Alright, I'll tentatively support the Northern Arc. (Atlanta, Sandy Springs: neighborhood, move)

[Ant131531]

Yes, someone going to carry a big flatscreen T.V. on MARTA. MARTA has been going to the northern burbs for ages now, yet Crime hasn't jumped. Perimeter Mall is still a nice mall to this day, yet transit was extended there back in 2000 if I can recall, if not earlier. If criminals really wanted to rob someone in those outer burbs, they would have driven like they do all the time. They would get access to a car somehow or someway. Most people who use MARTA use it to get to specific destinations...not to rob someone. People are delusional and quite frankly, is expected in the South where many people are ignorant and uneducated.

[bryantm3]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

Yes, someone going to carry a big flatscreen T.V. on MARTA. MARTA has been going to the northern burbs for ages now, yet Crime hasn't jumped. Perimeter Mall is still a nice mall to this day, yet transit was extended there back in 2000 if I can recall, if not earlier. If criminals really wanted to rob someone in those outer burbs, they would have driven like they do all the time. They would get access to a car somehow or someway.

because everyone knows the best getaway is public transit!

[Saintmarks]

Don't pull the race card on this one. Might have worked a few decades ago, but not today. It's about $$$ and return on those $$$. Like CWK said above, it doesn't have to be one or the other. I am all for transit, I would like to see MARTA expand, would like to see the rail come to the Beltline as I don't think it is worth the effort if rail isn't a priority... it will transform the core of the city for the better if it is true transit belt line.

But above these, we need commuter rail. The time is way overdue.

But the northern arc is so much different than the public transit options. These public transit options will benefit the inner core counties of the metro, basically the original 5 counties. The northern arc, and the complete outer loop for which the arc was to be the first leg, is needed for the state and the region. To have the 3 main interstates of the southeast to converge in Atlanta and the only way to bypass is on 285 is so half a century ago it is ridiculous. The roads I envisioned by posting a map of DFW are so far past being possiblities it is only wishful thinking. We needed them to be built as soon as 285 was completed.

To stop the outer loop and even the Northern Arc is like saying "we are done as a city. Let's shrink now. Let's let Dallas and Houston and Miami move on up in national prominence, lets let Charlotte and Raleigh and Nashville catch up with us regionally, lets sit on our hands and pine away for something (transit) that current economic times has made almost impossible, but for our pretty trees and lands, lets not build any regional road relief because then we won't get transit options because everyone will drive more cars and Bartow County over to Hall county will look just like Buckhead and we can't have that."

That is what I hear with these arguments.

[GeorgiatoChina]

I don't see us sprawling anymore then Houston or Dallas. We may as well build it and let Canton be the new Buckhead.

[cqholt]

The problem is even if these transit infrastructures were to be built would the difference in overall ridership really have that much of an effect on the amount of traffic on the interstates.

It gives those that want the option to use transit, which takes people off the freeways and gives more space for those that still wanna drive by themselves.

Don't pull the race card on this one. Might have worked a few decades ago, but not today.

It is still about race. A stranger won't tell you or a study that, but gain someones trust and they'll let it slip.

Yes, someone going to carry a big flatscreen T.V. on MARTA.

I did see a lady carry a 27" LED on MARTA during last Christmas. No one messed with her at all because those that commute via MARTA everyday look out for each other. I've seen people chase after a woman because she left her purse, that's the REAL MARTA!
GA needs to start a regional commuter rail system. We already have the rails to just about every suburban town center. Nothing fancy just a gravel parking lot, ticket machines, platforms with a small amount of covering. If the system has the capacity and ridership, then the parking lots can be paved or turned into garages and more of the platforms can be covered.

[Woodstock_Woody]

The major argument was that it would create sprawl. But then, Gov. Zell Miller didn't act on it and late '90s sprawl crept into the way of it. We'd be better off now if an east-west limited access highway had been built to channel traffic from the inevitable sprawl.

I was a real estate agent in 2000 and remember working onsite at a new housing development in Forsyth County. In the back of the office, there was a map of the new neighborhood with a blue dotted-line through the middle of it - the proposed path of the Northern Arc. We were told not to mention it, but if asked about it, be vague. Fortunately, I was never asked about it, as most people had never heard of the proposed highway. A few years later, some of the most vocal critics of the Arc lived in this neighborhood.

[cqholt]

The major argument was that it would create sprawl. But then, Gov. Zell Miller didn't act on it and late '90s sprawl crept into the way of it. We'd be better off now if an east-west limited access highway had been built to channel traffic from the inevitable sprawl.

Or upgrade a couple east-west arterial roads? Not everything has to be freeways.

[GeorgiatoChina]

Yeah, I think just some simple 4 lane or even a large country road that goes east to west would be perfect.

No need for a expensive 8+ lane high way that will just encouraged sprawl. Just a way to get from Duluth to Marieta or 85 to 75 without using 285.
Something like Peachtree industrial or Buford HYW with less or no lights and about 50-65 mph speed limit. That's totally doable and would serve as a way for residents on the north end to do east to west commuting while trucks and such traveling through can keep using 285.

[GeorgiatoChina]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Or upgrade a couple east-west arterial roads? Not everything has to be freeways.

This is a perfect idea. I think it's a good medium as all people want is an alternative to 285. It can be multiple roads and upgrades or even a grid system that goes from 85 to 75. No need for a large freeway. It's the perfect and inexpensive middle ground that won't encourage sprawl and won't destroy (many) homes.

Why hasn't this been proposed. Why does it have to be a 8 lane freeway or nothing?

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by bryantm3

because everyone knows the best getaway is public transit!

Can you fit a shipping container restaurant on a MARTA train??? Uh oh....