The chain-reaction collisions on the I-75 corridor
I have rolled up and down I-75 for most of my adult life. From Kennesaw to Atlanta and back, 60 miles each day. I’ve lost tires to shrapnel tossed by big rigs, spun 360s on patches of ice, and navigated past the occasional Friday night drunk.
But what frightens the hard-core commuter more than anything else is the sudden tableau of red brake lights, smoking tires, and the raised rear-end of a car chassis rushing toward him. One panicked stop leads to another and another and another.
Airbags explode, and everything grinds to a halt.
A slow-motion version of that chain reaction, as disturbing as any that ever shut down my northwest passage, is unfolding in the state Capitol.
Last month, Gov. Nathan Deal abruptly cancelled a $1 billion, public-private venture to install reversible toll lanes alongside I-75 and I-575 – the first major overhaul to promise relief for myself and an estimated 199,999 other daily commuters.
In exchange for the private funding, under terms negotiated before Deal took office, the state would have had to agree to limit the construction of new roads in the corridor for 60 to 70 years. In his State of the State address earlier this month, Deal said he was loath to sign away “Georgia’s sovereignty” over such an important traffic corridor.
But the governor promised, in that same speech, that he was looking for another way to finance the project.
That hasn’t been enough for some. One month after the governor tapped the brakes on that I-75 project, Tim Lee, chairman of the Cobb County Commission, tapped the brakes on another.
In a Capitol press conference, flanked by two state senators representing Cobb, Lee last week proposed that the sidelined reversible lane project be added to the list of improvements that would be paid for by a 10-year, penny sales tax – if metro Atlanta voters approve the levy on July 31.
In exchange, Lee – and Kennesaw Mayor Mark Mathews — recommended that Project No. 35 on a list of 157 be sacrificed. Project No. 35 is a rapid bus transit line that would operate between Atlanta and Acworth – and contains the first promise, however faint, of a rail line outside Fulton and DeKalb counties.
Lee and Mathews were on the roundtable of metro Atlanta political leaders who hammered out the list. Their proposal to “sacrifice” the first expansion of commuter rail in metro Atlanta this century is a measure of how hot the topic remains in Cobb. It is no secret that Lee is up for re-election – his future and that of the sales tax for transportation will be settled on the same day.
There are serious problems with Lee’s idea. First, changing the list would require an act of the Legislature. The same bill needed to “fine tune” Cobb’s list of projects might rapidly expand to include adjustments in other corners of the state – a can of worms if ever there was one.
Also keep in mind that tea partyers oppose the sales tax, and have friends in the Capitol. And many a piece of legislation has been helped to death.
If, by some chance, Lee’s argument prevails, then we have another problem. Voters would be asked to levy a penny sales tax on themselves, for a road that would then require a toll each time it was used.
“If Georgia builds it, it’s still the taxpayer’s money. It’s just a matter of which pocket it comes out of,” Lee said in an interview Friday. But that is not an argument that backers of the sales tax want to be making this summer.
Then there’s the matter of transparency: The list of projects was the result of an extraordinary – and largely – open series of negotiations among elected officials representing 10 counties in metro Atlanta. Deals cut in the Capitol are likely to be much less open to public inspection.
“Our concern would be what the voters’ reaction would be to a changed project list after they’ve participated in the process over such a long period of time,” said Bert Brantley, spokesman for the metro Atlanta referendum campaign.
So we come back to the $1 billion for those reversible lanes up I-75 and I-575. If the governor were to point to a likely funding source, that would make this whole fracas moot, wouldn’t it? Why, yes, said Lee on Friday.
Last week, state Rep. Jay Roberts, R-Ocilla, introduced HB 806, a bill that would free up $1.1 billion in unused motor fuel tax revenue languishing in the hallways of the state Department of Transportation – cash assigned to other projects and thus out of reach.
A portion of that cash is likely to find its way into Cobb County. Other sources will be tapped as well, said Brian Robinson, a more than slightly ticked-off spokesman for Deal. “The governor took the major step of heralding this project in the State of the State address, signaling its priority status. When this … project was shelved, the governor said we’d still get it done and he meant it,” Robinson wrote in an e-mail Friday.
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
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94 comments Add your comment
GA Motorist
January 28th, 2012
9:30 am
Optional toll lanes are widely hated and will fail. The sales tax is wrong-headed and will fail. If our state leaders had any brains and courage whatsoever they would just raise the state fuel tax to a level comparable with other states, then we would have the money to build the freeways required to move the traffic generated by years of unplanned growth. Alas, we should be resigned to spending the rest of our working lives mired in highway gridlock and mindless political bickering.
Me
January 28th, 2012
9:38 am
Excellent headline, Jim.
nelsonh
January 28th, 2012
10:04 am
Now, under socialism money earned by the populace would go towards building a nice new I-75. Instead of a citizen accumulating money[like millions or billions] that capital goes to make a brand-spanking new highway.
How much better can it get? Instead of the super wealthy lording it over the plethora of peons out there in the country, they will contribute their zillions to public works. Every time Tiger hits the ball, he will say “if I win Juniper will hAVE A NICE NEW SEWER SYSTEM.
Need I go on? This “The Vallhala” that we have been looking for.
