No vision, focus or direction in state transportation plans
State transportation officials have pulled the plug on the $1 billion “express lane” project on I-75 and I-575, thanks in part to behind-the-scenes pressure from Gov. Nathan Deal.
Reportedly, the “public-private partnership” envisioned to finance the deal was becoming less and less of a true partnership. The taxpayer subsidy demanded by investors in the project had grown from $300 million to $450 million or more, while still leaving control, operation and profits in private hands.
If that’s indeed the case, the cancellation was wise. But what now? The abandonment of the I-75 project ought to be an alarm bell alerting taxpayers to a deeper, more troubling problem. This is the second time that a toll project in that corridor has been proposed to private contractors and then withdrawn. As AJC reporter Ariel Hart points out, Georgia has now invested more than $50 million in that effort with nothing to show for it.
Why? Because transportation planning in this state continues to be plagued by a lack of focus, direction, vision and accountability. The state Department of Transportation is seeking its fourth commissioner in four years and is hamstrung by a divided board. Apparently, nobody can run the place. The department itself has been split in two by legislators, with a commissioner performing some functions and a state planning director performing others. At times, the State Road and Tollway Authority, a separate agency, seems to take the lead; at times it doesn’t. The governor’s office also plays a powerful role from time to time, as it apparently did in this case, but intervening when needed is not the same thing as providing steady guidance and vision.
In addition, the state Legislature has punted funding problems to regional agencies around the state, in effect telling local governments that if they want to build transit projects, they’re on their own. But state officials balk at giving those regional agencies the authority needed to operate transit efficiently. It is a mess, and that mess grows out of three unresolved problems:
– State officials, particularly in the Legislature, cannot bring themselves to acknowledge that mass transit is a necessity. Admitting that things have changed, that metro Atlanta has grown to the point that it has to pursue transit aggressively just like every other major metro region on the planet, represents a profound cultural shift that some Georgians aren’t ready to accept.
– The state needs to commit more money to transportation. It cannot build a world-class logistics and supply system founded on its ports and do it on a starvation transportation budget. It cannot attract corporate headquarters and biotech to a region choking in traffic. Passage of the 1-cent transportation sales tax in metro Atlanta next year represents the minimum of what must be done. “If we don’t pass it, the signal is disastrous,” economist Donald Ratajczak warned the Council on Quality Growth this month. “It makes us very difficult to attract anybody.”
Unfortunately, the sudden cancellation of the I-75 toll project only adds to the perception of indecision and incompetence, making passage of the sales tax less likely. Which lead us to …
– The state needs a rational, professional and accountable system of transportation decision-making. Competing visions, agendas and bureaucracies do not work. Every step taken in the last 20 years has served to cloud rather than clarify lines of responsibility, and we are reaping the consequences.
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450 comments Add your comment
josef
December 19th, 2011
4:54 pm
good fight
But insert prong A into recepticle B and avoid the government regulations? There’s a lot of breeder males out there that oughta be brought up on these charges…
md
December 19th, 2011
4:55 pm
“True…but, well, they’re an inferior lot of atavists who are just in the way…they need to be told their place and stay in it…”
Yep Jo……not to mention that choice thingie……folks don’t have to live on top of each other. There are still too many nice small towns to do that. Took me many years of chasing the dollar in the Atl to realize there is much more to life…………….and traffic/congestion is no longer on my list.
josef
December 19th, 2011
4:56 pm
md
All that said, the bottom line is still too good use it…didn’t have to, didn’t want to, and didn’t…
Brosephus
December 19th, 2011
4:56 pm
Keep
I’m scratching my head on that one for many reasons. First, I’m amazed that he’s got people paying for his service directly without the medical screenings. Next, I’m shocked at the fact that they have medical screening requirements for what he’s doing, but if he were implanting directly into the women, there would be no regulation requirement to be screened. Finally, by selling directly, is he under the same regulations as a medical facility even though he isn’t one?
That Black guy
December 19th, 2011
4:57 pm
Correction: When a politician gets involved, he doesn’t mess with the program or project in question in the ways *I* would, therefore he must be wrong, therefore he screwed up, therefore all politicians suck, therefore the government needs more revenue.
This is what qualifies as logic for some liberals. And you and I both only WISH it was a straw man….
Adam, see, it works both ways…
josef
December 19th, 2011
4:59 pm
md
Commuted from Coosa to Atlanta for five years so our kids would grow up in a community that reflected our home values, had woods to roam about, knew the neighbors and knew if they had a problem…the village to raise a child…
Keep Up the Good Fight!
