And you wonder why voters rejected the T-SPLOST
If you want to see a microcosm of the reason metro Atlanta voters didn’t trust our transportation planners enough to approve the $7.2 billion T-SPLOST tax, I recommend this news from the AJC:
The state Transportation Board is poised to declare the Downtown Connector a gateway to the state, and to help fund a makeover to pretty up some of the high-profile bridges that pass over it.
The first two are the Peachtree Street bridges that pass over the Connector and back, in Downtown and Midtown.
“This lets the traveling public know the city of Atlanta is the capital city,” said DOT board president Johnny Floyd. “We want to showcase it and make sure it looks good.”
The makeover, according to the Midtown Alliance, will include colored under-lighting for night time and the words “Peachtree Street” in lights, as well as sculptured fences and sidewalks on the surface level over the I-85/I-75 interchange.
The Department of Transportation’s board approved the expense on Thursday. DOT will put $1.7 million toward the $5 million project for two bridges. Three other bridges would follow later, said DOT board member Sam Wellborn.
Yes, this must be the best way to spend $5 million in transportation funding (the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District is to contribute some of the money). Just think how pretty Peachtree Street will look as motorists are stuck in traffic on or underneath it!
Now, before you say, “It’s only $5 million. How much traffic relief could we get for that kind of money?” — I have numbers.
The T-SPLOST list included mostly projects that cost millions, if not tens or hundreds of millions, of dollars. But it also included some less expensive projects, particularly in the city of Atlanta.
In fact, there were 14 Atlanta projects that each cost less than $1 million. For $5 million, we could complete the nine cheapest of these — including some projects in the Downtown/Midtown vicinity: improvements along 10th Street, 14th Street, Edgewood Avenue, North Avenue and others, with almost $275,000 to spare. Or we could see some other combination of projects adding up to $5 million.
Admittedly, I didn’t spend a lot of time examining these smaller-scale projects leading up to the July 31 referendum. I don’t know how much congestion relief we’d get from them. But if they made the cut to be on the list, they almost certainly would be more worthwhile than putting some street names in fancy lights on interstate overpasses.
Ah, but what about this line from the AJC story?
The DOT money comes from signs near highway exits that advertise businesses at upcoming rest stops. That money is dedicated to making “gateways” to the state attractive.
Shouldn’t that stipulation preclude the money from being spent on traffic improvements rather than sprucing up our roads? I dunno; ask me again after the state has stopped diverting other fee revenues from the purposes prescribed by the laws creating them.
In any case, I can think of few ways to make a state “gateway” more “attractive” than ensuring motorists can exit the Downtown Connector and actually get to where they’re going. That strikes me as a relevant and better use of the money.
A big part of the public distrust regarding the T-SPLOST was the idea that the state is already spending money as wisely as possible. This is one more episode that makes the skeptics say, “Told you so!”
– By Kyle Wingfield
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265 comments Add your comment
Mr. Snarky
November 17th, 2012
8:53 am
Kyle, so are you taking issue with funds for road beautification? Because if the DOT decided to switch funds from one purpose to another arbitrarily seems like something you would object to, but in this case it appears you think the road beautification funds should be used for other purposes. Clarify please.
clanmack
November 17th, 2012
9:14 am
What a great tourist attraction!!! “hey everybody, lets go sit in traffic and read the neon street signs on the downtown bridges!”
Of course, unlike the traffic pacing tube lights under the I85 south to I75 north bridge loop or the lane lights in the Buckhead Loop – 400 bridge intersection, some farsighted GDOT planner will have to maintain the lights. Maybe that is what the additional 3.3 million will go for. Walks like a boondoggle, talks like a boondoggle, . . .
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
November 17th, 2012
9:15 am
Do businesses not pay to get their name and picture on those DOT exit signs?
Don
November 17th, 2012
9:18 am
More upsetting than the fact they are going to do this is that somebody at the DOT has the time and inclination to think this up!
