A spirit that feels a lot like hope surrounds the Vision Zero mobility policy announced by Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. The city may have found a guiding light for moving folks no matter how they get around.
Tag: transportation
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Park to park: Connecting Atlanta communities with a future-proof streetcar
By Guest Columnist HOWARD S. WERTHEIMER, executive vice president and chief operating officer at the Piedmont Park Conservancy.
A number of years ago, when I was leading the Office of Capital Planning and Space Management at Georgia Tech, at a time when the City of Atlanta was deep into the throngs about building a new streetcar system, many people questioned the merits of making such a significant financial investment into a transit modality with limited flexibility. … It was more than obvious to many thought leaders that we should not invest in 19th century technologies….
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Atlanta City Council presses forward on impact fees to fund parks, mobility, more
The Atlanta City Council seems intent to raise in 2020 the one-time impact fees charged to new developments to raise money to provide the public parks, roads, police precincts and fire stations that serve growth. Frustration mounts as Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ administration has little to show for progress since Jan. 7.
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DeKalb County’s potential transit tax vote in 2020 faces myriad of scenarios
DeKalb County transit advocates face a possible campaign in 2020 that could go beyond simply seeking voter approval of a 30-year sales tax. Advocates may have to overcome public trust wavering after setbacks in two nearby tax-funded programs – for DeKalb schools, and Atlanta’s roads-and-sidewalks-and transit programs.
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Next stop for Atlanta transit: Jobs
By Guest Columnist BETTY WILLIS, president of the Clifton Corridor Transportation Management Association
As far back as 1961, transportation planners at the predecessor of the Atlanta Regional Commission had the foresight to anticipate where MARTA rail lines would best serve the metro region’s transit needs, years before construction began in 1975 on the heavy rail system.
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GDOT adds two years to I-285 projects, cuts time for truck project on I-75 South to Macon
The state’s new highway construction schedule in metro Atlanta adds two years to the overall completion date – now early 2032. It extends the timeline for toll lanes on westside and eastside I-285 by two to four years, and cuts the schedule by more than a year on a stretch of I-75 south to Macon that’s often ridden by tractor-trailer traffic.
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GDOT seeks public comments on funding of transit, bike and walking paths, more
The window of opportunity for the public to express opinions on state funding of transit, bike and walking paths – and all modes of transportation – opened over the weekend and public comments will be accepted online through Oct. 20. The outreach is part of the state’s effort to update mobility plans that are to guide spending through 2050.
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Briarcliff Road to be partially closed to replace water pipes, boost fire fighting capacity
Beneath the rolling hills of the Druid Hills area is public water system that dates to 1909 and has such low water pressure that fire suppression is a major concern. DeKalb County on Sunday started the process of replacing 8.5 miles of pipes that likely will cause intermittent bottlenecks along Briarcliff Road and neighborhood streets for two years.
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‘Suffocated’ by traffic: Buckhead residents seek solutions from ATL, ARC, GDOT, etc.
Just one number speaks to the reason traffic is again a major topic in Buckhead: The number of vehicles that every day drives along just one street lined with homes compares to almost the entire population of Decatur.
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BeltLine Rail: Bait-and-Switch?
By Guest Columnist PATTY DURAND, co-chair of BeltLine Rail Now
You’d think if Atlanta leaders had a way to extend reliable rapid transit to dozens of neighborhoods, connecting them to existing MARTA rail at multiple points – and do it relatively cheaply – they’d jump at the chance.
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Warehouses seek close-in locations to reduce costs, delays of traffic congestion
Warehouse owners are joining home buyers in seeking close-in locations that can shorten commutes. The trend could increase, given that the state transportation commissioner has said the delivery of goods to homes in metro Atlanta already is, “a challenge.”
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Buckhead plan aims to reduce solo commutes by providing affordable homes in Buckhead
The related challenges of affordable housing and traffic congestion are paired in a new report in Buckhead. Civic leaders have devised a proposal to increase the number of affordable homes in order to enable staffers to reside closer to work and not need a car to commute.
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Plan calls for saving oak trees, widening sidewalks at Brookhaven shopping center
A proposal to save five specimen oak trees in exchange for tweaking the sidewalk requirements at a busy shopping center along Peachtree Road in Brookhaven, near MARTA’s Brookhaven Station, has received preliminary approval from city planners.
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ATL edging toward Vision Zero, a policy of no deaths when vehicles strike humans
The job posting for Atlanta’s first transportation commissioner calls for experience with implementing Vision Zero, a mobility policy that includes reducing vehicular speed on city streets in order to improve safety for folks not in vehicles.
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Saving the Atlanta BeltLine: A shift from transit to micromobility
By Guest Columnist KEVIN H. POSEY, who writes about transportation and has served on related boards in the Washington region. He moved to Atlanta in 2017.
Atlanta’s BeltLine is perhaps the city’s best-known landmark. As with New York’s High Line, travel writers point it out as a key stop for those visiting Atlanta. However, that popularity poses a threat to its viability as a usable transportation corridor.
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Tenacity pays off as partners build warehouse to compete in tough retail sector
They never gave up. And after 30 years or so of efforts, the two partners and their families celebrated on Thursday the construction start of a warehouse in Tucker that is to be the foundation of the next generation of their furniture store – reflagged from Underpriced Furniture to Georgia Furniture Mart.
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Commuters’ trip times reduced by GDOT’s construction approach that won awards
Metro Atlanta commuters who travel on roads may take some consolation in the notion that construction delays aren’t as bad as they could be. Georgia Department of Transportation has been commended for a program that reduces construction timelines – and cut a decade off one major project.
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ARC goes high tech to reach public to devise plan for 2050
By David Pendered
Think of ARC’s long-range, regional planning blueprint done with 3-D animation. It would feel more alive, more real-time representational of the region it aims to serve. And the conversation has already started about the future the blueprint aims to inform.
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The absence of children in transportation planning
By Guest Columnist DOUG JOINER, a lifelong child and adolescent advocate
In January 2012, I was introduced to Safe Routes to School in metro Atlanta through the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors via a Kaiser grant. As I assessed the program in metro Atlanta, two disturbing issues immediately caught my attention – children rarely factor in transportation planning; and low-wealth minority communities have even few safety provisions for children walking to school.
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New audible crosswalk alert helps blind college student, reminds of simpler times
It’s a simple story from a simpler time. A mother asked a man to help her blind son. The man agreed. An audible tone was added to a crosswalk on a busy road. The son now can safely cross the road between his home and a bus stop after his ride home from school.