December 19th, 2011
4:59 pm
josef, I dont think those males were charging by the cup nor were they intentionally breeding…..they were just fulfilling their duty because they were driven by the passion they felt for this country!
josef
December 19th, 2011
5:02 pm
good fight
G-d, I hope in his passion he didn’t leave a new generation of b*stids, you know, that category into which he has cast his previous (and assumedly non passionantly spermed) progeny…
Keep Up the Good Fight!
December 19th, 2011
5:04 pm
Brosephus, not sure of the rules myself. I suspect if you are selling it you are subject to regulation. Good reasons to be tested and if you listen to the clip at the end, good reasons that kids should know their donor numbers (obviously overlooking the obligatory Alabama joke to be inserted here
). But it does seem to make a case for “breeders” being named even if old fashioned methods used.
I learned long ago that consistent logic and rationality is not always present for legal matters as much as we would hope that it would be.
md
December 19th, 2011
5:05 pm
Jo…….good for you. Of course, years ago one could find a “village” not too far from downtown….then Atl became an “International” city…….and the villages turned into sprawl……woods for malls.
I’ve gone back to the woods…….and don’t miss that havoc a bit. Every time I visit the Atl (and that’s fairly frequent), it just re-enforces my reasons for leaving……..life is too short to spend 1/3 of it in the car.
josef
December 19th, 2011
5:10 pm
md
When we inherited our brood, we went out looking at the schools and communities working outward…it was 75 miles until we found it…the reception “you boys doing right by them kids” in Coosa was an answered prayer…it was worth every minute on 75…but, believe me, I can understand why they don’t want to make the commute any easier…
Brosephus
December 19th, 2011
5:10 pm
Keep
I’ve never understood how people could go through the anonymous donor method from the beginning. There’s too many negatives that could come from that as opposed to knowing the source of the donation.
Thomas
December 19th, 2011
5:11 pm
Flaherty to reduce (Canadian) gov’t spending on healthcare-
The federal government is clearly signaling it will not support health care to the extent it has in the past,” he said, adding that curbs on transfer growth would reduce public access to the system and quality of service
All so “shocking” as Europe implodes- Flaherty smart enough to know what can and cannot be afforded.
USMC
December 19th, 2011
5:23 pm
Merry Christmas JAY BOOKMAN!
NEWT’S LEAD COLLAPSES
http://www.gallup.com/poll/151616/Gingrich-Lead-Romney-Among-Republicans-Collapses.aspx?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=syndication&utm_content=morelink&utm_term=All%20Gallup%20Headlines%20-%20Politics
As much as Jay HATES Newt, I imagine we will see yet another predictable Jay Bookman commentary on this tomorrow… just sayin…
Anne Coulter
December 19th, 2011
5:24 pm
Anyone out there have any idea how many millions a year MARTA spends yearly on those empty or one passenger handicapped buses that act as private limousines for anyone who claims to be handicapped? I understand that these buses were required after a class action against MARTA for not complying with the unfunded mandate of Americans with Disabilities act. I thought all buses were handicapped equipped? Why do the alleged handicapped get door to door service?
pogo
December 19th, 2011
5:26 pm
Just another day. Holder’s desperation results in him playing the tired old race card and another dictator dies in N. Korea who will only be re-placed by someone or something much worse.
After American intervention, the middle east is once again boiling and Egyptians are killing each other and radical Islam is thriving. Iraq is now leaning towards radical Shia and the Sunni’s, Christians and the Kurds are about to face some very, very tough times. And this after we have spent some 800 billion to change a culture that only knows and understands violence and iron fisted governance.
America needs to stay home and take care of itself because it is in really bad shape ourselves. Our economic condition can be equated to the early signs of malignant cancer in the human body. At first the host feels fine except for a twinge of pain now and then and the pain can made all better by drugs (in our case, excessive spending of taxpayer money). But the real pain is to come later. And right now, no leader of no party has the guts to even keep us on life support or to do anything but belay our early symptoms.
josef
December 19th, 2011
5:26 pm
USMC
And it’s even got a multi-colored graph!
Doggone/GA
December 19th, 2011
5:28 pm
“Why do the alleged handicapped get door to door service?”