I thought the T in DOT stood for Transportation, Guess not.
Eric
November 17th, 2012
9:21 am
Evidently Atlanta already has been attractive enough for the 5+ million people that live here. Why are we trying to attract MORE people? Anyone heard of water shortages, traffic, and smog?
Just Say No to New Taxes
November 17th, 2012
9:22 am
We made T-SPOLT into T-SPLAT!! NO NEW TAXES, EVER, AND END THE CURRENT TAXES!! THE MORE TAX MONEY THE GOVERNMENT THIEVES COLLECT, THE MORE THEY CAN STEAL!
CC
November 17th, 2012
9:34 am
carlosgvv@8:28 am:
Extra credit for a sense of humor!
Dumb and Dumber
November 17th, 2012
9:54 am
I blame Obama and all those dimocrats that run the Georgia State Transportation Board.
Oh, wait. What dimocrats on the State Transportation Board?
carlosgvv
November 17th, 2012
9:59 am
cc – 9:34
Every once and a while I have to park my bad mouthing!!
Halftrack
November 17th, 2012
10:01 am
A lot of you bloggers want to know who’s in charge. Our past Gov. Purdue goofed up DOT when he placed a woman in charge of it. Then along came the Legislature and divided the DOT up into 2 units. They now have 2 CEO’s. Political Will rules the roost and some days it probably is hard to tell who is ruling the roost. Who is Will exactly?
Banderson
November 17th, 2012
10:06 am
Tiberius – . If you think the state is just approving charter schools and walking away, you are very wrong (again).
Here’s a link to HB 797, assuming you’re interested in facts, not your just your opinion of things:
http://www1.legis.ga.gov/legis/2011_12/pdf/hb797.pdf
a few points in the legislation about the new charter school commission’s duties, etc. (question marks added):
-Conduct facility and curriculum reviews of state charter schools
-Approve or deny petitions for state charter schools and renew, nonrenew, or terminate state charter school petitions
-The commission shall ensure that each state charter school participates in the state’s education accountability system (?)
-Develop, promote, and disseminate best practices (?) for state charter schools
-Monitor and annually review and evaluate the academic and financial performance, including revenues and expenditures
-Review and recommend to the General Assembly any necessary revisions to statutory requirements regarding standards (?) and accountability for state charter schools
-If a charter for a state charter school is not renewed or is terminated, the state charter school shall be responsible for all debts of such school. Neither the state, the State Board of Education, or the commission shall be liable for any debts of the school in the event the charter is not renewed or is terminated.
The last point was smart – it will encourage compliance to the state in order to keep the charter active.
CC
November 17th, 2012
10:47 am
I have been visited by the Obamanomics team: they have required me to modify my blogging name because I was undercapitalized.
iggy
November 17th, 2012
10:48 am
And lettuce not forget the lastest expose’ on one of Atlanta News stations that cited some Marta Bus drivers making well into the 6 $figures for driving a bus. Some security guards also making well into the 6 $figures.
We arent talking about $101,000, either…we are talking $200K some $300,000 dollars. Then theres is this silly bridge project then the “beltline” then trolleys…..waste waste waste.
iggy
November 17th, 2012
10:50 am
On a side note….
Medical giant Stryker cuts 1,170 jobs, citing ObamaCare.
“Ive got to admit its getting better, better all the time, (it cant get no worse).”
iggy
November 17th, 2012
10:53 am
And oh my goodnes…I just found more….
- CEO of Papa John’s says employees’ hours will likely be cut due to ObamaCare
- Group turns to social media to rally support for Papa John’s amid liberal backlash
- Banks may shrink for good as layoffs near 160,000
- Coal company exec lays off more than 160 workers after Obama re-election
CC
November 17th, 2012
11:06 am
This is interesting reading regarding the “top five” Obamacare taxes that begin in 2013. If you haven’t already read this or something similar, it’s worth a few minutes . . .
