Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Transit Atlanta breaks ground on downtown streetcar
Posted by Thomas Wheatley @thomaswheatley on Wed, Feb 1, 2012 at 12:40 PM
- Thomas Wheatley's iPhone
- Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, center, Mayor Kasim Reed and city and transit officials toss dirt, while the gentleman on the left gets his photobomb on
Check back in a few minutes for a full summary of the event, which was packed. In the meantime, please discuss a very interesting question "zedsmith" raised on Twitter: "pols shoveling stuff. Do other countries have this tableau?"
UPDATE, 1:07 p.m. More than 100 people joined Reed and LaHood to mark the beginning of construction on the transit project, which the mayor says is the largest federal award Atlanta's received in the last decade, with the exception of MARTA and the airport.
Once built, the streetcar would glide along Edgewood and Auburn avenues to connect residents and tourists to the King Center and Centennial Olympic Park. Along the way it'll pass Wheat Street Garden, Georgia State University, and many vacant mixed-use buildings that streetcar supporters hope will attract businesses. The project will thankfully include bike lanes. (Edgewood Avenue is one of Atlanta's most popular — if not the most popular — bike lane in the city.
LaHood highlighted the streetcar's potential to spark redevelopment along the historic yet neglected area: "This corridor will become an economic corridor. For all the small businesses that will be located along here. What an opportunity to showcase Dr. King's church along this corridor. The thousands of people who will come here to see the beauty of this area."
He continued: "You know what will be here five to ten years from now? A lot of tourists looking for a place to eat, a cool glass of water, or something else cool. Looking for an opportunity to look at a historic church. Looking for an opportunity to look at the history in this magnificent city. It's about now but also about the future."
A.J. Robinson of the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District, which would contribute some operations funding for the transit line, noted that incoming businesses, including new investors in the Hurt Building and the Equitable Building, and a new Waffle House near Centennial Olympic Park (which apparently is unlike any other), noticed the project.
"A lot of these people are telling us this [activity] is because of the future streetcar," he said.
City Councilman Kwanza Hall, who represents the area the streetcar will serve, said the transit line would help link the Old Fourth Ward and Sweet Auburn to downtown.
"Years ago, when investments were made in the Sweet Auburn district, they really weren't investments that benefited the community," City Councilman Kwanza Hall said, referring to the interstate that cut the Old Fourth Ward from downtown. "These destroyed the African-American businesse that were so vibrant here. The new connector will be this streetcar. This means a lot to us."
And lest we forget: LaHood also took a moment to applaud the mayor and Gov. Nathan Deal and their bipartisan efforts to lobby federal officials for funding to deepen the Port of Savannah.
"I'm delighted to announce that Atlanta and Georgia has its act together," LaHood said to loud applause. "Two people who deserve the lion's share of credit are Mayor Reed and Governor Deal. They've taken politics out of good policy. They've taken politics out of getting things done for the people. What a listen they could teach some of our friends in Washington. When you put good policy in place — when you put politics aside and put people first — good things happen. That's why I'm here today."
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Comments (49)
Showing 1-49 of 49
Where are the white leaders of this very diverse section of Atlanta - "oh not invited" for the photo-op "City too busy too hate..."
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How about that very interested dude in the red hat? The one dressed like Super Mario in a Fonzie jacket.
"Yep! That's dirt I reckon!"
crony crony, seriously?
Sorry but I imagine for many folks voting in the Republican Primary they probably think the guy in the Red Baseball Cap is Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood because that's there image of the typical cabinet level appointee by the President.
As to Zedsmith's twat I have to expose my lack of sophistication, though in fairness since the move to freedom fries I have an excuse not know my french words. Anyway from wiki I'm thinking it means image/picture/demonstration? But any of the 3 definitions below would work.
Tableau (plural: tableaux (UK) or tableaus (US); from the French diminutive of "table", sometimes meaning "picture") may mean:
Tableau économique, 18th century model showing interdependence of different economic classes
Tableau vivant, a motionless performance in theatre
InATL; Seriously, seriously? Most of Obama's cronies (like each of his predecessors) are rich white wall street-white men...Why do you think Occupy Started? Oh the rationale of Matt Damon and the likes!
Tab-woah: the way David Zayas pronounces Tableau on the show Dexter.
Oh, and as for the man on the left of the picture above...he's either the truck driver or a crackhead...or both.
Dude in the red hat...
https://twitter.com/#!/alexloyal/status/16…
The white guy with the shovel is Secretary Ray LaHood...
LaHood is a Republican!
"InATL; Seriously, seriously? Most of Obama's cronies (like each of his predecessors) are rich white wall street-white men...Why do you think Occupy Started? Oh the rationale of Matt Damon and the likes!"
yeah except this one isn't?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_LaHood
if you're going to uselessly bitch about stupid things, at least uselessly bitch about stupid things when your useless bitching is called for. otherwise you just sound like a dick
sorry random anonymous idiot for telling you the truth (which is that you're stupid)
take a chill pill brah. hopefully enough to stop your dumb heart from beating
let me translate my not-very-complicated point into moronese for you:
if you're going to while about how all of obama's 'cronies' are rich banker types, it would be in your best interest to say so in the context of an article which features one of them. ray lahood is not a rich banker type, so you really come off as sounding like an ignorant hater
from me 2 u, a little pro tip on coming up with worthwhile arguments
Love that quote from Kwanza -- well stated.