HANDICAP ENVY!
josef
December 19th, 2011
5:29 pm
pogo
The Iraqi Christians have been given sanctuary in Kurdistan and from all indications, the Kurds are just waiting for the Sunni and Shia to make a mess to the south, and then make their move…they’ve built up a fairly substantial set of friends in the outside world…
Bumper Sticker
December 19th, 2011
5:31 pm
I swallered a Newt and now I’m spittin’ mad
TaxPayer
December 19th, 2011
5:31 pm
Uh Oh! The Republicans don’t like the Newt either. No go for the Newt or Cain or Perry or the Mitt. Is it a Bachmann or Paul candidacy! Go for it. Why pick between the two. Make it Bachmann/Paul or Paul/Bachmann. Unless you guys are already ready to try for yet another Bush in the White House. There’s still Huntsman though. Here he comes to save the day!!!
Brosephus
December 19th, 2011
5:35 pm
Doggone
pogo
Not trying to pick on you personally, but when I read your post, all that came to mind was Eeyore. It doesn’t help that I’ve been watching Winnie the Pooh with the lil one either. When you have a defeatist attitude, you’ve already lost the battle. I refuse to let anybody, left or right, destroy this country of mine.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
December 19th, 2011
5:38 pm
“Why do the alleged handicapped get door to door service?”
Well at least the poster chose the right name to represent her/his ugliness…..
Try even walking with someone in a wheelchair for a few hours and see how well cracked sidewalks downtown work or lack of sidewalks. See how well other passengers deal with waiting while a wheelchair elevator is deployed and a chaired person is put onto a bus. I could go on but you apparently don’t have the brain power to function with compassion and rationality.
USMC
December 19th, 2011
5:42 pm
“And it’s even got a multi-colored graph!”-josef
Hey Josef! I took that page from Jay’s playbook.
USMC
December 19th, 2011
5:44 pm
Anne Coulter,
BINGO! I see that all of the time an scratch my head KNOWING that I am watching a WASTE of taxpayer dollars rolling down the street.
Great point!
USMC
December 19th, 2011
5:46 pm
“I swallered a Newt and now I’m spittin’ mad”
-too much information
Jay
December 19th, 2011
5:46 pm
As much as Jay HATES Newt, I imagine we will see yet another predictable Jay Bookman commentary on this tomorrow… just sayin…
You are oh so wrong, USMC. Why wait for tomorrow?
Sheets.
Peter G. Fitzpatrick
December 19th, 2011
6:16 pm
I visualize Jay has tiny angel wings on his back and hangs out on ceilings, how else can he be so informed and caring. It looks like Atlanta is rejecting a ‘National model transportation solution’ commericalization of our critical infrastructure. The economics of the 75 toll road went south, and the Gwinnett 85 toll road fiascal brought out the best thinking of our commuters, hell no, I won’t pay!. The guys in the back rooms could become thought-leaders if they listen with their feet, and communicate openly and honestly about all of the critical issues that are tied to our regional transporation beyond just traffic snarls. They can get our attention and deliver a layered solution….Clean air and water, clean power and functional transportation can transform Atlanta as did the Olympics. Atlanta as a National Thought Leader, that would motivate me if I was Governor.
Not Blind
December 19th, 2011
6:47 pm
It’s all about being reelected. Ramming through the much needed outer perimeter MIGHT have ended some political careers so it got killed. At that point any forward thinkers in the GDOT could see the writing on the wall about the big picture. Now it’s just little stuff like Sugarloaf Pkwy, etc.
To really move forward some toes will have to be stepped on. Some peoples’ lifelong home will get steamrolled. It can’t be any other way if we are to progress.
dogdownsouth
December 19th, 2011
7:04 pm
Jay, as a recent 34 retiree from the GDOT I can assure you that the current state of affairs regarding the transportation “ISSUES” in the State of Georgia have nothing repeat nothing to do with the GDOT! This crisis was developed managed and installed by the Georgia Legislature and the Leader In Crime Sonny Boy Perdue. It’s well known that the legislature refused as far back as 2006 that GDOT had been underfunded for years beginning with the horrific economic disaster that was precipitated by Huricane Katrina, then the legislature refused to adequately fund the State’s road construction & repair through the meager Fuel Tax that Georgia has ( one of the lowest in the Nation since the late 1970’s) then Gov Perdue’s Attempt ( through the manipulation of his puppet Gena Evans) to destroy and return control of the GDOT from its elected Board of Commissioners back to the hands of the same Legislature that refused to consider raising the revenue needed instead of campaigning for reelection on the platform that ” I didnt vote to raise taxes”. Now the Iniaitiative on next years Ballot to have regional groups with the public voting to approve a 1 cent tax is doomedand will fail completely, since the representatives in the Legislature didnt have the cojones to do it properly . Then what will happen to a system that is overworked undermaintained, and has no funding to even try to stay even with demand much less improve. None of this is at any way a result of the Hard work & dedication put forth from one of the smallest State Agencies with one of the Largest Responsibilities in this State!! Current staffing levels of the GDOT are less than 4,800! for the Entire STATE!!
zeke
December 19th, 2011
7:14 pm
using vision in republican controlled government environment is inappropriate
(the real) Independent
December 19th, 2011
7:43 pm
“How about your eyes for sensitivity to color?”
