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Four decades of the Old Fourth Ward, seen from my office window

April 15, 2018, 3:54 pm/9 Comments

By Guest Columnist WILLIAM VANDERKLOOT, a film director/producer with a unique insight into Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward neighborhood.

A few years ago Google announced it would archive older images from its Google Maps StreetView program to create a StreetView History section for various cities. StreetView is less than 10 years old, but decades from now it will be a local historian’s delight. I only wish we had StreetView back when I moved my company to the Old Fourth Ward in 1979.

Like the proverbial frog submersed in slowly heating water, familiarity with our immediate surroundings makes us oblivious to incremental change. That is until one day we suddenly realize almost everything is different. That happened to me regarding my studio in the Old Fourth Ward neighborhood.

Enough already: GRTA, SRTA, MARTA, GDOT, ARC…and now….the ATL

April 9, 2018, 6:23 pm/2 Comments

Nearly 20 years ago, key business and government leaders heralded the creation of a new transportation authority that would tackle metro Atlanta’s traffic problems by expanding transit.

And so the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority – GRTA – was born.

At the time, there was one naysayer – the late Harry West, the longtime executive director of the Atlanta Regional Commission.

Northside commute worsened by closure of flex lanes on Ga. 400, north of I-285

April 6, 2018, 3:30 pm/1 Comment

The commute along Ga. 400 worsened Friday as the northbound flex lane was permanently closed a short distance just north of the road’s intersection with I-285. The closure is part of the $800 million project to retool one of the state’s busier intersections.

$100 million in transit funding, no clarity on who will divvy up the money

April 1, 2018, 5:04 pm/1 Comment

The State Road and Tollway Authority is to distribute the $100 million in state funding for transit. It’s not clear who will serve on the SRTA board that will make the decision and, the last time SRTA divided transit money, nearly two-thirds of the money went to metro Atlanta.

Atlanta’s potholes: Repair crews added while some consider new ‘pothole posse’

March 19, 2018, 5:28 pm/7 Comments

Potholes and the metal plates that cover some of them are enough of a problem that one member of the Atlanta City Council has suggested the city consider reconvening the “pothole posse” formed by then Mayor Shirley Franklin to fix crumbling streets.

A legislative leg up for Atlanta’s regional transit system

March 4, 2018, 2:47 pm/0 Comments

By Guest Columnist BRIAN GIST, a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center

For years, the idea of a comprehensive regional transit system in metro Atlanta seemed unattainable. It’s hard to even imagine taking a train from Decatur to SunTrust Park, or from Duluth to Atlanta’s airport.

Georgia’s highways rank 18th in nation as higher spending improves system

February 10, 2018, 5:01 pm/1 Comment

As state lawmakers discuss transportation spending, a new report highlights another wrinkle in Georgia’s roadways. The condition of rural roads ranks in nation’s the Top 10, and the urban roadways rank 47th in terms of congestion, according to findings from the Reason Foundation.

The Gold Dome of the state Capitol reflected in a bus window. Credit: Kelly Jordan

Lawmakers finishing details on possible 13-county metro transit proposal

January 24, 2018, 5:31 pm/3 Comments

By early next month, Georgia lawmakers will publish a plan to deepen cooperation among and increase spending on metro Atlanta’s public transit agencies. They’ve got a big job, looking for a way to unify a region and minimize difficulties in an always-expensive, now fragmented, and sometimes contentious area of public policy.

The year ahead in Georgia transportation

January 14, 2018, 3:58 pm/10 Comments

By Guest Columnist RUSSELL MCMURRY, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Transportation

Transportation infrastructure plays a pivotal role in driving Georgia’s economy, supporting community growth and maintaining Georgia’s position as the No. 1 state in the U.S. to do business. It also makes Georgia more attractive as a home to prospective new business operations like Amazon’s second headquarters, as well as those in the freight and logistics industry and our largest industry, agribusiness.

The Georgia Department of Transportation takes its responsibility for managing the nation’s 10^th-largest transportation network very seriously, and we work diligently to ensure it meets the needs of all Georgians. GDOT focuses on innovation, safety, sustainability and mobility to provide well-maintained roads and bridges. But that is just the beginning.

Census says commute time in metro Atlanta up 30 seconds in seven years, transit usage dips

December 10, 2017, 4:47 pm/3 Comments

The typical one-way commute time between home and work in metro Atlanta has grown by 30 seconds in the seven-year period ending in 2016, according to the latest report from the U.S Census Bureau. The proportion of workers who commuted by public transit declined during the period in Fulton and DeKalb counties, the core of MARTA’s service district, the report showed.