I'm glad to see some work start on this. I can't wait for the day when I can pass through the Sweet Auburn area and see good new investment instead of just feeling sad about the harm done to the fabric of the neighborhood by the interstate connector. And mostly I look forward to heading due west out of the King Historic Site and seeing something other than underused gack.
Love that quote from zedsmith— thanks Thomas.
I'd echo everything darin said.
ep thanks for the education - i do have wiki and google. oh boy!
AlejandroLeal - Hilarious! Reminds me of that meme of the dude with the cigar watching Tiger Woods play.
Eric Yea in addition to a lack of connection to the article generally, I'm trying to figure out how my quote which joked about the Fox News/Tea Party crowd thinking Obama is a socialist revolutionary trying to redistribute wealth to the poor was the launching pad for the Anonymous guy to complain that to say Obama surrounds himself with Republicans.
May be a valid complaint, though as you say not really the correct thread.
Even going beyond LaHood, I would argue this project is one clear difference between Obama and Mitt "the poor have plenty of safety nets" Romney. This project or even the beltline would not happen under Romney, after all we don't really need to worry about our downtowns when we have more pressing needs of giving people government subsidized access to brand new subdivisions in Forsyth and Hall .
One of many of Atlanta's problems epitomized - a nice glossy PR photo to promote a wasteful project who's funds would be far better used in other ways. Will they take glossy photos next to the street car when it's costing the city tons of money, and gliding back and forth along it's rails devoid of passengers? Probably not....
http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/court-man-with-hiv-1326930.html
Sad State of our City under Reed!
Now let's work on getting the TIA passed and we can link the Beltline to the streetcars & go from Ponce City Market all the way dwnton without a car.......
Don't want to take this thread off topic but the TIA's numerous downsides are not worth the small portion of its taxes that may go to the Streetcar. In fact I would argue that the while the TIA will fund some of the street car the TIA will overall make demand or ridership on the Streetcar lower. Use the money they want to give Arthur Blank for a new staduim to build the streetcar.
yeah if public funds are going toward building the falcons a new stadium, then ATL should just own the team like the GB pack. who the hell needs Blank?
InAtl: "In fact I would argue that the while the TIA will fund some of the street car the TIA will overall make demand or ridership on the Streetcar lower."
Care to support that argument? Namely, how a streetcar build-out for the "east side trail" and "west end trail" segments for the beltline that integrates with *this* streetcar could possibly undermine any section of the streetcar.
"Care to support that argument? Namely, how a streetcar build-out for the "east side trail" and "west end trail" segments for the beltline that integrates with *this* streetcar could possibly undermine any section of the streetcar."
i think his argument is that imposing higher taxes through a TIA would dampen some of the development which would result because of the streetcar, as well as development which would occur anyway. if this is his intended argument, i can't say it's a bad one
Zedsmith, sorry, wasn't trying to imply building parts of the Beltline streetcar would hurt this streetcar. I was saying that what the whole TIA project list ultimately builds could lower demand for all the streetcars, Beltline and this one.
I say that because the TIA overall will add far more road capacity than transit capacity. The TIA is tilted towards the northern Quarter of the region and thus will promote or subsidize more car dependent development in that quadrant that will have the doubly negative effect of further shifting the population center of the region north.
Considering how little money the TIA contributes to the Beltline I do believe that if this street car is successful the city will be be able to replace the 400 or 500 million TIA funding with other funding over the next 10 years.
That leaves only the Clifton Corridor as transit we may lose if the TIA is voted down. And I doubt that project would be built in 10 years or perhaps ever, they don't have the ROW and there are hurdles to securing it.
Back to this streetcar I'm excited by the stimulative effects it will have on this extremely underutilized corridor. One thing in the update though "new Waffle House near Centennial Olympic Park (which apparently is unlike any other)," lol - is this aiming high? I know we'll do better than a new Waffle House that has an internet Juke box instead of a CD Jukebox (unlike any other).
Eric was typing mine while you posted yours, too bad I think I like yours better.
Where was Lyle Lanley (or Leonard Nimoy for that matter)?
Interesting to see it was already 20%+ over-budget even before groundbreaking. Don't mean to sound too negative but I'll wager a sawbuck that it will be marred by crime within a month (or even prior to) its inaugural trip.
higher taxes......1%?
Dampen development - based on what....?
Also, the benefits are not only associted with the actual transportation "projects" but the fact that it creates IMMEDIATE PAYING JOBS!
In other words, your neighbor, the guy that is about to get foreclosed on & hurt your home value, he gets a job, and saves his property, and stabilizes your property value - then he spends that money in your community - and pays taxes - and then that creates more jobs at the place where he spends money and lowers the state deficit via payroll, sales, state, property taxes paid & decreases unemployment.....
The TIA is not purely a transportation initiative - it's jobs, deficit reduction via payroll taxes, it's opportunity, it's advancement, it's community development and big picture change.
