MARTA unveils its dream project list for November Referendum (Atlanta: live, transit)

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by Mossberg

I just sent an email to MARTA asking about what happened to the Mechanicsville infill. I'll update the thread if/when they reply.

Got 'til the 31st. I would like it put back in too. Armour can wait, and we'll just use Lindbergh to transfer.

[primaltech]

If it's only $50 mil to build Mechanicsville (as the unofficial martamenu.com says), then it's just a no-brainer, with 2.5 Bil.

Murphy Crossing is listed at $100 mil, to build a new station literally 2 blocks from West End station, with all of its surrounding neighborhoods already currently covered by West End and Oakland City stations. That's just stupid.

Just build a Beltline connector trail that goes directly into West End station, and call it a day.

[tikigod311]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Potential mayor candidate Kwanza Hall feedback:
https://www.facebook.com/notes/distr...19170594828048

Oh boy, does this mean we are going to deal with competing plans for these potential taxes? I certainly welcome reasonable conversations, but this scares me a bit that someone may be posturing for office at the expense of a comprehensive plan.

[tikigod311]

Originally Posted by fourthwarden

Not Portland, not New York, just us, Atlanta.

I love that saying and that is what I want Atlanta to be. No need to be a copy, no need to emulate. Atlanta needs to be Atlanta

And in true Atlanta fashion, we'll find some way to run it all into the ground in a spectacular and flaming wreck of good intentions and bold ideas.

Oh yeah. But I feel like we have a lot of momentum and a long history of failed efforts, it's time for some overwhelming success. There is a lot of work behind these plans. I love that the efforts of the folks behind the Beltline, the Proctor Creek Greenway, PATH, bike advocates, etc finally may be put the use. The work the Beltline has done so far has been with the expectation that a tax like this was coming. It hindsight, it seems a bit crazy. All that work with no plan for funding (TAD sure, but that wasn't going to cover everything).

I liked the team I saw presenting Thursday night. They instilled confidence, they knew what they were talking about. There was no hint of justifying the tax for the sake of a tax. This money has a plan behind it.

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by tikigod311

Oh boy, does this mean we are going to deal with competing plans for these potential taxes? I certainly welcome reasonable conversations, but this scares me a bit that someone may be posturing for office at the expense of a comprehensive plan.

The odd thing I saw, was that he short changed the plan a bit. His project list was only $3.5 Bil. compared to the $6ish Bil. MARTA is now working their plans with. I mean, that's a lot of transit to drop.

The other odd thing is that his plan is not excluded by the MARTA plans, and all the lines he suggested were present in MARTA's High-Capacity plan.

It just... seems like a step back within the existing plan, rather than an alternative.

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by fourthwarden

The odd thing I saw, was that he short changed the plan a bit. His project list was only $3.5 Bil. compared to the $6ish Bil. MARTA is now working their plans with. I mean, that's a lot of transit to drop.

The other odd thing is that his plan is not excluded by the MARTA plans, and all the lines he suggested were present in MARTA's High-Capacity plan.

It just... seems like a step back within the existing plan, rather than an alternative.

Federal funding match would capture most of that other $2.5 billion.

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by Gulch

Federal funding match would capture most of that other $2.5 billion.

Exactly. For some reason, people keep forgetting the federal matching...

I would like to see how we suddenly have an extra $1 Bil. to work with.

[jsvh]

While I would love there to be more money, Hall's budget is much more realistic. A 50% federal match for all projects is very unlikely.

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by jsvh

While I would love there to be more money, Hall's budget is much more realistic. A 50% federal match for all projects is very unlikely.

Except MARTA already only budgeted for some $2.6 Bil federal funding instead of the full $3.5 Bil projected revenue.

[tikigod311]

One thing I like about Hall's plan is the route through Castleberry Hill and the AUC. There is a lot of use for that in the area and gobs of development potential on the western half of this route. I don't like how the current plan put out by MARTA has this staying on MLK. It seems redundant with MARTA right there

However, Hall's plan does neglect the street car going up through Boone to Bankhead. I think that is a big loss and I don't think the city is going to be keen on that as it will have Bellwood Park up all by its self.