If transportation vote fails, is there a plan B? (Atlanta: floor, rich)

[cqholt]

WATCH OUT ATLANTA!

because Miami is moving forward! Today is our 116th. Birthday as a city and our state is supporting us with infrastructure development!
( I don't understand how Georgia politicians have so much disdain for Atlanta as it's Capital and business center & economic engine for the state! If it wasn't for Atlanta you would be South Carorolina or Mississippi!)

Today Miami opens it Metrorail Airport link funded by the citizens of Miami Dade county & the state of Florida.
Not one penny from the FEDS for this crucial connection!

We are dredging the Miami Port shipping lane from 42 feet to more than 50 feet so we can accept and able the super PANAMEX vessels. Even our retarded Republican Governor Rick Scott approved to fund this.

Miami is also building a $1 billion Port tunnel for cargo trucks that will by pass the traffic or our main artery downtown (Biscayne Boulevard) and give quick access to cargo shippers via trucks & rail.

Is Atlanta pride all about having the world's largest Airport?

MetroRail is a joke compared to MARTA.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by cqholt

It will help transport people to Piedmont Park and other areas of interest not immediate to a MARTA station. ever seen the parking around Piedmont Park when a festival or something is going on.

It's interesting that when you go to most intown festivals, concerts, Piedmont Park, the Zoo, etc., you see a ton of cars (sometimes even the majority) with non-Fulton County tags.


I don't understand the argument that the Beltline is any more "non-regional" than other projects on the list. They are all local in some sense. For example, the Sugarloaf Parkway extension is budgeted for $300 million. But it doesn't mean beans to me personally and won't shorten my commute by a nanosecond. Likewise with the widening of Arnold Mill Rod in Cherokee County for $49 million, the widening of US23 in Stockbridge for $44 million, or re-configuring the intersection at I-285 and GA400 for $450 million.

However, these are all clearly regional projects. They benefit differing parts of the region and are important steps to making it better as whole. That's how complex transportation systems work. You can't "fix" the system in one fell swoop -- you enhance it piece by piece and make it stronger and more responsive overall.

[toll_booth]

Originally Posted by neil0311

Transportation isn't a political issue.

The TSPLOST is a transportation issue.
The TSPLOST is a political issue.
Therefore, it is both a transportation and a political issue.
Therefore, this transportation issue is a political issue.

Logic. It's goooood.

The decision to have a referendum on a new tax that will fund a bunch of pork projects, pushed through by interested politicians is what's political.

I read one article today that was discussing Kasim Reed and his push for the beltline and other non-regional projects as one of the catalysts that pushed some others on the roundtable to decide to push their own non-regional projects, so that what you ended up with is a group of disconnected and self-interested pork projects that would not address the core transportation issues.

The issue isn't transportation but how you fund and how you manage the projects, and who decides what projects to do. To say that opponents of this TSPLOST are "anti-transportation" is like accusing someone who testifies against a mafia loan shark of being "anti-banking" or "anti-business." The plan is the problem, not the original reason for the plan.

Yes, yes, the rhetoric. Been there, done that. Oh well, Atlanta, there are other fish in the sea.

[toll_booth]

Originally Posted by arjay57

How do you figure the Beltline is a non-regional project?

Because no one who parks and rides will ever, ever use the Beltline. They'd much prefer to hire a cab to take them a few blocks, or if they don't want the hassle of having trains transport them for just a few bucks, they could always drive in our lovely traffic.

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by toll_booth

The TSPLOST is a transportation issue.

I thought now it's about jobs, business, and the economy? All the "Untie" signs tell us so. Make up your mind.

Originally Posted by toll_booth

The TSPLOST is a political issue.

Yes, and the TSPLOST is no longer really about fixing actual and real transportation issues. It's about the money.

Originally Posted by toll_booth

Therefore, it is both a transportation and a political issue.

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Originally Posted by toll_booth

Therefore, this transportation issue is a political issue.

No, transportation isn't political, but the politicians and vested interests have made the TSPLOST by definition a political issue. The TSPLOST represents money, not transportation.

Originally Posted by toll_booth

Logic. It's goooood.

Be even better on Tues when this monstrosity is defeated.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by neil0311

Be even better on Tues when this monstrosity is defeated.

That will sure be something we can all look back on with pride.

[arjay57]

Decatur Mayor Bill Floyd weighs in in favor of the TSPLOST:

Mayor Floyd: Vote “Yes” on T-SPLOST, “There Won’t Be” a Better Option Later

Floyd, a man with deep knowledge of the Atlanta metro’s political system’s capabilities, writes in no uncertain terms…

This vote is crucial. Don’t vote no because you think there will be a better option later, there won’t be, and don’t not vote because you think your vote will not matter. Every vote is essential. It is our time to step up to the plate, take our responsibility and move this region forward. Let’s not let our children or grandchildren have to go to some other part of the country for jobs that should be here. Please vote YES. Bill Floyd

[atltechdude]

Originally Posted by MiamiRob

WATCH OUT ATLANTA!

because Miami is moving forward! Today is our 116th. Birthday as a city and our state is supporting us with infrastructure development!
( I don't understand how Georgia politicians have so much disdain for Atlanta as it's Capital and business center & economic engine for the state! If it wasn't for Atlanta you would be South Carorolina or Mississippi!)

Today Miami opens it Metrorail Airport link funded by the citizens of Miami Dade county & the state of Florida.
Not one penny from the FEDS for this crucial connection!

We are dredging the Miami Port shipping lane from 42 feet to more than 50 feet so we can accept and able the super PANAMEX vessels. Even our retarded Republican Governor Rick Scott approved to fund this.

Miami is also building a $1 billion Port tunnel for cargo trucks that will by pass the traffic or our main artery downtown (Biscayne Boulevard) and give quick access to cargo shippers via trucks & rail.

Is Atlanta pride all about having the world's largest Airport?

As someone pointed out, MARTA is a far more expansive rail system and it operates with very minimal federal funding, outside of a few specific grants. Almost all costs are paid in fares and local taxes.

Also our Republican governor approved funding to dredge the port of Savannah.
Press Releases > Governor Approves $46.7 Million in New Deepening Dollars

If you want to talk about trucks, then I would hope you know that Atlanta is a huge distribution hub.

So, no we are not just about the airport.

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by arjay57

That will sure be something we can all look back on with pride.

No more "pride" than when you have to do anything tough, but satisfaction that we did the right thing.

[cqholt]

All these projects will help the entire region. Road expansion OTP and transit expansion ITP will help people move easier, allow access to more jobs, & reduce air pollution.