David Pendered

Articles by David Pendered

A Northern Arc by another name: Public process begins for widening of Ga. 20 from Canton to Cumming

Date: May 17th, 2013, 12:58 pm

A crowd of 148 attended an open house Thursday night to toss their 2 cents into the conversation over the proposed widening of Ga. 20, from Canton to Cumming.

Call it what you will – Ga. 20, Northern Arc, Outer Perimeter, Outer Loop – the state intends to improve east-west access across Atlanta’s far northern suburbs. The open house was a step in that process and another open house is slated for Tuesday in Ball Ground.

Ga. 20 runs somewhat parallel to the Northern Arc’s proposed route and already has been expanded. Additional construction would enable to handle more vehicles. The state’s official position is that options range from doing nothing to doing something big.

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Atlanta to combat food deserts with portion of $30 million federal grant

Date: May 16th, 2013, 10:51 am

Atlanta’s food deserts are one of the problems that Atlanta’s development officials intend to address with a portion of a $30 million federal grant the city has received.

An incredible swath of Atlanta, generally located south of Buckhead, meets the definition a food desert, according to a mapping tool of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The definition boils down to access to food – distance from food stores and access to transportation.

Atlanta’s food desert program is to be one of the first such efforts in the country to be assisted through the New Markets Tax Credit program, which was started in 1994 by the Treasury Department to help fight blight and create jobs.
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Timber industry launches message of sustainability as market remains soft

Date: May 14th, 2013, 9:44 pm

Georgia’s timber industry launched a campaign Tuesday to raise awareness of its efforts to promote sustainable practices.

The campaign is led by the Georgia Forestry Association and includes a speakers bureau that is to take the message to Rotary Clubs, chambers of commerce and other such groups around the state.

The effort is unfolding as the state’s struggling timber industry has been promoted over the past nine months by parties ranging from Gov. Nathan Deal to the University of Georgia to Rolling Stones keyboardist and Georgia tree farmer Chuck Leavell. Continue reading →

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Complete Streets policy has full backing of GDOT commissioner

Date: May 13th, 2013, 5:19 pm

State transportation Commissioner Keith Golden says his department is committed to the Complete Streets policy adopted by the board in September.

“It doesn’t mean that we stop all projects and adapt them to fit that mode,” Golden said. “It does mean that we start all projects with that concept in place.”

GDOT’s commitment was questioned earlier this year, until bike lanes were added to plans for a replacement bridge across Ga. 400. Less attention was paid to GDOT’s inclusion of bike lanes and a tunnel for pedestrians at a replacement bridge over Lake Lanier.
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PATH Foundation named in Ga. 400 trail, latest of its $55 million projects

Date: May 12th, 2013, 10:00 pm

After building more than 180 miles of trails in Georgia, the PATH Foundation is now memorialized in the name of a future trail in Atlanta – PATH400 is the name of the trail that’s to run alongside and beneath Ga. 400.

When the trail’s complete, it will join a trail network valued at $55.5 million that PATH has completed and transferred to local governments, according to PATH’s most recent Form 990, the IRS tax return filed by non-profit organizations.

Despite the size of this contribution to public greenways, or perhaps because of it, the PATH Foundation has become such a fixture in metro Atlanta since it was formed in 1991 that it’s possible to forget that it is still a relatively small organization in the big world of non-profits.
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Cheshire Bridge Road to remain an “adult” district, if Atlanta City Council upholds ruling by its zoning board

Date: May 9th, 2013, 9:36 pm

A proposal to shut down the adult shops and clubs by 2018 along Cheshire Bridge Road in Atlanta was rejected Thursday by Atlanta’s Zoning Review Board.

The vote is not binding and doesn’t end the debate. The battle continues to the Atlanta City Council, where the area’s representative, Alex Wan, had introduced the measure with strong support from an array of neighborhood groups.

The opposition that gathered at the ZRB meeting included a mix of gays, strippers and Atlanta’s real estate interests – including Scott Selig, whose family has developed in Atlanta since 1918. Their protests centered on issues including free expression and property rights.
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New tollway director promises open communications from powerful agency in transportation network

Date: , 10:06 am

GRTA’s board offered a warm welcome Wednesday to Chris Tomlinson, the newest leader of metro Atlanta’s transportation system.

Tomlinson, executive director of the State Road and Tollway Authority, responded with a message that emphasized themes of communication and transparency.

The message could go a long way for a state entity that wields tremendous power over Georgia’s transportation system, but operates largely out of the public spotlight. SRTA is chaired by the governor and has the power to plan, develop and build roads funded by federal and state sources – in addition to tolls. Continue reading →

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Sounds of meteor hitting Russia, North Korea’s nuclear test, posted on YouTube by Georgia Tech

Date: May 8th, 2013, 11:58 am

When a meteor slammed into Russia in February, the infrasound signals were captured by a listening station in Lilburn and analyzed by a Georgia Tech researcher.

The signals from the meteor were compared to seismic signals associated with North Korea’s nuclear test in February, and an earthquake in Nevada.

If nothing else, the results speak to the sort of “gee whiz” research underway in metro Atlanta, much of it based out of Georgia Tech. The sounds of the meteor and two other events are now available on YouTube. Continue reading →

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Economic forecasts in Atlanta Mayor Reed’s budget not for faint of heart

Date: May 6th, 2013, 6:47 pm

Those who are desperately straining to see improvements in Atlanta’s local economy may want to skip Mayor Kasim Reed’s budget proposal, or at least limit their view to a few bright spots.

Reed’s budget is based on some grim predictions: Property tax revenues will decline; sales tax revenues will stagnate; lease payments for city-owned properties will decline, according to revenue overviews scattered throughout the budget book.

Bright spots include revenue from business licenses, which is forecast to rise a bit as business income increases. The hotel/motel tax is expected to rise modestly as the business and tourism trade holds on. In addition, Atlanta expects to hire rather than lay off employees, with a third of the new positions to be located in the executive offices that report directly to the mayor.
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Bullets flew over traffic jam in 1997, but scant notice paid as relief arrives

Date: May 5th, 2013, 8:45 pm

Sixteen years ago, the traffic on Johnson Ferry Road between Cobb and Fulton counties was so bad that someone fired two slugs into the control box of a traffic signal, evidently to make a green light last longer.

Last week, Sen. Johnny Isakson cut a ribbon to open the newly improved Johnson Ferry Road. Hardly anyone paid heed.

It’s anyone’s guess as to why the improved road has garnered such little comment. But it does suggest some degree of weariness when a $26 million project that was nearly 30 years is the making doesn’t trigger a buzz. Continue reading →

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