Vinings resident: 'Light rail will not get built in the I-75 corridor in our lifetimes'

By Ron Sifen

According to the Oct. 7 Marietta Daily Journal, Cobb Commission Chairman, Tim Lee said, the TSPLOST rail line “for the moment has been put on the back burner as we seek out the results of the AA (Alternatives Analysis study) and alternative funding. If that becomes available, then we’ll talk about it.”

However, even though this project is allegedly on the “back burner” it is still being funded in the TSPLOST to the tune of $689 million!

Technically, the TSPLOST is not a SPLOST. The Transportation Investment Act (TIA) was designed to resemble a SPLOST, but it is different.

* Like a SPLOST, the TIA requires a projects list.

* The TIA does not have a requirement that every project on the projects list actually get built.

* The TIA can shift money around from one project to another, as long as the project is on the projects list.

Some politicians and special interests are so focused on getting light rail in order to promote economic development in the Cumberland area and along Cobb Parkway that they refuse to look at several known obstacles.

Recently, and U.S. Rep. Tom Price (R-east Cobb) have both warned the region that it is unlikely that federal dollars will be available for projects like these, and warned the region not to make plans that would count on these funds. (I have been warning Cobb County about the likelihood of this problem for more than a year.)

I have also been warning Cobb that when it completes its AA it will have to demonstrate to Washington that it conducted an objective unbiased study. Appearance of bias is probably the real reason that it claims to be putting light rail on “the back burner,“ even though it is still allocating $689 million for some vaguely defined transit. Funding a specific alternative (light rail), when the AA has not been completed, would give the appearance that the AA was biased and that the outcome of the AA had been pre-determined.

If light rail is going to cross I-285 via Cobb Parkway, there is no excess capacity going under the I-285 Bridge. Going over I-285 will be very expensive, and will have to gain Federal Highway Administration approval. There may also be conflicts with the National Park Service crossing the Chattahoochee River.

The Northwest Connectivity Study (NWCS) identified a major obstacle for light rail in the Fulton County portion of the I-75 corridor. In Fulton County, most of the right-of-way in this portion of the I-75 corridor is “maxed out.“ There are possible solutions, but all would be very difficult and very expensive:

* Buying out portions of neighborhoods would likely meet intense community opposition and would be extremely expensive. These neighborhoods expressed strong opposition to light rail in the I-75 corridor during the NWCS process.

* The train could be built elevated above the road. Obviously that would be considerably more expensive than current projections. Also, the biggest neighborhood objection during the NWCS process was noise, and if the train is elevated, the noise problem is going to be much worse.

* The train could be underground. That would solve the noise problem, but it would be even more expensive.

* Or, would somebody want to propose taking away existing lanes and using those lanes for light rail? In the aftermath of the I-85 toll lanes fiasco, I doubt that anybody is going to be taking away any lanes on I-75.

During the NWCS process, I attended a meeting where GRTA (Georgia Regional Transportation Authority) discussed the I-75 right-of-way dilemma. GRTA said that its objective was to actually get the NWCS project built, rather than getting bogged down in many years of legal battles. GRTA reminded everyone of the old I-485 proposal that spent many years in court before eventually being abandoned.

If the region wants to move forward with a project that actually gets built, then the project might need to be something other than light rail on I-75 inside I-285. If the project reverts to “the long route” on Marietta Boulevard, then we are back to the same problems that already made that route unacceptable.

All of this, and more, is why GRTA concluded that BRT was the best transportation solution for this corridor.

Cobb County is so intent on manufacturing a study that recommends light rail that it refuses to look at information that would conflict with its pre-determined choice.

Even if the AA ignores these issues in order to manufacture the desired pre-determined recommendation, and even if federal dollars were actually available (which is unlikely), I suspect that GRTA will ultimately be proven correct, and that light rail will not get built in the I-75 corridor in our lifetimes.

So, what about the $689 million? Most of it will likely become a “slush fund” within the T-SPLOST, and transferred to other projects.

Ron Sifen is a Vinings resident.