Centrist
January 28th, 2012
10:28 am
I remember when local, state, and federal governments used our tax dollars (gas, income, sales, property, ad valorum) to pay for infrastructure. Now, somehow, it has been pushed to SPLOST or private toll roads. Infrastructure has always lagged in the metro area – taxes are collected, but not used for their original intended purpose.
Commissioner Lee is in big trouble. He fully supported the outrageously expensive and projected little used rail line boondoggle. The T-SPLOST was dead on arrival with voters with that in it, so a scramble ditched it at the last minute – but not before former Cobb Commission Chairman Burns announced he would run against Lee. Now we have more scrambling in an attempt to save Lee’s job.
The HOT lanes in Gwinnett are a disaster, but unless the feds release it back to an HOV or reversible lanes – the cost for the HOT lane conversion has to be paid back. There is also the saving face issue where blame would be assigned if it was admitted the HOT lane project was poorly conceived. There are even still some government types that would like to impose those woefully underused HOT lanes in Cobb.
Maybe telecommuting will take hold out of necessity since so many man-hours are lost sitting in traffic. I bet Mr. Jim Galloway does a lot of that – as he should.
GDRLA
January 28th, 2012
10:47 am
The whole transportation mess seems ripe for copying actions from another state. In Florida much of the process is underwritten by TOLL roads, mostly paid for by toll revenue receipts against bonds issued for the initial construction. This seems to fit the conservative item of privatizing government in that those who use the road pay for it & those who don’t pay nothing! I visit aging parents & other relatives in the Orlando area & have a Fla SUNPASS on my vehicles – works great, saves time, & when I don’t use it I don’t pay!
Georgia always seems to complicate the whole process & cannot seem to find their A** with both hands, a map, a flashlight, & help. Oh well, as my grandfather said, nothing is ever safe when the legislature sits, especially life, liberty, & property.
RD
January 28th, 2012
11:19 am
The DOT is cluless lacking professionals. The state of GA should hire the most competent set of professionals in the US to help with the fiasco that is the state highway department. Why in the world would the state even consider such boondoogles such as HOT lanes unless this process is lining the pockets of both legislators and the companies involved.The ONLY reason is $$$$. No other reason, except for the millions of JOBS that will arise…yeah, right.
td
January 28th, 2012
11:33 am
GDRLA
January 28th, 2012
10:47 am
I have always said Georgia needs to put up some toll booths on 75, 95, 85 and 20 right at the borders of the state and let all these out of state travelers help pay for the maintenance and upgrades to the roads they are using.
td
January 28th, 2012
11:38 am
OSAMA made DUBYA his bi@tch
January 28th, 2012
11:27 am
td
more insane ramblings from our resident Kristian KKonservative…
Just as I expected, you have no solutions. I tell my employees to not come to me and whine about problems unless you also come with solutions.
cartoon
January 28th, 2012
12:01 pm
By definition there is no such thing as a solution to any problem, because the problem itself is an illusion of the demogogued and the dunce-capped.
moron. (and idiot).
bwa
td
January 28th, 2012
12:09 pm
OSAMA made DUBYA his bi@tch
January 28th, 2012
11:59 am
td
u have no employees …youre just a broke frustrated angry guy who thinks the world owes u a living..u blame all your problems on somebody else …like JOE THE PLUMBER an ignorant white boy who blames his problems on blacks,illegal aliens, liberals,gays etc
You are a perfect example of the intellectual level of the typical liberal/progressive/socialist. You do not have the capability to have a reasoned constructive conversation but rather just come with name calling. Lord we need a basic intelligence test before we allow people to vote.
The good news is you informed, unintelligent opinion is not going to matter in Georgia when you cast your vote next November because your vote will not be counted in the Presidential contest. I will have some comfort in knowing this fact.
Frederick Douglass
January 28th, 2012
12:20 pm
td @ 11:38
Wait, wait just one minute. I need to wrap my head around what I just read. You have employees? I was under the impression that all of the large scale plantations went under when the south lost the Civil War.
td
January 28th, 2012
12:34 pm
Frederick Douglass
January 28th, 2012
12:20 pm
td @ 11:38
Wait, wait just one minute. I need to wrap my head around what I just read. You have employees? I was under the impression that all of the large scale plantations went under when the south lost the Civil War.
Yes, they have to be employees now since the civil war. Matter of fact I would not want slaves now under this form of Federal government. I would have to buy them health care, they could only work 8 hours a day, I would have to supply Federal approved housing, and I am sure the Feds would not allow beatings any longer for not working hard or back talking.
I would much rather hire contractors, not pay any health care, unemployment insurance, or paid holidays, sick leave or vacation. I do not have to worry about overtime, housing or retirement. The best part is if they do not get the job done or want to have an attitude then I just tell them that I no longer need their services and there are 6 others willing and excited about taking their job.
Frederick Douglass
January 28th, 2012
12:53 pm
td @ 12:34
So in essence you operate a sweatshop? Way to go “Jobs Creator”, Mitt Romney would be proud of your, ahem…..work ethic.