“WOLF: Obamacare taxes mean Obamacare layoffs
800,000 jobs at risk”
“The only thing worse than President Obama’s broken Obamacare promises are the promises he intends to keep: the tax hikes. Remember when Mr. Obama promised he’d never raise taxes on families earning less than $250,000 a year? He’d prefer you didn’t, but when Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and the Supreme Court put its stamp of approval on Obamacare, Mr. Obama became a court-certified tax-raiser.”
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/nov/12/obamacare-taxes-mean-obamacare-layoffs/
Dusty
November 17th, 2012
11:12 am
Halftrack,10:01
The woman you tried to demonize because she was head of GDOT had a PHD in engineering and taught at Georgia Tech, probably the most educated person to ever serve in that job. She wanted things done right and it wasn’t cheap so she got dumped. Now we have those well educated in proposing neon signs for beauty and other business (profit making) signs to pay for it. So you can be pleased that he aint no womun!!
But since we are going to beautify and call it transportation, let us plant trees in every inch we can find. A corridor of Japanese Maple trees and dogwoods would be the most resplendent thing that could happen. You could throw in a few peach trees to make it official;. A pox on neon. It is passe’ and pathetic as “art work”. .
CC
November 17th, 2012
11:21 am
“probably the most educated person to ever serve in that job”
She was the very definition of “over-qualified”. Unfortunately, she wasn’t “political” enough, as is so often the case.
Dusty
November 17th, 2012
11:25 am
CC
Congratulations! I see you are now the BIG CC. You deserve the honor. Not everybody can “capitalize” these days.
CC
November 17th, 2012
11:41 am
Dusty:
I was told by the Obamanomics team that it was either this, a merger or a government takeover.
I elected to capitalize myself to avoid further governmental intrusion.
Dusty
November 17th, 2012
11:47 am
CC
I admire your integrity! May your reward be the finest neon sign ever!! You deserve the bestest!
carlosgvv
November 17th, 2012
11:48 am
cc
Obamacare hasn’t even taken effect yet and businesses are already anouncing layoffs? Looks like Obamacare is offering these greed driven Execs. the perfect excuse to lay off more workers and pile extra work on those lucky? enough to keep their jobs.
Thulsa Doom
November 17th, 2012
11:58 am
carlosgvv,
Well if the execs were so greedy why didn’t they just lay off these workers to begin with without looking for an excuse? You don’t think they find excuses all by themselves? Better yet if they are so greedy why did they even bother hiring these extra workers if they could have just never hired them to begin with and piled on ever more work on the other workers? Do you guys even stop to think just how ridiculous your statements are to begin with?
You dont say
November 17th, 2012
12:07 pm
Thulsa Doom
If the execs were on the level and wanted to lead by example, why change their salary and bonus structure right before bankruptcy. Was it coincidence that the new structure gave them more salary and less bonus. Guess they had no idea the courts would tell them to forgo the bonus part of their compensation package, right?
Do you really believe that?
I’m not absolving the union and their actions, but it appears that the exec were managers and surely not leaders. They are not one in the same.
CC
November 17th, 2012
12:08 pm
. . . and in the midst of these struggles with Obamacare we see labor unions doing even more damage to themselves and their fellow employees, but it WILL work. Right? I mean, if Obama supports the unions, how can they fail? Right?
Really “stoopid” . . .
Kyle Midtown
November 17th, 2012
12:10 pm
There was an article in the Atlanta Business Chronicle about this project. I am pretty sure that the money for this project is coming from private sources – is being raised by local business leaders.
Shataniana
November 17th, 2012
12:19 pm
“This lets the traveling public know the city of Atlanta is the capital city,…”. Right, need to correct any misconception that Snellville is the capital.
And DOT thinks the downtown connector is the “gateway to the state”? To most people a gateway is an entrance, and the nearest roadway entrance to Georgia is an hour drive from the connector. What are these jokers smoking?
dabir dalton
November 17th, 2012
12:29 pm
Kyle wrote: I dunno; ask me again after the state has stopped diverting other fee revenues from the purposes prescribed by the laws creating them.
