Anyone plan on using Ga 400 once it is free? (Atlanta: how much, to buy)

[gerrythesnake]

I would like to thank each of you all for supporting Ga 400 for all these years! With your years of dedication I will be able to ride it for free soon!

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by cqholt
Use the $16B to increase the trackage, thru a partnership with CSX and NS. Chicago has a very successful commuter rail system and has very busy freight traffic.

That's an excellent point, though one must recognize that commuter rail is commonly and widely-accepted as a very well-established mode of transportation in and throughout the entire Chicagoland region, something that is clearly not the case in the Atlanta region where a significant and politically-powerful chunk of the suburban and exurban population remains staunchly opposed to passenger rail transit and does not even view passenger rail transit as a legitimate means of transportation (despite the increasingly severely-heavy peak hour traffic on a politically-constrained road network).

Originally Posted by cqholt
When will GDOT realize that building more lanes does not solve traffic congestion?

GDOT already has realized that building more lanes does not necessarily solve traffic congestion to the extent that they are building metered lanes (expressway lanes metered with tolls to prevent them from becoming severely-congested) and proclaiming that the construction of the metered toll lanes will be the last time that the roads that they are being placed on will likely ever be widened.

Originally Posted by arjay57
I look forward to the day when there is a direct line from Five Points to downtown Cumming.

Originally Posted by cqholt

Never happen. There is no way transit will ever happen in Forsyth County.

Originally Posted by arjay57

I'd sure love to see it happen. You've got a ton of people from Atlanta, Sandy Springs and Roswell commuting up to Forsyth every day.

With North Fulton interests openly and increasingly aggressively seeking an extension of the MARTA Red Line from the current north end of the line up to the Windward Parkway area, a direct heavy rail transit connection between Five Points and Cumming is not completely out of the realm of possibility in the future.

...Though there would have to be some definite and substantial changes to the way that MARTA operates moving forward for an extension of heavy rail service to be operationally, politically and socially viable into Forsyth County and on to Cumming.

There basically would have to be a major change in the way that heavy rail transit is perceived by the public outside of Fulton and DeKalb counties for a heavy rail transit line extension to be viable into Forsyth County (...heavy rail would have to be perceived as safe, clean, fast, efficient, on-time, financially-viable, etc, for heavy rail or high-capacity passenger rail transit extensions to be desirable and viable outside of Fulton and DeKalb counties).

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Sometimes the tough decisions are the right decisions and somebody has to step up and do it.

I agree that someone needs to step up and make the tough decisions, but with most politicians being deathly afraid that making the tough decision to raise taxes in a virtulently anti-tax and anti-government political environment, don't expect that particular tough decision to made anytime soon, especially with the political climate being thoroughly-dominated by fervently anti-tax and anti-government Republican primaries in conservative states like Georgia.

You are right that tough decisions like raising revenues for transportation needs must be made at some point.

But those tough decisions can be made in smarter ways that do not inspire continued anger and rage from a populous that has clearly signaled that they do not want any new taxes but are willing to accept use fees and other innovative ways of funding transportation needs that do not require the utilization of wildly-unpopular tax increases.

Originally Posted by cqholt

At the same time, they discourage walking and biking. Grade separation needs to be only for freeways, while major arterial roads can have multiple-transportation uses. By having sidewalks, bike lanes or paths, and transit stops. Cobb pkwy is a great example. If thru traffic is trying to go fast, they it needs to be focused on I-75 and local traffic use Cobb pkwy to get to-and-from the freeway. The excess ROW on the shoulders of Cobb Pkwy are prefect for LRT.

I agree that major arterial roads can (and should) have multiple transportation uses.

But major arterial roads can have multiple transportation uses while utilizing grade separations at busy major intersections as multiple uses for bike lanes/paths, sidewalks and transit can be built into the design for major arterial roads with grade separations at busy junctions.

The State of Georgia plans to keep (while altering as needed) the existing bike lanes (and sidewalks) on GA 141 through Gwinnett and North Fulton (and Forsyth) counties whenever it decides to convert the road into a 'managed arterial' with variably-tolled express lanes through (over and/or under) grade-separated major intersections along the route.