Centrist
January 28th, 2012
12:57 pm
Massive thread creep here. I liked it better when we blogged about the minority Democrat and AJC (redundant) proposed changes to ILLEGAL immigration and the Hope scholarship that won’t get considered.
jd
January 28th, 2012
1:03 pm
Lessee — spend tax money to build a rail line where I pay money to sit and read while traffic runs slow — or spend tax money to build a toll lane where I pay money to drive slow…
The logic of Georgia leaders will return us to the stone age quicker than you think
findog
January 28th, 2012
1:04 pm
Back to the matter at hand:
It pains me to say that Centrist is right
The Georgia fuel tax has not changed since the Nixon administration
If not for fear of Grover the republicans running this state would change it
Maybe when T-SPLOST fails they will have a referendum to update the fuel tax during a small primary election in 2017; if they start now [note: it takes our fine legislative leaders at least four years to do anything]
PS: hang in there td
td
January 28th, 2012
1:09 pm
Frederick Douglass
January 28th, 2012
12:53 pm
td @ 12:34
So in essence you operate a sweatshop? Way to go “Jobs Creator”, Mitt Romney would be proud of your, ahem…..work ethic
If you want to call paying people between $35 to $75 per hour a sweatshop then I guess I do.
Centrist
January 28th, 2012
1:13 pm
findog posted “The Georgia fuel tax has not changed since the Nixon administration”
That’s the only tax (income, sales, property, ad valorum) that hasn’t kept up or increased with inflation. Sales tax rates have steadily increased, and SPLOST taxes have since been added. Where (other than bigger government, bureaucracies, and graft) have we got more bang for the buck?
Ol' Timer
January 28th, 2012
1:13 pm
@td — You need to do better that ad hominem arguments. They’re very weak. And, if you’d throw your support behind the President’s healthcare initiative, you’d be able to get your Tourette meds.
findog
January 28th, 2012
1:19 pm
Sorry Centrist, old zig-zag Zell cut taxes on food in the 90’s
Mileage rates have been cut all over the state as property values rose
You are however correct that poor management of Georgia’s purse strings has squandered many opportunities to drag this state into the 1980’s
Centrist
January 28th, 2012
1:48 pm
In 1929, Georgia became the second state in the union to pass sales tax legislation. In 1989, the state tax rate increased from 3 percent to 4 percent. Counties may impose an additional sales tax of up to 3 percent. Atlanta is up to 8% now with MARTA, SPLOST, and water municipal option tax additions. They have also added hotel and airport taxes. So, for those ITP – how has those added sales taxes and bigger government improved your standard of living, and your children’s education?
professional skeptic
January 28th, 2012
1:50 pm
td
HA! You said employees at first, then you foolishly let loose with the dirty little secret you’ve been hiding about not providing benefits or paying UI tax required by law. Now you back track and try to call them contractors. Sounds like a grand mid classification fraud scheme you’ve got going on, there. The Feds have your ip address and will be along when you least expect it, seize your records, and haul you off to court. Can’t wait to read about it in the papers.
professional skeptic
January 28th, 2012
1:53 pm
That’s misclassification fraud… Not “mid classification” — a nonsensical product of Apple’s overly aggressive auto-correct feature.
professional skeptic
January 28th, 2012
1:57 pm
Whaddya do every day, td… run down to the Home Depot ever’day and cram a bunch of EEE-LEEEGALS in the back of your broken down pickup? Employment of illegals… More fraud!
td
January 28th, 2012
2:06 pm
professional skeptic
January 28th, 2012
1:50 pm
I see you have gone and changed names again Billy. There is one thing for sure Billy, you can change names all you want but you can not change your intelligence. LOL
double
January 28th, 2012
2:38 pm
@11;15 td(student of Newt) is a poor dumb redneck,then he goes to having a business and employees.Centrist would know how to spell advalorem tax.I know he/she is a racist phoney,that begrudges any help the poor receive.Newt taught him well in deception.
double
January 28th, 2012
2:48 pm
No new taxes….add more taxes……more taxes,more for pugs to steal…..ya’ll need make up your minds about taxes,quit being so wishy washy.
Frederick Douglass
January 28th, 2012
2:49 pm
td @ 1:09
I hope those (wink, wink) employees work harder than the boss does, because he spends 20 of the 24 hour day making a nuisance of himself on Jim Galloway’s blog.
td
January 28th, 2012
3:39 pm
Frederick Douglass
January 28th, 2012
2:49 pm
Brother, it is called multi tasking and being good at putting together a excellent management staff. When your main task is to monitor and tweak networks during the day and you have multiple monitors it is not difficult to watch a blog and drive you libs crazy.
Centrist
January 28th, 2012
3:56 pm
@ double – You should at least check before you make a fool out yourself concerning how Georgia spells “ad valorem” tax. Read it on their website – http://motor.etax.dor.ga.gov/motor/registration/reglatecost.asp
Sitting Bull
January 28th, 2012
4:02 pm
td sucks
Carolyn
January 28th, 2012
4:04 pm
When you disagree, why don’t you try to convince the other person with reasons instead of just venting to feel better and make the other person angry? I, personally, think too much money has been spent on roads that just provide income to major contractors, very little to the workers, and lines the pockets of the oil companies with expensive hauling of materials (and pollute the air with mercury emissions from making concrete). I’d like to see our education system improved. The minds of our young people are our most important asset – not a fancy new way to access I-75.