_____________________
Kyle you seem to forget that it was good ole conservatives like yourself who voted into office the dishonest legislators and the Governor who actively practice political fraud by diverting these funds from the stated purposes for which they were created. There is a remedy but the question is whether you and your fellow conservatives are ready to demand honesty from the politicians you support with your votes?
CC
November 17th, 2012
12:38 pm
“but the question is whether you and your fellow conservatives are ready to demand honesty from the politicians you support with your votes?”
Funny . . .
For decades now I’ve been asking the same questions about liberals and the politicians THEY support with their votes.
iggy
November 17th, 2012
1:01 pm
The “greedy” execs are simply adjusting their bottomline. Everyone that ever has worked for private company understands employers hire employees that simply are not needed. You see private industry receives certain tax breaks etc to hire these “useless” employees.
Now Obama, ObamaCare, Dems/Reps, take away the tax and other incentives so business culls the deadwood to maintain their commitment to shareholders.
The survival of “The Company” and/or its owners/shareholders other investors financial interests is front and center. Agree or disagree thats just how it is.
Take away the incentive and business will adjust accordingly.
The liberals can bitch, moan, whine, cry, however, that will not change the outcome. The liberals wanted more govt control, taxes, ObamaCare…well…ENJOY!!
Dusty
November 17th, 2012
1:08 pm
Why don’t Democrats ask the president what he is going to do about the 16 trillion$$$ debt which he keeps adding to before they start fussing about the leadership of Georgia throwing a few thousands at some “touristy” signs???
After all, those Democrats did vote him into office and should demand that the president not drive the country over the fiscal cliff while waving bandaids at poor people who think they are getting healthcare. National bankruptcy is a lot worse than a few frivalous neon signs.
carlosgvv
November 17th, 2012
1:16 pm
Doom – 11:58
It’s known as “good will” and “public relations” in the business world. Maybe an honest day’s work in a company would give you a little business educations.
CC
November 17th, 2012
1:25 pm
Dusty:
The dimocrats don’t have time to ask silly little questions such as you propose. It’s difficult to ask questions while you’re busy screaming, “Gimme mo’! Gimme mo’!”
You dont say
November 17th, 2012
1:26 pm
iggy
“The liberals can bitch, moan, whine, cry, however, that will not change the outcome”
Bout time for you and other righties on this blog to heed your own advice. You have been doing what you claim liberals do since the election
just saying
You dont say
November 17th, 2012
1:28 pm
CC: crying conservative
get over the election…………… isn’t it about time?
MarkV
November 17th, 2012
1:36 pm
Dusty @ 1:08 pm
Dusty,
You should watch the news (the real news, that it) at least occasionally. You would see that the President is doing his job.
And incidentally, how is the President “adding to the debt?” More expensive vacations?
Hillbilly D
November 17th, 2012
1:36 pm
A corridor of Japanese Maple trees and dogwoods would be the most resplendent thing that could happen.
Why not use native Red Maples? Dogwoods are one of the prettiest trees but in their natural habitat, they grow in the shade, They’re an understory tree and don’t do as well in the sun, especially in times of drought, which come pretty regularly.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
November 17th, 2012
1:41 pm
I just want to take this time to point out exactly how accurate I was in predicting this trend towards laying off workers and dropping hours to avoid Obamacare mandates.
You’re welcome.
You dont say
November 17th, 2012
1:44 pm
Why not point out that you spoke of President Romney?
Your welcome
Dusty
November 17th, 2012
1:47 pm
What? Get over the election? That’s like saying “Get over Hurricane Sandy.”" It aint easy.
Almost every day we are reminded of “the election”.
States are having difficulty deciding whether to go bankrupt setting up insurance agencies or go with the Feds who don’t have any money either for national health insurance.
Doctors are “retiring”..
