Monday, October 31, 2011
Transit Downtown train terminal contract signed... now we just need some trains
Posted by Thomas Wheatley @thomaswheatley on Mon, Oct 31, 2011 at 1:56 PM
- Joeff Davis
- "the Gulch"
The Georgia Department of Transportation today celebrated the signing of a two-year, $12 million contract with a private development team selected to plan — and eventually build — Atlanta's long-awaited downtown train terminal. Or, as the government folks like to call it, the "multi-modal passenger terminal."
The station will be built in the vast parking lot between Philips Arena and south downtown often referred to as "the Gulch." The area was once home to Atlanta's two train stations — one of which, Terminal Station, should have never been demolished.
Once built, the downtown terminal is expected to serve MARTA, Atlanta's streetcar and local, regional and intercity buses. The station will also be equipped to handle future high-speed and intercity rail service.
“The multi-modal passenger terminal will help transform how we move around our city and region,” Mayor Kasim Reed said in a statement. “The MMPT will serve as the focal point for many existing and future transit networks. It is an important part of the overall effort to improve and expand public transportation in metropolitan Atlanta, and it will help our region maintain its competitive edge."
In addition, a GDOT spokeswoman says, the station will "serve as a catalyst for one of the largest transit-oriented development projects in the U.S., with expected commercial, recreational and residential mixed-use development."
The development team includes Forest City Enterprises and Atlanta-based firms Cousins Properties and The Integral Group. According to GDOT, the firms will spend the next two years working on a "conceptual design of the MMPT and potential funding options." The AJC's Rachel Tobin says the contract also requires the team to, before December 2013, "complete an environmental assessment; explore north-south rail alignment and its effects on MARTA, freight rail, roads and destinations; examine bus access issues; create a conceptual plan for the hub and surrounding spaces; work with the DOT on land purchases if needed; identify funding sources; and hold public hearings."
Which means that since these private developers are managing all the design work, the state can get started on making sure we actually have trains to serve the terminal, right? Dawn of a new day and all that!
For much more information about the downtown train terminal proposal, click here.
Comments (12)
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It's painful to look at the old pictures of Terminal Station. If they want to do this right, they ought to rebuild it or something like it.
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Is this just a full-employment deal for Cousins and Integral? Doesn't it translate into $16,400 per day (assuming the firms work every single day for two years)?
Downtown MMPT contract signed... now we find out how a giant bus bay smells
breaking news: public benefit still uncertain
This is a great idea, and could potentially have a huge impact on revitalizing downtown, but as Thomas eluded, where are the trains? The Atlanta Regional Roundtable killed any hope of the Atlanta to Griffin commuter line. Are we really expecting the state to do anything? Is this going to become a huge bus station?
I agree with Question Man. Is this a $12 million design contact? Damn! It was my understanding that Cousins and Integral were looking for private sources of funding for the residential/retail development side. Is there any funding for actual development or are we throwing $12 million at Cousins/Integral to "study" and make pretty pictures of what it could be one day? Please correct me if I am off base.
I'm still hopeful that Amtrak can be brought back into this. I know they said it was a non-starter because they refuse to back their trains out of a dead-end spur line -- but if the development stretches far enough to the west (as I suspect it will do under any circumstances), it will abut the north-south rail lines that Amtrak already uses. If we give them a parallel track to spare the the inconvenience of backing out, I can't imagine why they'd be unwilling to use this terminal.
This will be a good thing if government don't drag their assets on starting and completing it. Atlanta GA wants to be the New York city of the south. but its scared to do the kind of growth projects that will put it there. A centralized transportation hud putting marta-amtrak-greyhound-city buses-taxi and future high speed rail; all in one place. will make Atlanta's Grand Central Station Transportation Hud. The best in the south but that's when its finally open for business that is.
Atlanta might want to be the New York City of the South but Georgia wants to be the Alabama of the 1950s. Until that changes, Atlanta is always going to have to drag a huge stone around when attempting to do anything even slightly progressive.
Well said Centennian.
Also, it's not the "growth projects" that are preventing Atlanta from being the next NYC. Atlanta has embarked on lots of "growth" projects - like Atlantic Station, 12th & Midtown, now the Streets of Buckhead. All of which are inorganic and prefabricated. What Atlanta needs is someone who understand urban design/development to handle planning/zoning/development of the "city", not a bunch of people who like Novare renderings. That also requires someone who understands the economics of urban lifestyle, not someone who's going to buy votes with appeasement projects from suburban voters.
"What Atlanta needs is someone who understand urban design/development to handle planning/zoning/development of the "city", not a bunch of people who like Novare renderings. That also requires someone who understands the economics of urban lifestyle, not someone who's going to buy votes with appeasement projects from suburban voters."
good old AA, you can always be counted on to shoot your mouth off about things you don't understand
problem is that the city lacks the resources and political support necessary to pursue anything but flashy developer-driven megaprojects.
what atlanta needs, more than anything else, is better mass transit - but the beltline is languishing due to lack of funding, MARTA is still gimped on the state level due to restrictive legislation and lack of financial support, etc.
the point that centennian made which you failed to understand is that as long as the power for effective regional planning is split amongst atlanta and the various burbs, nothing substantial can be accomplished. the burbs will continue to fragment into smaller enclaves so as to retain more of their own taxes, all the while bitching about how bad traffic on i-75 has gotten
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