Complain all u want folks - but I side with development and progress over complaining on the CL message boards - onward & upward....
If Atlanta can build and fund the street car extensions by other means, don't you suppose the northern suburbs will continue to build car-oriented development in the same way? That seems like a red herring of an argument...
I don't know. If anything, your dutiful criticism of the regressive sales tax for sprawl will make me feel better when reactionary tea partiers kill it in the crib.
Vox, if you don't want to sound too negative (in such a classically dog-whistle racist kind of way, no less) then you know what to do. ;)
kasim... he ain't perfect but he's a damn sight better than the clowns we've had over the last 15 years.
"If Atlanta can build and fund the street car extensions by other means, don't you suppose the northern suburbs will continue to build car-oriented development in the same way?"
yeah. the only thing stopping mushrooming subdivisions is lack of demand, especially since adequate infrastructure is already in place
To Kiteless - Kasim is better if you are NOT a small business owner. His immediate shakedown of small businesses from doubling liquor license taxes on bars in the depths of the recession, to sending license inspectors out to razz independent hair cutters, to sending out Atl Fire Dept to look for minor fire code infractions telling building/business owners they'll be back next week to shut them down, to doubling the payroll tax (which really is what a business license is), has done a world of hurt to small businesses in the worst local economy in a decade. Then lo and behold! There's a $108 M surplus! So is that from jacking businesses or laying off all the workerbees downtown that actually DO work while you leave the high-paying political gimme jobs under Shirley in the Mayor's Office? All while trying to shut down the only neighborhood-input mechanism available to resident citizens?
I got regaled with a tale of business harrassment last month by an owner who had the unmitigated gall to discuss at a Council meeting a way to restructure the liquor license fee system (so he wouldn't be paying at the same level as Turner Field) - he was told by a Council member loyal to Kasim to sit down and shut up and was then audited the next week.
Another boondoggle for Atlanta tourism instead of Atlanta resident viability... How bout a route to the new Porche track? Oh, and your water/sewer bill is about to go up again, for those of you who actually pay your own utilities directly, brought to you by the Dept of Watershed, with no transparency and no real accountability....
Guys, can we PLEASE focus on the more important issue here....THE GUY IN THE RED HAT.
"If Atlanta can build and fund the street car extensions by other means, don't you suppose the northern suburbs will continue to build car-oriented development in the same way?"
Many of the projects would not get built or if they were it would cause GDOT to drop other road expansion projects thus lowering demand for car-oriented development and encouraging more pedestrian and/or transit forms of development.
Remember except for 15% off the top the road money from uber regressive TIA is going to GDOT.
Even if all the road projects were built with other funds then at least those projects won't be funded by TIA that is so horribly written (or well written from a special interest point of view) that it exempts the sale of gas, Delta and Southwest Airlines and that portion of a car purchase over $5,000 while offering little protection for transit projects slipping off the list.
follow-up question— don't you think a down vote will send a clear signal to pols that voters don't think transit should be a priority, or that long-term planning about transit investments is hazardous to your chances of reelection?
The best thing I can see coming from this project is a new Waffle House.
Well i don't think the TIA is a transit bill, I think its a roads funding bill with some transit in it. So I don't think it will send that message, yes some will say that.
What I think will happen is that the Chamber and other's aware of the challenges facing the region will put more pressure on the legislature to stop being idiots and correct it the proper way.
Also until the region comes to grips with Land Use I'm afraid to throw more money at "the problem"
Will it be like the MARTA buildout that happened at the same time as the Freeing the Freeways buildout which resulted in development going further out instead of near the new MARTA stations, as envisioned?
Also I'm not feeling the downside of no TIA. Without TIA, transit for outside 285 will be Xpress bus service on HOT Lanes, which works. Once the Beltline stuff is built I think inside and near 285 is adequately served by Rail and bus service.
I'm just glad to see the project get off the ground. Can't wait to be gliding along the streetcar in 2014.
1%? It's actually at 12.5% increase in sales taxes to go from 8 cents to 9 cents of every dollar. A penny here a penny there and pretty soon consumers change their spending behavior. Politicians love to make projections that assume static behavior.
Finally the Edgewood area is blooming and Atlanta officials do the predictable thing: kill all the business in the area by tearing up the street; construction for two years. Here we go!
Ladeef: Are you suggesting Atlanta will not be able to claim the area was revitalized by the Streetcar since the revitalization is already well on its way (even with the recession)?
Crack heads and inner city dopers need to walk to buy their crack not hope on a taxpayer funded street car. This is a joke. Close Atlanta and run the mayor and these other criminals outta town.
Fulton should be split and then these inner city losers can fend for themselves instead of stealing from legitimate earners.
Dopers.
the streetcar is a reminder of how atlantians hate to use their feet. dont ever encourage walking in this town, just build more toys for lazy people to ride on.
i lived on edgewood while these talks were happening and they swore up and down it was not for tourists, but rather the residents and such. if that were true they would put in along ponce de leon, going from decatur into midtown, having a real purpose.
but yea, build build build baby
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