The plans that have been bandied about for converting US 41 Cobb Parkway into a 'managed arterial' (with variably-tolled grade separations at no fewer than 12 intersections through Cobb County) have also included tentative plans for some type of high or higher-capacity transit (light rail, bus rapid transit, express buses and/or vastly-improved local bus service) on the roadway.

There are even one set managed arterial conversion plans for US 41 Cobb Parkway that call for either a proposed light rail line or a bus rapid transit line to run down the center of US 41 Cobb Parkway in Cobb County with enough improvement to (almost currently non-existent) pedestrian facilities so that the often severely-congested road can become a much-more pedestrian and bike-friendly urban boulevard of sorts without further impeding very-heavy traffic on an already severely-congested road.

Enabling major arterial roads to better handle multiple transportation uses not only involves enabling those roads to better handle bike and pedestrian traffic, but also involves enabling those roads to better (more safely and smoothly) handle automobile traffic.

Grade separations on busy major arterial roads like US 41 in Cobb County and GA 141 in Gwinnett, North Fulton, and Forsyth counties enable those critically-important roads to better handle all types of traffic (vehicular, transit, bike and pedestrian).

Because US 41 serves as 'spillover' road for commuters seeking a western parallel alternative to a severely-congested I-75, and because US 41 handles a lot of local traffic generated by the dozens and dozens of businesses and residences along the route through Cobb County, US 41 Cobb Parkway has to be able to handle a very-large volume of vehicular traffic which the conversion to a 'managed arterial' with grade-separated intersections will better enable the road to do.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by gerrythesnake

I would like to thank each of you all for supporting Ga 400 for all these years! With your years of dedication I will be able to ride it for free soon!

Just because the tolls may be gone does not mean that the road is 'free'.

The tolls may have paid-off the bonds that financed the road's initial construction costs in 2011, but the costs of maintaining the road (clearing the road of pieces of debris, restriping the road, patching the road, repaving the road, replacing steel and concrete barriers after collisions, etc) will continue on during the lifespan of the road.

[gerrythesnake]

BTW, who carry's change anymore? I be damn if I write a check for 50 cents. Get rid of that junk!

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by gerrythesnake

BTW, who carry's change anymore? I be damn if I write a check for 50 cents. Get rid of that junk!

That's a good point.

...That's also a major reason why many places are eliminating toll booths in favor of all-electronic booth-less tolling, where tolls are collected electronically without the use of traditional toll booths that require vehicles to come to a complete stop on high-speed roads.

[gerrythesnake]

3 more days until the tolls are removed! YES!!!

[Galounger]

Am I the only person that would have been completely glad to continue paying the toll if Fulton county had a really good use for it in the county? (and I can think of a lot of things they could use the money for) I'm far from being rich it should be noted.

[gerrythesnake]

Originally Posted by Galounger

Am I the only person that would have been completely glad to continue paying the toll if Fulton county had a really good use for it in the county? (and I can think of a lot of things they could use the money for) I'm far from being rich it should be noted.

Stolen from AshleyPark



Headline from today's AJC... Apparently, GA400 tolls were used for purposes that had nothing to do with GA 400 building, maintenance and operating costs, including the purchase of land at Atlantic Station. Even used for funding development of transportation plans in Savannah. Even funded an "educational" trip to Barcelona and Madrid.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by Galounger
Am I the only person that would have been completely glad to continue paying the toll if Fulton county had a really good use for it in the county? (and I can think of a lot of things they could use the money for) I'm far from being rich it should be noted.

Georgia 400 is a state-maintained highway, which means that the revenues from the Georgia 400 tolls were the State of Georgia's to misuse and misallocate, not Fulton County's.

Originally Posted by gerrythesnake

Stolen from AshleyPark

Headline from today's AJC... Apparently, GA400 tolls were used for purposes that had nothing to do with GA 400 building, maintenance and operating costs, including the purchase of land at Atlantic Station. Even used for funding development of transportation plans in Savannah. Even funded an "educational" trip to Barcelona and Madrid.

With the state's habit of misallocating fees and funds from important revenue sources, the news that GA 400 toll revenues were used for purposes that had nothing to do with operating and maintaining the road is not at all in the least bit surprising.