makes the idea seem a bit underwhelming). That's a fine project, but would mainly serve intown residents, not commuters. The lion's share of Buckhead's offices are pretty close to MARTA stations as it is.

Atlanta's transit service is already pretty good in the city. Not great, but passable. What we desperately need to beef up is the ability of suburbanites to commute to other suburbs and into the city for work. That's where we are really lacking. Therefore I propose using a commuter bus system--which we already have in infancy--instead of a commuter rail system, which doesn't exist currently and which will require massive investments to get off the ground in any form.

What I'm talking about is actually similar to what Seattle does on I-5 north of town. There are dedicated commuter bus exits that motorists only have access via surface streets. Closer in town, there are express lanes that change direction, which these buses use.

A commuter bus system can be built up piece by piece and each route can be improved over time. With commuter rail, you need to invest in the hundreds of million of dollars before you have any results whatsoever.

[Ant131531]

Peachtree is too small for BRT lanes. I mean, it's only like 4 lanes wide and 5 lanes wide at certain intersection. With BRT, that mean that there would potentially be only one lane for cars. And widening the street at this point seems impossible due to the development already there.