Northside Drive Corridor Improvement Project (I-20 to I-75) (Atlanta: buses, moving)

[Atlwarrior]

Originally Posted by alco89

I don't really see how this would effect the West End at all.

Northside drive runs into Whitehall which feeds directly into West End and I-20 access. GDOT are attending our neighborhood meetings and we are strongly opposed to their plans.

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by Atlwarrior

Northside drive runs into Whitehall which feeds directly into West End and I-20 access. GDOT are attending our neighborhood meetings and we are strongly opposed to their plans.

Their plans to add bikelanes, and street-scaping?

[alco89]

Originally Posted by Atlwarrior

Northside drive runs into Whitehall which feeds directly into West End and I-20 access. GDOT are attending our neighborhood meetings and we are strongly opposed to their plans.

But if the main objective is to increase Northside Drive's connectivity to I-20 so you can go north, how would that negatively effect the West End since it's south of I-20. Your comment about suburbanites doesn't make sense since it shouldn't make them want to drive through the West End at a higher volume. I also don't see what Whitehall has to do with this. Currently to get to Northside from I-20, you have to exit at McDaniel St, cross Peters St. and Whitehall and then turn onto Northside. The possibility of adding an exit directly for Northside would free up congestion there (trust me, I've had to do it) and leave the West End unscathed. Not to mention the bike lanes and streetscaping.

http://www.dot.ga.gov/BuildSmart/Pro...ctOverview.pdf

What am I missing?

[Zanarkand A East]

An I-20 exit on Northside is long overdue. It'd be interesting to see if streetcar service on Northside would lead to similar development on that side of town, presuming the stadium doesn't preempt that with oceans of parking lots.

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by Zanarkand A East

An I-20 exit on Northside is long overdue. It'd be interesting to see if streetcar service on Northside would lead to similar development on that side of town, presuming the stadium doesn't preempt that with oceans of parking lots.

That's why I think a bit of BRT would be good for the area. You'd get a taste of what dedicated transit would bring to the area, while also using it as an opperational case study for future BRT.

[fourthwarden]

BRT Route Map

There are two lines shown here, one from West End to Arts Center, the other from West End to Cumberland Transfer Center. Stations marked with the [M] symbol show MARTA rail stations that would have BRT stops. Stations marked with the the streetcar symbol show eventual Atlanta Streetcar stops.

The route from West End to Arts Center (via 17th Street) is about 6 miles.
A rough cost puts this route at $108 Mil. on its own.

The route from West End to Cumberland is about 13 miles.
A rough cost puts this route at $234 Mil. on its own.

The routes share about 4 miles.

These costs were taken as a middle average of BRT cost from here. (Page 7)

You might be able to keep costs down if you have strictly the cost of the complete street, plastic bollards, paint, and basic stations / shelters.

[MattCW]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Guess, what MARTA has a fleet of the newest buses running thru downtown providing connectivity. Still do not see many demand riders on the bus.
Welcome to New Flyer!

Well yea, they only got new buses, not new schedules. It's the bad schedules which keep people off the buses, not some inherent hate of rubber-tired vehicles.

[DirkMcGirt]

Originally Posted by MattCW

Well yea, they only got new buses, not new schedules. It's the bad schedules which keep people off the buses, not some inherent hate of rubber-tired vehicles.

It wouldn't be hard to fix, but it would just take some leadership and commitment from MARTA to fix. Sadly, Keith Parker just doesn't provide either. Perhaps relying on a few volunteers with nothing better to do than laminate and try to hang schedules on bus stops isn't the best course of action for a major transit agency... hmmmm...

[MattCW]

Dirk may have it for this one. MARTA was supposed to have a comprehensive study performed of the routes over a year ago I think. We've heard crickets since then. Also, that's one place Cobb does it better than MARTA, they at least list the route number, and usually also have the route's schedules at the stops.

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by MattCW

Dirk may have it for this one. MARTA was supposed to have a comprehensive study performed of the routes over a year ago I think. We've heard crickets since then. Also, that's one place Cobb does it better than MARTA, they at least list the route number, and usually also have the route's schedules at the stops.

CCT doesn't quite have the scope or complexity of MARTA's bus network, so I would imagine that, even for CCT, it isn't nearly as hard to do a sweeping signage update. Yes the MARTA signs are outdated and lacking in information, but the shelters are pretty much on point (where available) with maps and schedules. The main thing holding back the updates, as I understand it, is the pending bus study. The agency doesn't want to waste money on sign upgrades if they're gonna be making lots of changes.

That's the whole point of the army's signage campaign, to provide a stop-gap solution. It's not THE solution, nor is it meant to be. Why wast piles of money and man hours updating signs that will be obsolete in a couple years when you can buy a lamination machine and zipties for a group of volunteers?

There was mention of the bus study in a recent interview with the army's leaders, but I'm having a hard time finding the text (might have been in an audio interview), so it's still a thing. As for it's finalization date, I can't really find anything that gives that kind of thing. If you have info as to the time line of the project, by all means, I'd love to see it.