Wednesday, February 17, 2010
News Peachtree Streetcar misses out on federal funding
Posted by Thomas Wheatley @thomaswheatley on Wed, Feb 17, 2010 at 4:44 PM
While other cities across the country are prepping ribbon-cutting ceremonies to celebrate federal funding grants that will build transit lines, Atlanta's got the blues.
The city's $298 million bid for the proposed Peachtree Streetcar was not among the more than 50 TIGER grant recipients announced today by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The cash, part of President Barack Obama's $787 billion stimulus program, will fund a variety of transportation projects across the country.
There were high hopes that federal officials would award funding to the shovel-ready project, which envisions a streetcar line running along Peachtree from Five Points to Midtown and an east-west line connecting Centennial Olympic Park and the King Center.
Downtown and Midtown business boosters were on board and key to getting the project past the brainstorming stages. Mayor Kasim Reed recently told Maria Saporta the city's application even received a nod of approval from Federal Transit Administration Region IV Director Yvette Taylor.
But just like previous federal funding rounds for high-speed rail and other transit projects, Georgia and Atlanta received nothing.
City officials, however, tell CL that all no hope is not lost for the project. A second round of TIGER funding, though much less than what was made available today, is expected. We're scheduled to speak with officials about what other options Atlanta might have to get the project off the ground. We'll update after that discussion.
DOT received more than 4,000 applications from all 50 states, territories and the District of Columbia requesting 40 times more funds than were available. The federal agency receieved ore than 30 applications from Georgia requesting a total of nearly $1.7 billion. The Peach State was one of 13 states and territories not to receive any funding.
To view a complete list of the awarded grants, download this PDF. You can read Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's remarks here.
(Courtesy Georgia Transit Connector)
Comments (20)
Showing 1-20 of 20
GA gets nothing. Just desserts for Saxby's Tea Party state that hates transit and poses as anti-big govt?
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So disappointing. John Lewis, seriously, you couldn't throw your weight behind this?
Where's John Lewis? Doesn't he have some sort of position in congress? Oh well I guess my congressman is just there for show.
Leave John Lewis out of this. Through earmarks he got a couple hundred thousand federal dollars for the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Isn't that enough? Isn't that money serving the overall community?
Can't leave Mr. Lewis out of this conversation. Can't leave Saxby nor Johnny out of this conversation. This is a DIRECT reflection on the disfunctional state transportation system. You would think this state would have learned from missing out on all the previous $'s...but NO not Georgia. Our only hope it the Beltline project.
Amen Mr. Smith..Atlanta needs to Beltline, the region needs the Beltline, the state needs the Beltline. It is about time the state got behind the city of Atlanta, the economic engine for the state. Wake up Sonny...where are you Kasim...Lewis it is TIME to call in your legacy favor, THE ATLANTA BELTLINE.
To hell with Saxby and Johnny. This whole project was in Lewis' district. He should have stepped up and made something happen, he is one of the top democrats in the House. I've been to his office up in DC it's not one of the little bitty ones in the back. This doesn't reflect on the state at all it reflects poorly on the city and Lewis only.
I'm sad to hear the street car project didn't get the funding it needed, but its not a real surprise that one of the transit projects in the area didn't make it. Hopefully, the supporters that the Streetcar did have will consider backing the Beltline. I understand that they are entirely different projects, but the Beltline would be great for Atlanta.
Lewis is a joke! He doesn't care about the city and this is proof. The beltline is the only hope for Atlanta...
Even though this was an Atlanta project and not GDOT, my guess is that, like GDOT with the Macon line, the city hasn't shown enough effort or progress on other projects. Even though I like the street car idea, it's nevertheless a streetcar line along an existing transit line in a city with poor transit service. If there was actual progress (or at least effort from city leaders) on the Beltline, I bet there may have been funding for the streetcar. If this is the case, I don't know what John Lewis could have done.
It would seem that one of the main reasons Atlanta was overlooked was the lack of dedicated local matching funds. (Same deal with the high-speed rail funding several days ago, only at the state level.) Year after year, the Georgia legislature refuses to allow local communities to vote on sales taxes dedicated to support transportation initiatives. This is not something Congressman Lewis has any control over. As long as the monied interests (i.e. GA's road builders) and their puppets in the Georgia Legislature are in the driver's seat, the only form of tranportation our state will ever see is more roads, more roads, more roads. Quite literally, Georgia is paving itself into irrelevance and obscurity, as the rest of the nation leaves us behind.
HA!! Even Tennessee and Alamaba got rail funding! See page 32!! NC, TN, AL, FL... but GA gets left in the dust! Chalk this up to good ol' Sonny Per-Do-Nothing and his cronies in the legislature, bought and paid for with road-builder money. http://www.dot.gov/documents/finaltigergrantinfo.pdf
The Beltline to Nowhere will get federal funding when Sarah Palin hunts moose in Piedmont Park. For the umpteenth time, there is no ridership potential for that route. Read the GA Tech study - or at least don't assume the Feds won't read it.
Lets also not forget our Republican friends that have districts that include the ATL Metro...John Linder, Tom Price, and Phil Gingrey. They are too busy playing partisan politics to be bothered with silly things like the health of the region. As for the John Lewis skeptics, let me remind you of the 87 Million he helped the state get for the ATL-Lovejoy route. Our state over 8 YEARS has not been able, or better isn't WILLING to commit 15 million in matching funds so the money will most likely GO BACK TO DC!! So, why would DC want to give us any more funding? Transportation Sec. LaHood (a REPUBLICAN) told the state they needed to get their act together...the same message he gave to Florida. Florida got their act together and won over a BILLION in funding. We didn't...any question now of why?
Hey Cityzen. The Beltline is more than a transit project, look it up. The awarding of $'s takes into consideration a lot more factors than just ridership. The Mayor wants this done fast, I heard it at the Beltline network meeting. Cityzen just don't want people in his neighborhood, an eclusionist attitude. Wake up and join sarah hunting moose by the lake.
Wow, it seems like almost every state received transportation funds. I never saw the point of a street car- it'll only add to the congestion. How about funding to improve the existing public transportation and possibly the beltline?
Wait a minute. I thought Kasim had all these wonderful ties to the Obama Administration. Looks like he has no more pull than Mary Norwood would have.
Hey Beth, I would recommend that you take whatever you hear in a Beltline Network meeting with a rather large grain of salt.
Beth: The main component of the the Beltline is transit. From the Beltline website: "The BeltLine at its core is the addition of a new 22-mile transit system that connects to existing and proposed regional transit networks, linking riders to major activity centers and attractions."
Two things here: 1. Atlanta has a history of wasting, misappropriating, or losing tons of federal money. Why keep pouring money down a rabbit, no rat, why keep pouring money down a rat hole. 2. Feds control the money; Dems are in power. GA hasn't gone Dem in a presidential election since Clinton. Hell, McCain beat Obama by double digits in GA. NC and FL both went to Obama and both got money. Politics.
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