Alejandrisha
January 28th, 2012
4:08 pm
The only lasting solution is more lanes and more pavement. These harebrained schemes like reversible toll lanes do nothing about the real problem, which is too many vehicles crowded onto too little roadway. Look at the metro Atlanta population estimates for ten years hence and ask yourself where we’ll put all those new cars and trucks? Oh, wait…teleworking, car pooling and MARTA will save us. LOL.
DawgDad
January 28th, 2012
4:26 pm
“$1 billion, public-private venture to install reversible toll lanes alongside I-75 and I-575 – the first major overhaul to promise relief for myself and an estimated 199,999 other daily commuters”
This DOES NOT promise relief. It promises some measure of public financing will be used to benefit narrow private interests (contractors and toll payers), worse congestion for the masses unable or unwilling to pay tolls, and loss of sovereignty in solving problems down the road. I see NOTHING positive in this proposal.
We ALREADY pay taxes to fund transportation and build roads. The State does NOT need more taxpayer money, it needs to buckle down, prioritize what revenues it has, and eliminate the boondoggles, subsidies, and corruption. All we get are crazier schemes and whining for more money. Show me some economic growth, property value escalation, and responsible government and you won’t need to beg for tax increases or paint double white lines on the toll-free public lanes.
Charlie H
January 28th, 2012
4:34 pm
The state is prepared to give $415 Million and counting for a new stadium downtown, paid for by Hotel/Motel taxes, plus waive sales taxes on construction materials. Why are we still “looking” for revenue sources for transportation from existing funds while ignoring a half billion dollar giveaway that will only benefit one individual?
I support the T-SPLOST, but it’s hard to accept the argument that it is so critical when State and Local leaders continue to refuse to discuss such a large amount of state funding being given away when there are so many other priority needs in the region.
RockyRoad
January 28th, 2012
5:16 pm
Toll roads are nothing but an added tax on motorists. Tolls increase the the cost of the roads with the added expense of toll booths and operators , people to “manage” operations, ect.,ect., ect.. If polititions would spend the current road use taxes on the roads instead of every other “pet” project, there would be plenty of money to expand and maintain our roads. The money is there, it’s just being mis- handled to buy votes.
majii
January 28th, 2012
6:00 pm
IMHO, what is needed is a change in the way Georgians view transportation. We need to open our minds to other solutions besides building more highways for transportation. Sure, we all love our cars, but I would certainly utilize a viable rail system if it were safe, reliable, and punctual.
*COMMUTER RAIL WILL SAVE COMMUTERS MONEY.
AAA estimates the average cost of operating an automobile at 52.2 cents per mile, putting the true cost of driving round trip between Atlanta and Lawrenceville $33.41. For riders with a monthly pass, the projected cost of a rail round trip between Atlanta and Lawrenceville would be $10.80 cents. Rail commuters also avoid sudden spikes in gasoline prices.
**COMMUTER RAIL WILL SAVE COMMUTERS TIME.
The rush-hour drive between Jonesboro and Atlanta currently averages 43 minutes. The train time would be 36 minutes, which is seven minutes faster. By 2030, the rush-hour drive time between Jonesboro and Atlanta is expected to increase to 60 minutes. The train time will still be 36 minutes, which is 24 minutes faster. The more congested Atlanta, the faster rail will be by comparison.
***COMMUTER RAIL WILL REDUCE TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS, IMPROVE AIR QUALITY, REDUCE GEORGIA’S CONTRIBUTION TO GLOBAL WARMING AND DECREASE GEORGIA’S DEPENDENCE ON IMPORTED OIL FROM UNSTABLE AND UNFRIENDLY NATIONS.
According to the Georgia Clean Air Campaign, Atlanta had 43 smog alert days in 2006, and the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America recently ranked Atlanta as the nation’s asthma capital. Car and truck emissions have long been recognized as a major source of pollution. The Georgia Rail Passenger Program estimates that a full commuter rail network will take 21,000 cars off the road during each morning and afternoon, cutting pollution and accident costs by $160 million per year. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory estimates that commuter train travel is 22% more energy efficient than auto travel. http://www.garprail.org/documents/garp_ga_reasons.htm
Centrist
January 28th, 2012
6:09 pm
Commuter rail is an expensive boondoggle. It is underused, and cost per mile for right of way, construction, maintenance and operation is way out of proportion to roads. Administration is rife with graft and bureaucracy. It sounds good, but is not practical or economical.
Bob
January 28th, 2012
6:22 pm
Jim, shame on you. You’re proposing a treatment for the symptom, while neglecting the root causes…cell phones, tecting, applying make-up, eating/drinking breakfast, crazy lane changing, etc. Even 20 lanes wouldn’t work when you have bad and distracted drivers. How about putting 50 State Troopers on I-75 for a month a see what happens.
Now the truth............
January 28th, 2012
6:38 pm
*COMMUTER RAIL WILL bring noting but crime.. we don’t want any type of brothers in our hood. Bring in gambling to solve all probs
tman
January 28th, 2012
7:22 pm
The population increases and there is no commutter rail. it only makes sense you can’t build enough highways to get people in and out of the city. The commuter bus service has to increase. Yo can’t build highways and get yourself out of this congestion and when the economy comes back it will only get worse as more people are employed and move here.