Business people are evaluating whether to drop employees, or go broke.
Congress is busy “investigating” the discrepancies in the Benghazi incident.
Foreclosed homes are still plentiful.
The Stock Market is quivering.
And you want us to forget THE ELECTION. We certainly will do that as soon as recession does not loom in front of us every day. .
iggy
November 17th, 2012
1:53 pm
Iggy is pointing out the obvious. Thats all iggy is doing. Stock market down, taxes goin up, unemployment up. I really admire iggys insight.
You dont say
November 17th, 2012
1:54 pm
Whine and cry on Dusty
Do your thing, do what you wanna do
Dusty
November 17th, 2012
2:01 pm
MarkV
You couldn’t realize the national debt if it fell on you. And it probably will while you blame it on someone else or say it isn’t there..
When the sky falls,you will call it rain.
I don’t wish to bewail the subject with you. I just read about the Egyptian train wreck with 40 little kindergarteners shattered. with their schoolbus. Forty little innocents! Forty!
\
Dusty
November 17th, 2012
2:05 pm
You don’t say
Take a hike, hon.
MarkV
November 17th, 2012
2:06 pm
Dusty,
You were so keen on liberating the people of Iraq, and in favor of that war. Now you cry about the national debt. That war cost the US at least a trillion dollar. Did we have the money? NO, we were already about 6 trillion dollars in debt. So how about paying that trillion first, it is long overdue. How about raising taxes to get a trillion dollars and use that to reduce the debt, with the understanding that it is paying back the money spent on Iraq. Would that not be a good first step? Surely you would agree with that.
Dusty
November 17th, 2012
2:15 pm
Hillbilly D
Red maples would suit me just fine. I have seen the most gorgeous trees this fall. I don’t know the exact names of some of them My one Japanese maple is a beautiful fiery orange . The dogwoods here have suffered some but they do their “thing”in the spring. Even the crepe myrtles have presented some royal golds in their departing leaves. I must mention my camellias which are blooming in rose, red, pink with white to come. Some blossoms arealmost three and four inches across. This fall has outdone itself with color.
I just wish Atlanta had more of it but not in neon..
You dont say
November 17th, 2012
2:27 pm
Dusty
You don’t run this blog, dude.
You want to run it so bad based on your comments to those who don’t believe in your myopic, ignorant view of things but you don’t run it.
So I will stay. Thanks
CC
November 17th, 2012
2:37 pm
I think that it was in March of this year when Obama passed Bush in indebting the U. S. In other words, Obama had added more to the national debt in three years and three months than Bush did in eight years! That is quite an accomplishment, and one in which liberals seem to delight.
The liberals defense of Obama’s spending is always, “Well, Bush fought two unfunded wars and drove the debt up!” That truly is not a defense but rather a deflection.
Anyone with “walking around sense” knows where this spending is going, and how it will end. My only prayer is that the liberals suffer the most when their president finally brings this country down.
Smoke
November 17th, 2012
2:37 pm
Two reasons why TSPLOST failed. 1. GA is controlled, not governed, by Dixiecrat-Republica’s. 2. One-half voted to cutoff their noses in spite of their faces, and the other half gave them the knife.
Dusty
November 17th, 2012
2:41 pm
MarkV
So now we get to the nitty gritty. President Obama should be able to keep raising the debt because President Bush went to war protecting our country. (Info was given to Bush & Congress by the two greatest intel organizations in the world.who said there were wmds.) As negative as that seems to you even after 9/11, President Obama has followed the plans of President Bush, no matter that he said he would not. But,oh, the expensive tryouts Obama has manufactured himself! Wow!
President Obama has pushed a failing “stimulus”, then healthcare//insurance for one of the largest countries in the world which will be far more expensive than any wars. If everybody in the country paid the rates of rich people , we would still NOT be out of debt.
I know you don’t believe it. Find your own facts, not published in liberal quarters. Might give you some thoughts other than” you did not express that correctly”.
.