Race card! Ha. You just knew they couldn’t go all day without pulling it out.”
Thanks, Thulsa – I couldn’t figure out what that meant. Now I understand.
facts checked reached a conclusion
December 19th, 2011
7:48 pm
As long as Georgia is ruled by the Republican Party in all legislative branches of the government, the transportation tax will NEVER pass. The state has NO ETHICS policies that deters corruption amongst the elected officials. The working class/middle class dollars are too hard to earn and hold on to. Why give them extra dollars to squander on their prestigious life styles??
Jay
December 19th, 2011
7:57 pm
Actually, Ed Murrow, I hope that Newt ISN’T the nominee.
Sure, he would be much easier to beat. The odds of Obama’s re-election rise to almost 100 percent if he’s the nominee.
That said, it would also remove what remaining respect I have for the Republican Party and cause me to question the basic sanity of millions of my fellow Americans. So no, I don’t hope they nominate Newt. I hope they nominate Romney, who is at least credible as a president.
ODD OWL
December 19th, 2011
8:30 pm
When Rep. Paul Broun came into office, he promised to “FOUR LANE” route 17 and route 78 in his district in eastern Georgia. Five years later, Broun haven’t four laned anything. The plan has been scraped. Republicans…. They talk a good game, but they don’t do anything.
ld
December 20th, 2011
12:06 am
Whew!! really glad I don’t NEED to face Atlanta traffic every day.
Last time was a short (late December) rainy foggy afternoon rush hour 5:30 pm from exit from near middle of town and back when the HOV lanes were still for 2 or more folk in the car.
I was really glad I was not alone, but, even on the HOV lanes gettin’ outta town, I still ached all over from he tension by the time I exited I85 onto 985 N.
I had noticed something called “ride share” and couldn’t help but wonder if that had been a way I could have parked well north of spaghetti junction and made it to my destination via mass transit. Something like that would at least left the road to the locals.
Anyone that must slog through Atlanta traffic has my sympathy.
After 9-ll I heard somewhere that the terrorist decided against Atlanta as a target because of the traffic–never knew if that were true or just some stand-up comic that knew Atlanta.
tireofit
December 20th, 2011
7:59 am
I don’t know who flip-flops more the republican candidates or the republican voters?
Corey
December 20th, 2011
8:08 am
Anne Coulter, you are too ignorant for your own good. MARTA’s buses equipped for the handicapped do not drive around looking for handicapped people to pick up. These buses do no run fixed routes. People who require this service have to make appointments way in advance. The cost for a trip for door- to- door service for these buses is much much higher than the standard $2.50 per trip for regular buses. If the bus is empty it’s because it has dropped someone off, or it’s on the way to pick up someone. No, MARTA’s standard buses are not equipped for all handicapped individuals. Yes, some handicapped individuals require door- to- door service to get to medical appointments etc., and those big buses that run fixed routes cannot just pull up in your driveway. Picking on the handicapped, Anne? Really? Must be that Republican meanness that Republicans so boldly display? Don’t knock the handicapped until you have to ride a mile in their wheel chair. Also, dear Anne, none of us knows what tomorrow will bring. Perplexed? Think about it.
Michael
December 20th, 2011
11:09 am
If there is one principle that guides conservatives in general and Republicans in particular, it is that government is bad. That they demonstrate this principle over and over by governing badly should be a surprise to no one.
Deal Monger
December 20th, 2011
11:26 am
Does it surprise anyone that The Deal Monger had his dirty hand in the “deal”? After all he was elected our Guv even after being on the list of 15 most corrupt congressman. Ga voters do love their crooks,don’t they?
Deal Monger
December 20th, 2011
11:29 am
Speaking of the idiots in DOT, has anyone noticed the I-75 widening in Macon where THREE lanes will narrow down into ONE lane at I-16 cloverleaf? Really makes sense doesn’t it?
Will the last Democrat in Georgia please turn off the lights?.....
December 20th, 2011
12:19 pm
Not Blind
December 19th, 2011
6:47 pm
“It’s all about being reelected. Ramming through the much needed outer perimeter MIGHT have ended some political careers so it got killed.”