Roadrunner
January 28th, 2012
8:14 pm
NO MORE TOLL ROADS!!! It would be different if the tolls went away when the cost of construction was paid for, but the tolls never go away! (Look no further than GA400) This is just one more way for government to separate us from our hard earned dollars. Stop with your social engineering and income redistribution and spend the taxes you’re already getting on what they should already be being spent on, infrastructure, education, fire & police. Everything else is just state government getting involved where it doesn’t belong.
There is a sickness in GA
January 28th, 2012
8:19 pm
There is another solution if you don’t like the traffic. Just move; isn’t that what all you Republicans like to say when anyone complains about the way Ga is run? Well…same goes for you.
That’s not really a very constructive addition to this conversation though, so how about this idea. In the 90s Strasbourg, France built an interesting street car system. The system was fixed guide-way, but instead of running on rails the street cars ran on tires. It also eliminated the use of in-car operators in favor of an automated acceleration and breaking system. It is cheaper, so at least it addresses concerns about cost. As far as the underutiliztion argument goes, it’s just not credible. If given an option of sitting in traffic for an hour and half or sitting on a train for a half hour they, they will sit on the train as long as the price is right and the service is reliable.
Anyway, it’s one compromise idea.
Edward Ruffin
January 28th, 2012
9:42 pm
VOTE NO ON T-SPLOST. NO MORE TAXES! Use the taxes we are already paying, which is more than enough to do those things for which gov’t should be responsible. Trouble is gov’t is doing things they shouldn’t be doing, like buying an airport in Henry County.
Jules
January 28th, 2012
9:50 pm
Let’s take a different approach, we agree traffic is a problem in and around Atlanta. Rail, in any way, shape, or form is expensive. Five lanes added to every freeway in each different will not hardly decrease commute times, besides it would be very expensive to buy the necessary land/businesses in the right of way. HOT Lanes are trash and a form of double taxation, if you use them, giving the fact that we pay taxes for roads already. Which brings me back to rail……….
Problem #1 — Cost, well the way I see it, pay now or lose later. Pay for a more viable way for people to move from place to place OR lose time sitting in cars with gridlock, lose jobs, because other cities maybe able to entice companies with better infrastructure and transportation options.
And to that I add, Atlanta and the metro region can not progress by living on yesterday’s accomplishment, we need to be proactive to attractive business to the region. We need to have a go to industry, ie Silcon Valley, Research Triangle
Problem #2 — Crime, this argument kills me everytime, what I guess there is no crime in Gwinnett, Cobb, or Cherokee county, all the crime is in Atlanta, Fulton and Dekalb county. No one get killed or robbed in Cobb, Cherokee, or Gwinnett county, are you serious????? I guess all the police in in those counties just sit around and collect a check, because there is no crime or no crime like there would be with the train in those counties. Let’s cut goverment, starting with those cops. Let’s be serious, no one is going to ride a train to Duluth, Alpharetta, or Kennesaw and go to someones house, steal a flat screen tv and go jump back on the train and go home.
Just a thought
jaypat
January 28th, 2012
11:05 pm
I really don’t understand why some Republicans and their Austrian associates have this love affair with toll roads. It surely cannot be because there is a public clammor for toll roads. Most everyone I have ever talked to *despises* the idea of paying twice for the roads they drive on; first through taxes, then through tolls.
And reversible lanes? Oh, please. It only takes one idiot to screw up the entire thing. And we have more than our share of idiots on the roads today. No. Divided highways with a barrier between them is a much better idea.
Out by the Pond
January 28th, 2012
11:12 pm
First thing first-the required right of way for the reversible toll lanes will exceed 1 billion when all administrative coat are factored in.
Number 2. A sales tax is not the proper way to finance public improvements. As I have stated previously, a sales tax weighs heaviest on those least able to pay.
Number 3. In the past 20 years there has been such a drastic brain drain in State Government that there are very few truly competent employees left. When I left state government 13 years ago I could not find a college graduate who was functionally literate who would go to work for $20 K a year.
Need I go on?
new American President needed
January 28th, 2012
11:15 pm
Osama Obama one in the same hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha worst President scene JIMMY CARTER
Bryan -- MARTA supporter
January 28th, 2012
11:40 pm
When are folks going to understand you can’t build roads over and over to reduce traffic. That has been tried and doesn’t work. MARTA rail needs to be out there NOW! The core 5 counties should have rail. Until we look at other options besides roads, Atlanta AND THE METRO AREA will fall behind until cities like Dallas, Houston, and Charlotte take the crown and the leading city in the southeast. Let’s keep the crown and expand our transit system. Expand MARTA and help pay for it. Stop thinking MARTA is suppose to give you this great system with no money to do so. Then all you here is complaints about the system. Give me a break.
Albert
January 29th, 2012
12:07 am
I’ve done business with Mark Matthews and it scares me to think he has input into the transportation needs of metro Atlanta. I’m opposed to private funding for a public right of way. We should be developing a mass transit system like Washington DC’s. Instead of toll lanes, we need rail going up the center of I-75 from downtown to Acworth or underneath Cobb Parkway with a branch going up 120 towards Roswell.
