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Politics & Government

Maloy: TSPLOST Meeting Contrived

The deck was stacked in favor of the project list, particularly the billion-dollar light rail from Cumberland Mall to the Atlanta Arts Center MARTA Station.

If you look up the word “contrived” in the dictionary, don’t be surprised if regarding the Cobb County TSPLOST project list is one of the definitions. 

Needless to say, the deck was stacked in favor of the project list, particularly the billion-dollar light rail from Cumberland Mall to the Atlanta Arts Center MARTA Station. 

The room was packed with representatives from engineering firms, the Chamber of Commerce and a herd of bicyclists, who for some reason think that this rail line will improve biking in Cobb County, so most of the public comment came from them.

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All questions for the four-person panel had to be submitted in advance, and although many were addressed by the panelists, few were answered satisfactorily or factually. 

One of the problems was that the people answering the questions had already made up their minds that they are going to ram this rail line down Cobb taxpayers’ throats come hell or high water.  It gives a whole new meaning to the word “railroading,” doesn’t it?

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If you don’t believe the people of Cobb County are being “railroaded,” consider this: Currently, 55 percent of TSPLOST proceeds in the ten-county metro area will be devoted to so-called “transit,” a.k.a. light rail.

But a full 86 percent of Cobb’s share will go toward building a rail system that, except for about one mile, will be in Fulton County. Let’s call it what it is: The Fulton Railroad. 

While the Fulton Railroad is touted as the answer to Cobb’s traffic congestion, it will begin south of Interstate 285 and will not address the county’s worst traffic, which is well north of where the Fulton Railroad will be built. 

The remaining $140 million will be used for some street and road improvements, but nothing is allocated to move traffic around the huge Park ‘n’ Ride lot that will be required to accommodate the questionable estimate of 22,000 trips per day. 

Little will be done about the bottle necks on Interstate 75, Highway 41, Chastain Road, Barrett Parkway, Windy Hill Road, Canton Highway and other streets where the real traffic congestion exists. 

Nothing is being done to alleviate the likely traffic jams will proliferate on Spring Road, Atlanta Road, Cobb Parkway and others as commuters try to get to and from the enormous Park ‘n’ Ride lot that will be required for the Cobb County station.

Another indication of how ineffective this rail line will be in relieving traffic congestion is a traffic survey done by INRIX in 2010. It listed the top most congested areas in the U.S. as Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Washington D.C., Dallas, Houston, San Francisco, Boston, Seattle and Philadelphia. 

Interestingly, all of these areas have costly rail transit systems, but obviously they are not relieving much congestion. 

Proponents of an expanded rail system in the Atlanta metro area like to make comparisons with European systems, which they claim we should emulate.

Barcelona, Spain is a good example. It has a metro population about the same as that of the Atlanta metro area, and has a transit system that places a station within walking distance of nearly every citizen. 

The difference is that Barcelona’s population density is about 45,000 people per square mile and Atlanta’s is about 1,500 per square mile. In Barcelona, transit can be effective with just 60 miles of track and about 120 stations. 

According to a report by the Reason Foundation, accomplishing the same thing in the Atlanta metro area would require 2,100 miles of track and 2,800 stations. 

Applying the per-mile cost of the Fulton Railroad to such an expansion would put the capital cost to provide a “Barcelona level” of service at more than $2 trillion.

The Atlanta metro area clearly is not suited for rail transit, and it would be even less appropriate for Cobb County.

We may need more connector roads between interstates and other major arteries, or we may need something else. But what we don’t need is another billion-dollar boondoggle that by its very nature will continue to require increased infusions of tax dollars to keep it running. 

Any of our elected officials who think we do should be run out on a rail.  

Tom Maloy, a retired businessman and 30-year Powder Springs resident, is a board member of the Georgia Tea Party. Contact him at tom@thegeorgiateaparty.org.

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