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Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Transit City to study new streetcar routes connecting to Georgia Tech, Beltline

Posted by Thomas Wheatley @thomaswheatley on Tue, Mar 19, 2013 at 2:49 PM

Studies funded by Invest Atlanta would plan for 1W (red), 1E (green), and part of 2 (blue) streetcar lines on above map

Invest Atlanta
Studies funded by Invest Atlanta would plan for 1W (red), 1E (green), and part of 2 (blue) streetcar lines on above map

Despite the failure of last summer's transportation tax vote, the city is taking steps to expand Atlanta's streetcar network that could connect more than just tourists, students, residents, and workers between Centennial Olympic Park and the King Center.

This morning, Invest Atlanta's board approved doling out more than $1.4 million to Atlanta Beltline Inc., the nonprofit that plans and develops the 22-mile loop of parks, trails, and transit, to pay for studies to expand the city's streetcar network to North Avenue and the Beltline's Eastside Trail in the Old Fourth Ward. (Here's a handy fact-sheet.)

The board of the city's economic development agency also OK'ed funding to study a possible east-west streetcar line along North Avenue, Northside Drive, and Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway. The route would offer riders access to MARTA's Bankhead and North Avenue stations. (Here's another handy fact-sheet.)

Cash for the studies comes from the Westside and Eastside Tax Allocation Districts, or TADs. The financial programs are designed to redevelop blighted areas by issuing bonds which are paid off with increases in property tax revenue.

The studies of the proposed routes, parts of which you might recognize from last summer's T-SPLOST project list, only cover the projects' environmental assessment. However, once complete, the two projects could become more competitive for federal funds. A Beltline spokesman says the studies are expected to take approximately two years to complete.

After the jump, we put on a fancy-looking tinfoil hat we made while sitting through days of Atlanta Falcons stadium meetings and stone-cold speculate about why the project is moving along.

The Falcons are considering two sites for the team's estimated $1 billion facility. Falcons executives prefer to build the stadium on the so-called "south site" located next to the Georgia Dome in the Castleberry Hill neighborhood. It's served by rail transit and is near the interstate.

The area also includes several churches that would need to relocate to make room for the athletic and events complex. Should the churches fail to strike a deal with the Falcons, Georgia World Congress Center Authority, and city, the stadium would likely be built on the "north site."

That property is along Northside Drive and Ivan Allen Jr. Boulevard and includes land where the Atlanta Housing Authority's Herndon Homes once stood. One of the north site's downsides is that it's not served by rail. In fact, it's about a 20-minute walk from the Dome and Vine City MARTA stations.

The east-west streetcar line Atlanta Beltline Inc. will study would run along North Avenue and Northside Drive, nearly one block from the north site. While it's hard to imagine a streetcar hauling nearly as many Falcons fans on gameday as MARTA heavy rail, the line could serve those crowds.

Maybe the mayor wants to lay the groundwork for transit to serve what could become a site for the new stadium, should talks with churches fall through, while also prepping for a future transit network. This is a good opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.

Regardless, good luck finding the funding to build the projects. Last we heard, the state and city had already decided to spend Atlanta's hotel/motel tax on some other project.

Tags: Invest Atlanta, Atlanta streetcar, Atlanta Beltline, Eastside TAD, Westside TAD