Paddy O
January 29th, 2012
12:18 am
some genuine morons on here. FL allows local gov’t to tax gas, anywhere from 1 to 6 cents per gallon. The GA DoT is one of the very best in the nation. While our tran revenue has not substantially increased, our roads – 4 lane mostly – have been expanded expertly. Our roads are some of the very best in the nation, and we have terrific mobility. If you folks don’t like your commute – move closer to your job. The proposed TSPLOST is the perfect tool to raise funds for trans capital projects in GA. Even better, if the sleps in the Metro area screw it up, there are 11 othe regions which may not be that stupid. You won’t be able to lane you way out of the congestion – you must utilize mass transit – but/train – or your commute will get worse after the great obama recession has ended.
Paddy O
January 29th, 2012
12:20 am
out by the pond is a liberal. follow him at your own risk.
dagnabit
January 29th, 2012
12:53 am
It’s a good thing that we already have “spaghetti junction” cause this bunch would be completely mystified with the project. Democrats build; Republicans dribble.
Mike
January 29th, 2012
1:13 am
I just don’t get what they are thinking. We need to kick them all out of office and start over.
Z
January 29th, 2012
1:25 am
It is only a matter of time before we will be paying over $5.00 a gallon for gas. In Europe they already pay 8 10 Euros a liter. In Europe they have buses, trains, rail going everywhere. We are all going to pay one way or another so NOW is the time to start doing something about building rail, light rail from North to South through Atlanta. Raise the gas tax and build rail with that money. No more toll roads, hot lanes or reverse lanes, they don’t solve the problem they only slow down traffic, they don’t alleviate the problem. Pay someone some big bucks to figure this out because there doesn’t seem to be a one in Government now that can figure out the way to do it. Build it and the people will come, them as well as business.
B. Thenet
January 29th, 2012
1:31 am
I wonder if part of this is because Cobb is looking into a private firm that wants to build a monorail system within Cobb.(Simpsons fans, you may now chuckle with glee and perhaps even sign a line or two from the Monorail song in that episode)
dandaman
January 29th, 2012
2:23 am
Another example of why we will be perpetually be behind the times in terms of transportation.
I want rail to work! Forget more lanes. Can you please get me out my car so that I can avoid paying $75 a week in gas to sit in congested traffic lanes that are always under construction?!?!
When will we wise enough to decide that more lanes are not the solution to our traffic woes? I guess perhaps the same time that we decide that mass transit IS NOT handled better by a county-by-county basis? Maybe it is when we decide that the only real solution to all this traffic congestation is by completely overhauling our mass transit system?
With so many proven examples of mass transit in the world it amazes me that Atlanta, a interanational city by all respects, is so backwards in terms of fiding REAL solutions for its citizens.
I say no more new lanes. Lets take that penny tax increase-double it, get rid of the insignificant smaller county transits, adopt Marta across all of metro Atlanta, and build some real solutions that will be of actual benfit to us!
It seems so obvious. But what do I know? Its obvious these politicians/decision makers have our best interests in their hearts.
Jeff Sexton
January 29th, 2012
5:22 am
Here’s the thing about Ga’s existing fuel sales tax: Because it raises prices of gas on average about $0,20 over the price in SC, this resident of Aiken SC who works in Augusta Ga makes it a point to buy gas in Ga only when absolutely necessary, and even then just enough to get back across the border. Many Ga residents who work on the other side of the border (such as at the Savannah River Site, just 30 miles or so on the “wrong” side of the border) already make the same decision. Raise that tax as some have suggested here, and you may well push Ga residents who never cross the border but live in major border towns -hello Augusta, Columbus, Valdosta, Savannah, and even Rome and Dalton – and surrounding areas to cross the border for what many of you seem to be suggesting would be upwards of $1 per gallon of gas savings. A few cents, I can handle. (Such as one station to the next being a nickel or a dime apart. Not much difference to me there, though I do go cheaper when possible). But when you begin to talk of saving $10-$20 per tank, I know a LOT of people that will abandon the more expensive places in a heartbeat – they won’t be able to eat if they don’t.
Jeff Sexton
January 29th, 2012
5:28 am
One reason I personally don’t use mass transit (OTHER than the inconvenience of not having a stop near where I am nor where I need to go): If I drive myself, I can carry personal protection devices of my choice with me whereever I go. If I ride mass transit, they disarm me before I even get on. Thus, if a person attacks me in or near my car, they take THEIR life into their hands. If they attack me in or near mass transit, they take MY life into their hands. HUGE difference!
Dave
January 29th, 2012
6:32 am
With the tendency of the Cobb Police to turn any roadway into a fund raising opportunity. This will make it worse.
Reversible lanes = more deaths.
HOT lanes = more fines
Stop voting against your own best interests.
Jim Hall
January 29th, 2012
7:40 am
What a loser idea:( Instead of finding ways to reduce traffic, undereducated people are suggesting ways to dip into our pockets. The end result is a handful of people benefit while the rest of us suffer. Why can’t you find a way for people to move around the metropolitan Atlanta area without raising taxes? If there’s a profit to be made, then the private sector will “build it”. Don’t increase taxes or take away something that’s already paid for (like the lane of I85 recently) and make us pay for it again. Figure out how to get people out of their cars and into mass transit! If and when you figure that one out, alot of other cities will implement your ideas:)
Soreps
January 29th, 2012
9:13 am
OSAMA made DUBYA his bi@tch
The word is not “hes”; it is “he’s” you dumb monkey!
Matthew
January 29th, 2012
9:19 am
I cannot believe that they would substitute an immediate solution (Project 157 – buses from Acworth to inside the Perimeter) for a costly, frustrating “solution.”