New criticism of transit voiced as MARTA eyes proposed line to Emory area

November 13, 2017, 5:46 pm/14 Comments

Randall O’Toole is at it again. Just as MARTA, Atlanta and possibly DeKalb County seem poised to help fund a transit line to the Emory University area, O’Toole – one of the nation’s outspoken critics of transit and smart growth policies – is out with new reports saying the transit era is over.

unite for kids, mlk national historic site

Time has arrived to unite for Atlanta’s kids

October 15, 2017, 2:16 pm/0 Comments

By Guest Columnist DAVID SUITTS, founder of Unite For Kids Atlanta

When people ask why I care about early childhood development, I think back to when I first thought I could maybe teach.

There’s a Youtube video of that summer: I’m filming and talking at three girls, none whom could be older than 6 years.

Metro traffic congestion to be eased as seaport cargo shifts from truck to rail

October 13, 2017, 8:15 pm/4 Comments

Metro Atlanta commuters can find solace in a factoid nestled in a report released Thursday by the Georgia Ports Authority. Some 50,000 trucks a year are to be removed from the region’s highways once an inland port served by rail opens next year in Chatsworth, officials say.

Memorial Drive: A step toward increasing safety for cyclists, pedestrians, vehicles

October 8, 2017, 5:37 pm/4 Comments

Atlanta is moving forward with an ambitious program to improve the safety of cyclists and pedestrians as they interact with vehicles along burgeoning Memorial Drive. The project starts about a half-mile east of the state Capitol and extends about a quarter-mile.

International award to GRTA for program that reduced congestion on toll lanes, to serve NW Connector

October 1, 2017, 9:53 pm/1 Comment

A pilot program GRTA tested in 2015 to see if commuters would bite on a financial incentive to shift their commute patterns has won the highest honor from an international toll organization. The program is to be brought back full time in 2018 on the Northwest Corridor, in Cobb and Cherokee counties.

Atlanta’s GM for road, transit projects appointed to board of newly retooled GRTA

September 20, 2017, 8:23 pm/0 Comments

Gov. Nathan Deal has appointed Atlanta’s chief of road and transportation construction projects to the board that oversees GRTA, which advises on Xpress bus service in metro Atlanta and authorizes state and federal spending on transportation in metro Atlanta.

A few hundred people gathered Downtown on Tuesday evening to hear 12 Atlanta mayoral candidates take questions about transit. Credit: Maria Saporta

Atlanta mayoral hopefuls talk traffic, transit fixes

September 20, 2017, 8:00 am/1 Comment

Last year, Atlanta voters approved new sales taxes to pay for transportation and transit builds. This year, mayoral candidates are talking about what they would do in a city that’s raising cash, is predicting a lot of new residents and that aims to attract big employers.

Harvey shows need for national infrastructure plan; use Georgia as P3 model

September 11, 2017, 12:24 pm/0 Comments

By Guest Columnist MARK BURKHALTER, a board member of the Georgia Department of Transportation

In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, the stress on our nation’s infrastructure is now more pronounced than ever as collapsed roads and bridges in Texas and Louisiana make it impossible for many residents to get on with their lives.

Ga. Tech to crunch data from high-tech traffic system to improve flow of commuters

August 24, 2017, 7:03 pm/0 Comments

The demonstration project hasn’t even opened, and Atlanta already is expanding its deal with the Georgia Tech Research Alliance to crunch data in an effort to move commuters – whether by foot, bike or vehicle – more quickly and safely through the busy North Avenue corridor.

Georgia’s transportation plans advancing amid turmoil in Washington

August 14, 2017, 5:04 pm/0 Comments

This hardly seems a good time for Georgia to update its transportation spending plan, given the drama in Washington. For starters, President Trump is attacking Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the husband of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao – who is rumored to be considering resigning her post.

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Lisa Thank you for this, Bill -- it is a beautiful slice of history. I became a part of the Magick Lantern family towards the end... –
On: Four decades of the Old Fourth Ward, seen from my office window

Chris Johnston Another part of former Mayor Reed's legacy crumbles, with more parts to come. –
On: Georgia Supreme Court rules in favor of Clark Atlanta and against Invest Atlanta in Morris Brown land sale

Chris Unfortunately you're not wrong - racial and county politics have stymied transit in this region... –
On: Expanded rail transit needs to be part of Atlanta region's future

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