Tuesday, July 28, 2009
News Soapbox: Peachtree Streetcar for stimulus funds? Why?
Posted by Thomas Wheatley @thomaswheatley on Tue, Jul 28, 2009 at 9:25 AM
Atlanta City Councilwoman Anne Fauver recently voted against a study to help make the Peachtree Streetcar project eligible for federal stimulus funding. She says the Beltline is better positioned for federal funds, questions the streetcar's scope, and wonders who will maintain the estimated $120 million project if it's built.
On July 20, the Midtown and Downtown business associations offered the City a $600,000 grant to do a feasibility study on a streetcar line along Atlanta’s famed Peachtree Street and to prepare the City’s application for $300 million of stimulus money.
I voted against the legislation to accept the grant. It passed 11-3 so the feasibility study and the application for Federal money will be done. My position is based on the following:
The Franklin Administration asked for the legislation to be fast-tracked. Council had not had a work session or public hearing on the project. We never specifically endorsed the Streetcar proposal. The Streetcar is not THE top priority in Connect Atlanta, the City’s first comprehensive transportation plan either.
So where will these streetcars go? The east line stops at the King Center so riders cannot get to Grant Park, the Zoo Atlanta or the Cyclorama. To the south, the line stops at Five Points, missing the government centers near the State Capitol. The western portion of the streetcar line stops at Centennial Olympic Park, missing a number of hotels along the way.
On the north, it stops at the Woodruff Arts Center. Riders will be unable to reach the tourism draws and employment centers in Buckhead, including Lenox Square, Phipps Plaza and The Streets of Buckhead, a massive redevelopment project that will transform Buckhead Village into a mini metropolis.
Who will pay the annual maintenance cost of $4.5 million? Stimulus money can't be used for maintenance. Backers say that none of our local tax dollars will be spent on the Streetcar.
And what about the BeltLine? In fact, the proposed streetcars will only have two connections to this promising 22-mile transit loop. Feasibility studies have already been done on the BeltLine and environmental studies are in progress.
The BeltLine is anticipated to cost $2.8 billion and tax allocation bonds have already been issued for this project. In October, bonds of approximately $150 million more also will be issued to support the BeltLine. The BeltLine is shovel ready, so why isn't the city applying for federal funds for the project?
My bet is that the administration thinks a project with a sizzle has a better chance of attracting money. The BeltLine will bring more development, affordable housing and infrastructure improvements than streetcars along Peachtree Street.
Also think about this. The Peach, which is MARTA’s #110 transit bus, goes from Lenox Square to downtown’s Mitchell Street. Why can’t this simply run more frequently? No wonder the Buckhead business associations do not endorse the Streetcar.
In the 1970s, I joined the campaign in supporting a penny sales tax to create MARTA. The MARTA lines didn’t go several places we thought were important. But we were told it would be extended later. In 30 years, only the North Line has been extended. That is all. I believe the same will be true of the Streetcar.
Finally, who will own the Streetcar? If we don’t know who will own the system, how can we apply for Federal funds?
All of these questions are important. They should be answered before an application for stimulus money is submitted in mid-September.
[Ed. note: Fauver, who has announced she won't seek re-election, represents the Virginia-Highland, Morningside and Midtown neighborhoods, among others. The Beltline's Northeast quadrant is located in her district.]
(Courtesy Atlanta City Council)
Comments (7)
Showing 1-7 of 7
Is this the nail in the coffin of light rail for the BeltLine? Why is the City applying for stimulus funds for the Streetcar but not the BeltLine? Isn't our political leadership spending enormous City, County, and School tax dollars on the BeltLine because the BeltLine is our salvation? Does this confirm that the dream of light rail on the BeltLine is just a hallucination? That the talk of light rail on the BeltLine has been just a clever ploy to ram high density into the Northeast? And once the high density is built and the developers have fattened their wallets, will our political leaders act surprised, apologize and say is there is no money--and no way--to build and operate light rail on the BeltLine?
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Intowner is exactly right and i'm glad that the Beltline may finally be exposed for the money grab it has become. Anne contends that the Beltline is shovel-ready???? The project calls for the transit construction to START 20 YEARS FROM NOW. I can't really address the streetcar project with any authority except to say at least it is a true transit project. Its just sad this city can't put together a real transit project that addresses our current needs instead of a pie in the sky plan that depends on pulling in thousands for new residents and planting them on the tracks to provide ridership. Our bus system is horrible and could be great with a little thought and innovation and about 10% of the money being poured down the beltline hole. We could have it now. Don't believe our 'leaders'. Other cities have built transit systems in the time we've spent touring old railroad tracks and handing out money to developers. It takes real leadership.
Technically, the BeltLine is not shovel ready, but the Peachtree Streetcar is. The Draft Environmental Impact Study has not been completed for the BeltLine. The scope of the BeltLine project is much wider than the Peachtree Streetcar's scope. That's part of the reason why the public input process for the BeltLine is so much more extensive. It's also the reason why the planning process for the Streetcar could be completed much more quickly. As far as Fauver's questions go, her questions are entirely fair. However, I doubt she is actually listening for answers -- just as a start, there is already a lot of information available on the Peachtree Corridor Partnership's website. Some have tried to cast the BeltLine and the Streetcar as competing projects. However, they would complement one another far more than they would compete, considering there would be at least two connections between them. At the very least, the two projects are not competing for funding at the same time. Some have pointed out that the Streetcar's north-south route too much resembles existing MARTA rail. However, these two lines would serve two completely different types of trips. MARTA's existing rail better serves long-distance trips. The Streetcar would serve much shorter trips up and down the corridor. Some have argued that MARTA rail service needs to be extended further out. Others have argued that MARTA rail service needs to be strengthened in the core to truly be of better use for more commuters. As far as existing rail technologies go, commuter rail would be more appropriate for the longer trips to the suburbs; and light rail and streetcar would be more appropriate for shorter trips within the core. We would benefit from all of these projects.
The Beltline is definitely shovel ready. http://www.nputatlanta.org/images/photos/beltline-groundbreaking-shoveling.jpg Then again, so are dead people.
There will be no new BeltLine bonds issued this coming October. I can assure you of that. This thing is still in big legal trouble.
I am way late to this punch but I'm siding with Anne on this one. The Peachtree corridor is WELL covered by MARTA trains, various bus lines, taxis, private cars and parking decks. Why further congest that area with a "Streetcar"?? Because it's romantic? We should be saving the effort on fundraising and grant-seeking on something that will work in the long-term - even if it's 10 to 25 years in the making. At least the funds would not be wasted. As someone who rides MARTA every day from E6 in to Five Points and back out to N6... a 45 minute commute that could be knocked to 15 minutes if it rocked the hypotenuse... I have to say I need a streetcar like a fish needs a bicycle shaped hole in its head.
Emily -- the streetcar may sound redundant with other options already available along that corridor. However, it really turns out to be a more efficient replacement for many of those other options. Why take a taxi for a trip between downtown and midtown, when the streetcar would be less expensive? Why take heavy rail or a private car for that trip, when the streetcar would be more conveniently located? Why should MARTA operate a bus along that route, when they could operate a streetcar at a lower cost?
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