How expensive can ten buses be? Two or three million? How long would it take to pay that investment back with daily / weekly fares?
SPBBBMBBSTBarlow
January 29th, 2012
9:25 am
I wish Cobb County would look at getting MARTA here
Soreps
January 29th, 2012
9:27 am
Z
Do u really believe a metro area the size of Atlanta and as spread out as metro Atlanta could support rail, light or otherwise? Rail and buses works well in confined areas; New York, San Francisco, Breckenridge etc. Not in metro Atlanta. Review the Marta record; it is pathetic. What Atlanta needs, the entire state, is a tough driving test to obtain a licenses, continued education on how to drive and use a cell phone simotaniously, and the outer loop (that all the do-gooders bitched about until it was scrapped) to keep truck freight out of the city. Just how many people will go from Ackworth to Cumberland Mall on a regular basis? 10 maybe 12. WAKE UP!
OSAMA made DUBYA his bi@tch
January 29th, 2012
9:28 am
@soreps
wow i made u madder than a birther at a civil rights rally…lol
Centrist
January 29th, 2012
9:34 am
Matthew posted “How long would it take to pay that investment back with daily / weekly fares?”
Fares NEVER cover the cost – taxpayers always subsidize them. Often the subsidies are so great it would be cheaper to simply carpool or even limo the relative few mass transit riders.
Soreps
January 29th, 2012
9:37 am
SPBBBMBBSTBarlow
Why would anyone want Marta in Cobb? it doesn’t pay for itself. Where Marta goes, crime increases in those areas (Cumberland and Perimeter Malls). Marta is a jobs program for minoraties and a cash cow for government fat cats. This is fact. If you want Marta, move your ass to Fulton or Dekalb and close the gate when you leave.
Soreps
January 29th, 2012
9:40 am
OSAMA made DUBYA his bi@tch
You didn’t make me mad at all; you could not make me mad. You are so dumb, you actually make me laugh. Your post say all one needs to know about your nappy ass. LOL
Soreps
January 29th, 2012
9:46 am
OSAMA made DUBYA his bi@tch
How about this; “wow, I made you madder than a monkey with a plastic banana”. Just for the record, were u educated in government schools or were you just never educated? LOL
Soreps
January 29th, 2012
9:50 am
OSAMA made DUBYA his bi@tch
Where did u go? Outside to smoke some crack?
Katie
January 29th, 2012
10:00 am
Now the truth…………
Quit being such a narrow minded racist! No one would ever bother paying a train fair to take a trip out to the burbs to mess with you and your “stuff”. Instead, they would probably just steal a car and take the interstate – much faster getaway w/ less likelihood of being seen! Duh.
zeke
January 29th, 2012
10:10 am
RAIL IS A USELESS WASTE OF HARD EARNED CONFISCATED TAXPAYER MONEY! HOV LANES CAUSE MORE GRIDLOCK! TOLL LANES WILL DO NOTHING MORE THAN CAUSE MORE GRIDLOCK! THE TAX MEASURE MUST BE VOTED DOWN! AND THE VOTE MUST BE CHANGED TO THE NOVEMBER ELECTION CYCLE TO HAVE MORE PEOPLE VOTING FOR OR AGAINST! THE ONLY REASON TO SCHEDULE ANY VOTE OR ELECTION ON A DIFFERENT DAY IS TO SUPPRESS THE AMOUNT OF VOTERS AND GIVE A BETTER CHANCE OF PASSING THE MEASURE!!
Katie
January 29th, 2012
10:15 am
Jim Hall: ‘If there’s a profit to be made, then the private sector will “build it”.’
I understand and appreciate your sentiment, but the problem is that major infrastructure projects are rarely profitable. No private company would have the finances to fund a major road/train project, or the will to put up that kind of risk with their money. A perfect example is the GA 400 tollway. The state only recently broke even with the toll that has been levied for 20 years on GA 400… and they just “broke even”, meaning there have been no profits. A 20 year commitment just to break even does not seem like a very sound investment if you ask me. That also very likely doesn’t include the true cost to maintain the highway – just the cost to build it.
Jim Hudson
January 29th, 2012
10:52 am
Didn’t Commissioner Lee learn anything from the COBB EMC debacle? The folks in Cobb County are tired of these let’s raise taxes for no good reason projects. I believe that he and the toll road will go down to defeat together.
deegee
January 29th, 2012
10:53 am
The commuters of Cobb County have a long history of NIMBY, “let someone else pick up the tab for my commute”, and “keep the trains out of Cobb County”, attitude. No offense to Jim, but they deserve every horrible rush hour they get.
Soreps
January 29th, 2012
11:05 am
OSAMA made DUBYA his bi@tc
I am not angry. Why should I be? I am making tons from making pay day loans to crack heads like you and tons from being part owner of a bail bondsmen business. Smoke some more crack and call me when you get busted or if you need a short term loan. Bye!
R Plenty
January 29th, 2012
11:27 am
If the SPLOST Tax money is diverted it should go to making Cobb Parkway a limited access highway. Cobb Parkway is perfectly suited to be an alternative to I-75 and would move a lot more traffic than 2 toll lanes added to I-75.
