Final Draft List of Transportation Projects Released

The Atlanta Regional Transportation Roundtable's executive committee said Monday it came up with the master list of transportation projects it hopes metro residents will agree to pay for by voting in a 1-cent sales tax next year.

But the final draft list, which is expected to cost a collective $6.14 billion, is  short on transportation improvements for Southeast Atlanta and the neighborhoods that comprise East Atlanta Patch.

In fact, the only project affecting the area to make that list is the Atlanta Beltline Streetcar Circulator and Trail. That project, designed to get streetcar rail service in in and around Downtown, is expected to cost $1.54 billion — down slightly from earlier estimates of $1.58 billion.

Several other projects in the Patch were included in earlier drafts but were axed from this final list including:

• DeKalb Avenue from Jackson Street to Oxford Place ‐ Reversible Lane Equipment Modernization: $1.33 million
• SR 154 (Memorial Drive) from Pearl Street to Whitefoord Avenue ‐ Reversible Lane Equipment Modernization: $683,419
• Edgewood Avenue at Southern Rail Line (Future Belt Line) ‐ Bridge Replacement: $8.86 million
• Edgewood Avenue at Airline Street ‐ Bridge Upgrade: $2.17 million
• US 23 (Moreland Avenue) Bus Rapid Transit and Operational Improvements between Inman Park/Reynoldstown MARTA Station and Custer Avenue ‐ Includes Roadway Operational Improvements: $36 million

The list won't be final until October and the roundtable is hosting several public hearings to get residents' feedback.

The roundtable cut an original wish list of 400 projects, costing $22 billion, down to just over 100.

In an earlier interview with East Atlanta Patch, Bucky Johnson, who is chairman of transportation roundtable, said the goal is to get a list that makes sense from a regional perspective.

Everybody would not be able to get everything they wanted, he said.

Metro Atlanta suffers from a lack of federal transportation projects, he said, because the region lacks a cohesive vision.

"One of the things that we've heard is that the federal government is confused about what we really want," Johnson told East Atlanta Patch. "The need is great and you have got to start somewhere. If we did a little bit to everybody, than nobody would get what they wanted."

One project to make the final draft list is the 5.4-mile rail line to link the Indian Creek MARTA station to Wesley Chapel Road near I-20 East.

DeKalb County leaders — including Larry Johnson, the DeKalb County Commission’s presiding officer and county Chief Executive Burrell Ellis — threatened last week to withhold their support for the penny sales tax if the list did not include rail service for South DeKalb.

The penny sales tax is expected to be put to voters in a regional referendum in July of 2012. If voters approve, the tax could generate about $7.2 billion over a 10-year period — which would cover the $6.1 billion cost of these regional projects.