By David Pendered
Gov. Nathan Deal sought Wednesday to cast a hopeful tone over the future of transportation.
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Articles by David Pendered
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Gov. Deal tees up transportation debate as federal funds wane
Gov. Nathan Deal sought Wednesday to cast a hopeful tone over the future of transportation funding.
The current reality is grim. For starters, as of June 1, Georgia is facing a $367.2 million shortfall in necessary federal transportation funds in the federal fiscal year that ends Oct. 1, the state’s chief engineer told GRTA’s board of directors.
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Hotel leaders oppose propose religious freedom bill, mindful of perception
By David Pendered
Georgia lawmakers should be mindful of the state’s tourism industry as they deliberate proposed religious freedom bills, leaders of the state’s hospitality industry told a House panel Tuesday.
Posted inDavid Pendered
Hotel leaders oppose proposed religious freedom bills, mindful of state’s perception in travel trade
Georgia lawmakers should be mindful of the perception of Georgia’s tourism industry as they deliberate proposed religious freedom bills, leaders of the state’s hospitality industry told a House panel Tuesday.
But with supporters rallying in the Capitol’s Rotunda and then spilling to the ceremonial front door of Atlanta City Hall, the proposals already have a lot of momentum. A Republican committee member indicated advocates won’t go quietly into the night.
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Underground ATL: Ga Tech grad shows time right for redevelopment
As Darron Cooper completed a research paper about Underground Atlanta last year at Georgia Tech, he had no idea the city was on the brink of selling Underground to a developer.
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Buckhead trail results from GDOT, Atlanta agreement on green space
By David Pendered
The first segment of the PATH400 trail is officially open, following a ribbon-cutting ceremony that recognized an historic city-state agreement to create green space in Buckhead.
Posted inDavid Pendered
Buckhead trail results from GDOT, Atlanta agreement on green space
The first segment of the PATH400 trail is officially open, following a ribbon-cutting ceremony that recognized an historic city-state agreement to create green space in Buckhead.
Eventually, the trail will wind beneath and alongside Ga. 400 because the Georgia Department of Transportation granted unprecedented access to unused right of way. The trail will begin near a cemetery and is to connect near Piedmont Hospital with the Atlanta BeltLine.
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Brookhaven’s plans for park, green space continue to advance
By David Pendered
Brookhaven is continuing its effort to improve parks and greenways in metro Atlanta’s newest city.
Posted inDavid Pendered
Brookhaven’s plans for park, green space continue to advance
Brookhaven is continuing its effort to improve parks and greenways in metro Atlanta’s newest city.
Brookhaven residents have identified walking trails and rest rooms in parks as their top priorities in parks development, according to the master parks plan completed in September. The next step is to review three specific parks.
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Fixing state’s roads, rails to handle freight could cost up to $20 billion
The Georgia Legislature’s new report on transportation funding recognizes the need to improve the state’s freight handling systems, but goes into little detail.
Posted inDavid Pendered
Fixing state’s roads, rails to handle freight could cost up to $20 billion
The Georgia Legislature’s new report on transportation funding recognizes the need to improve the state’s freight handling roads and rails, but goes into little detail.
The report does observe that freight must be accommodated. The report does not note that up to $20 billion is needed to improve roads and rail for the exclusive purpose of moving freight on rails and roads, according to a consultant’s report released in 2011 by the Georgia Department of Transportation.
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Transportation report omits P3 option despite its use on I-75, Ga. 400
The Georgia Legislature’s committee report on transportation funding does not appear to acknowledge the one financing method being employed to ease two major bottlenecks in metro Atlanta.
The words, “public private partnership,” seem to appear nowhere in 12 potential solutions named in the report.
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Dallas-Fort Worth stakes claim as a place with a shared civic vision
A full-page ad that ran last week in The Wall Street Journal promotes Dallas-Fort Worth as a unified region at a time metro Atlanta is still defining a shared civic vision.
Posted inDavid Pendered
Dallas-Fort Worth stakes claim as a place with a shared civic vision
A full-page ad that ran last week in The Wall Street Journal promotes the Dallas-Fort Worth region as a “well-oiled machine” that’s becoming known as “the DFW.”
This type of ad is about more than regional bragging rights. It speaks to the very real economic competition between two mega regions anchored by Dallas-Fort Worth and metro Atlanta, the later being a place where many are careful not to refer to the region as the ATL.
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College dorms to be run by private companies: Voters gave approval
Georgia’s embrace of public private partnerships now extends to college dormitories.
The Board of Regents has approved a deal to put nearly 10,000 students into beds that by 2016 will be managed by one private company. Georgia already has partnered with privately owned entities to manage matters including prisons, distance learning, and roadway construction.
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Atlanta could clear $10 million from sale of Underground Atlanta
Atlanta could clear about $10 million from the sale of Underground Atlanta if the deal goes through as expected.
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Georgia’s jobs of future call for teamwork, technical skills: Employers
The No. 1 attribute that business leaders say will they want in their employees is the ability to collaborate, according to a report to Gov. Nathan Deal on high demand careers.
The report also states the top five careers of the future in Georgia will be mechanical engineer, electrical engineer, welder, machinist, and computer numerical control operator, according to the report.
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Atlanta seeks ideas to cash in on public domain in busy parts of city
Atlanta city officials are to meet Tuesday with vendors to begin the process of monetizing the public space in order to generate up to $5 million a year.
The idea is for Atlanta to collect fees for allowing private companies to install “amenities” in commercial areas. Boston is cited as one example of the concept, for its $21 million, 20-year contract for advertising on street furniture.
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Gov. Deal creates water czar for water supply, litigation
Gov. Nathan Deal has established a water czar to focus the state’s efforts on water supply and litigation.
Although water supply wasn’t much of an issue during the recent gubernatorial campaign, Deal established the position just a month after the election and on the eve of the 2015 legislative session – during which Deal may ask lawmakers to provide additional money for dams and other water projects.
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GRTA’s new executive director knows Xpress buses from passenger’s seat
Just minutes after he was named GRTA’s executive director, Chris Tomlinson was busy Wednesday talking about potential synergy between GRTA and the state agency that oversees managed lanes.
“We’ll roll out incentives to get more people to take advantage of transit,” Tomlinson said. “We hope to shift people out of vehicles, especially at the peaks, and take advantage of what transit providers already are doing.”