John
January 29th, 2012
11:54 am
Forget the toll lanes. Besides if you put toll lanes on 75, the commuters will start taking 41 to avoid paying them. How about a splost tax to cover building 2 additional lanes north and south?
Jay
January 29th, 2012
12:07 pm
If GA motorist where not so pushy and rude the roads would not be this bad. Stay off the phone and get out of the merge lane, once the exit passes move left even if you don’t see traffic. This keeps other drivers from slowing down below the speed limit because you were too impatient to give proper space to allow cars to merge. I know the state patrol explained it when I grew up, get out of the merge lane as part of the driver courtesy. If this was the case you would not see the traffic we have today. And you would not be talking about spending tax payer money to fund another project that inevitably will end up in the same. We should all be fighting any bills generated by the state for double dipping on the tax payer. Think of it this way when you file your taxes will they allow you to double dip for the same child deduction just a different name? Then why would you allow the state to take your taxes to tax you again so they can have a bigger budget. As you all know the government cannot govern itself, and is notoriously bad with money. What do you think the revenue generated from this project is going to be spent on? Not you but I guarantee somebody’s getting a pay raise and a couple of secretaries and it’s not you.
td
January 29th, 2012
12:10 pm
I like having arguments with myself online using multiple names.
PositiveCynic
January 29th, 2012
1:28 pm
The Transportation SPLOST will pass. I just hope it does not change. Too many projects throughout metro Atlanta that is badly needed ASAP. Some projects might not really be needed, but it has potential. No one has a crystal ball and be able to say a project will fail. I know more cars are not the solution and trying to reduce the number of cars using the legal system is not a solution. I know some might fear that some projects are a waste of taxpayer funds, but I am also smart enough to realize that all of metro Atlanta has to try something to help with the transportation problem.
I really wish companies would get tax breaks for paying for a van to transport workers to and from a rail and/or bus stop (i.e. the final mile). For major retailers and industry, this could result in a dramatic decrease in cars on road.
EC Sedgwick
January 29th, 2012
1:42 pm
Lived on BellsFerry For twenty years. I moved . Now I walk to the mail box I don’t really need to look.
Mike in Marietta
January 30th, 2012
7:44 am
I see you changed the headline to get more hits…
Nice way to take advantage of 10 deaths in Florida.
Shame
January 30th, 2012
8:09 am
Pretty insensitive headline immediately after 28 are killed or injured in a chain reaction collision on I-75.
Madison
January 30th, 2012
9:31 am
No to private ownership of the means of transportation. No to any shanghaid leader who supports the concept. We’ve constantly had efforts by well heeled lobbyists to privatize water, sewer, police, prisons and now roads. Ask some of the new cities how that worked out. Ask the folks in south georgia whose entire acquifer was almost sold to the highest bidder. The folk continue to rail about how we’re mortgaging our grandchildren’s future. How is that worse that selling that future outright?
Out by the Pond
January 30th, 2012
9:33 am
For all you people who were not here in the 60s when the vote on Marta first took place let me remind you that Cobb was told it would get the last station built and that it would be under Glover Park. For you less informed Glover Park is the square in downtown Marietta. At the time of the vote Cobb County did not have any concentrated tax base such as Cumberland Mall or Town Center. Marta had very little to offer Cobb and Cobb had even less to offer Marta. Also at the time of the vote it took only minuets longer for me to drive to downtown Atlanta than it did downtown Marietta from my East Cobb location.
Slip
January 30th, 2012
9:34 am
Just so you know. Phoenix and Charlotte love their light rail that they’ve built in the last decade while we’ve been courted by the privatizers.
Slip
January 30th, 2012
9:36 am
All true, Mr. Pond, but Cobb has consistently rejected MARTA in the ensuing 40 years. Please tell me they’ll will pay for their mistake in a positive way.
Slip
January 30th, 2012
9:39 am
“No to private ownership of the means of transportation. No to any shanghaid leader who supports the concept. We’ve constantly had efforts by well heeled lobbyists to privatize water, sewer, police, prisons and now roads. Ask some of the new cities how that worked out. Ask the folks in south georgia whose entire acquifer was almost sold to the highest bidder. The folk continue to rail about how we’re mortgaging our grandchildren’s future. How is that worse that selling that future outright?”
These are valuable discussions, but the east west corridor is still a disaster. It’s only 58 miles across hwy 20 from 75 to 85 – avg speed is less than 40
Will the last Democrat in Georgia please turn off the lights?.....
January 30th, 2012
9:47 am
That east-west corridor/Northern Arc doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of being built as county governments and state representatives in Forsyth and Cherokee Counties won’t even let any discussion of it ever happen.
Will the last Democrat in Georgia please turn off the lights?.....
January 30th, 2012
9:50 am
Out by the Pond
January 30th, 2012
9:33 am
Very true as Cobb County didn’t even really come to be considered “urban” until after the Olympics.
Western Bypass
January 30th, 2012
1:28 pm
@Last Democrat
January 30th, 2012
9:47 am
Any chance that the Western Bypass can be brought up again and built?
The prospects for traffic getting even worse after the Port Of Savannah is expanded are very real
This is like watching a multi-year train wreck in slow motion.
Natasha
January 30th, 2012
1:56 pm
So what I gather from all of this is that traffic in Metro Atlanta is not going to get any better any time soon :-/