Attempting to ram through the Outer Perimeter/Northern Arc DID end some political careers: The political careers of former Governor Roy Barnes and virtually the ENTIRE Georgia Democrat Party.
After seeing the seemingly unbeatable Democrats lose power and get thrown out of office, head first, after close to 140 years in absolute control of Georgia politics in large part for backing the Outer Perimeter/Northern Arc through affluent and politically-influential country club communities full of powerful lawyers in Forsyth and Cherokee Counties in the Golden Crescent, any phrase with the terms “Outer Perimeter” or “Northern Arc” in them are politically-radioactive to the currently-ruling and all-powerful Georgia Republicans who gained control of Georgia politics on the strength of running AGAINST the Northern Arc in 2002 when Sonny Perdue defeated Roy Barnes to become Governor.
“At that point any forward thinkers in the GDOT could see the writing on the wall about the big picture. Now it’s just little stuff like Sugarloaf Pkwy, etc.”
Sugarloaf Parkway is NOT a state-funded or maintained road. Sugarloaf Parkway and its under construction extension are locally-funded and maintained and are the responsibility of Gwinnett County, though the Sugarloaf Pkwy extension from 316 north to Peachtree Industrial Blvd will run in the right-of-way of the erstwhile Northern Arc/Outer Perimeter, but will NOT advance beyond PIB as the right-of-way of the old Northern Arc in Forsyth and Cherokee Counties has since been filled in with upscale residential development.
“To really move forward some toes will have to be stepped on. Some peoples’ lifelong home will get steamrolled. It can’t be any other way if we are to progress.”
A new Outer Perimeter/Northern Arc is not happening anytime soon, if ever, as that issue was settled pretty much once-and-for-all back in 2002-03 when Sonny Perdue defeated Roy Barnes and killed the project for good on the strength of public outrage over so much of the state transportation budget being spent on a project that was viewed by the public as being of great benefit to developers who wanted to spread more of the post-suburban sprawl that counties like Cobb and Gwinnett struggle with.
Ain’t no homes or businesses being streamrolled for a new Outer Bypass/Loop, ever, which means that the Atlanta Region has no choice but to turn to a strategy of heavy dependence on a mix or historically much-reviled transit and surface roads if it is to find its way out of this transportation wilderness.
Rick
December 20th, 2011
7:12 pm
One billion dollars just to give people the option of commuting or traveling faster, even if it means normal commuters will not be benefitted is the definition of insanity.
Jamal Jenkums
December 20th, 2011
11:47 pm
Yeah the democRATS built Hartsfield and Marta. And made the trains run to the ghetto neighborhoods instead of the stadium. Then Fat Albert (Maynard) made damn sure his kids got sweet concession deals at the airport that they STILL have. Oh, and appointed a career welfare queen to the MARTA board of directors! So I should pay more taxes so these leeches can ride the bus? VOTE NO on the regional sales tax! Starve the beast!
WOODSTOCK MIKE
December 21st, 2011
3:02 pm
Now the far left turning on Obama… Here’s Matt Damon’s opinion…
“I’ve talked to a lot of people who worked for Obama at the grassroots level,” says Damon. “One of them said to me, ‘Never again. I will never be fooled again by a politician.’”
Damon then gets even more direct with his own criticism.
“You know, a one-term president with some balls who actually got stuff done would have been, in the long run of this country, much better,” argues the We Bought a Zoo star.
He adds, “If the Democrats think that they didn’t have a mandate – people are literally without any focus or leadership, just wandering out into the streets to yell right now because they are so pissed off.”
“Imagine if they had a leader,” wonders Damon.
john
December 21st, 2011
5:51 pm
Gena Evans has destroyed every agency she has worked in.
Janet
December 21st, 2011
7:31 pm
The pavers run and are the members of the DOT. They have since the early 1980’s. The DOT can ONLY pave roads, not build mass transit. If the state does not get mass transit installed region wide, it’s a matter of time before the entire Atlanta area withers and dies on the vine. That and water are the 2 biggest long term issues Atlanta faces.
zeke
December 21st, 2011
7:36 pm
can’t use vision when referring to republican led government
Will the last Democrat in Georgia please turn off the lights?.....
December 21st, 2011
8:46 pm
Janet
December 21st, 2011
7:31 pm
Agreed. Though the trainbuilders are somewhat quietly starting to gain a lot more influence withing state government as it was a German trainmaker that funded Georgia House Speaker David Ralston’s family vacation to Europe last year.
Adam
December 22nd, 2011
2:55 pm
argues the We Bought a Zoo star.
Really? Who wrote that article? THIS is what they want to say Matt Damon is known for?