A proposed bus route from Marietta to the Johnson Ferry Road corridor would restore service to East Cobb that was eliminated in Cobb budget cuts during the recession.
A project list for the proposed Cobb Mobility SPLOST would include what is being called an Arterial Rapid-Transit line along Roswell Road to the Johnson Ferry Road area, a total of 6.6 miles, and with an estimated cost between $125 million-$150 million.
That project list also includes a proposed East Cobb Transit Center, one of several planned as part of a proposed 30-year tax that would collect nearly $11 billion in sales taxes.
Cobb DOT officials will ask commissioners on Tuesday to place a referendum on the November 2024 ballot on whether to approve the tax, and to approve the project list it has compiled.
That list (you can read it here) details the cost breakdown for eight different project types, with nearly $6 billion devoted for what’s called “high-capacity” transit bus lines.
The proposed Roswell Road route is one of three in the Arterial Rapid-Transit category, along well-traveled routes and that connect to major activity centers.
The East Cobb route would extend to Avenue East Cobb, just east of Johnson Ferry Road, and down to Merchants Walk Shopping Center.
The East Cobb Transit Center location wasn’t specified in the project list information, but it would connect the East Cobb ART route with two proposed bus routes serving Fulton County and DeKalb County.
Those routes would extend to South Atlanta Street in the city of Roswell and the Dunwoody MARTA Station, according to the proposed project list.
The former is included on a list of local bus routes; the latter in a rapid-bus transit list of routes that would make fewer stops.
Currently the only transit option in the East Cobb area is a CobbLinc route along Powers Ferry Road.
Republican commissioners JoAnn Birrell and Keli Gambrill oppose a 30-year tax.
In September, county officials held a town hall at Fullers Recreation Center, where residents expressed skepticism to a transit tax.
The commission meeting begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building (100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta), and the full agenda can be found by clicking here.
You also can watch on the county’s website and YouTube channels and on Cobb TV 23 on Comcast Cable.
Related:
- Citizens skeptical of transit tax at East Cobb town hall
- Conservative group opposed to Cobb transit tax referendum
- Cobb commissioners approve funding to finish police Precinct 6
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Transportation is a problem. In any growing community there have to be plans to handle that growth. No one likes our traffic and it’s getting worse. Some transit proponents stop there and simply repeat the problem over and over demanding that “something” be done. These are foolish and incomplete arguments that sound more like bullies than anything else.
There are two more issues that have to be addressed. First is the proposal for which they expect us to pay BILLIONS the right proposal for our future? I don’t think so. Much like the misbegotten regional transit proposals that died in flames a few years ago, we can do better. We need a debate not a rush to approve a predefined project list. The East Cobb portion of this transit plan seems like a boondoggle. Many residents will wonder if the rest of the plan is too.
The second issue is the ability of this council to administer such a vast amount of our money wisely. Each of the last two budgets approved by this county council just spent every dollar they could get their hands on with no regard for the taxpayer paying increased assessments. Now the public will consider their lack of fiscal responsibility in giving them such an incredible mountain of our money.
Commentors like Don truly illustrate the ridiculous mindsets cobb residents have towards transit. Let’s see – you hate traffic, you’re disabled, but are somehow against the ONE thing that has a chance at relieving congestion? If not transit, what’s your plan B? Never leave the house? Widen roswell rd? Sit on your keyboard and complain about traffic? Even if you wont consider riding cobblinc, the existence of a route on this corridor means vehicle trips that make up TRAFFIC being replaced by bus passenger trips. What is so complicated about this? No one is holding a gun to east cobb commentors and demanding they ride a bus. However, this corridor has thousands of service industry jobs where bus ridership can take a real dent at replacing the car trips that every target, trader joes, home depot, and restaurant worker currently has to make. This is low hanging fruit and a no brainer.
46 years of travel and driving and riding in major cities. Ed here, assumes that I’m in East Cobb. Let’s see, we have school buses, and then we add local buses. The last thing we need is to have buses, stopping in the right hand lane loading and unloading people during the day.
Ed, have you driven Roswell Road eastbound and stopped near Home Depot to get through the Johnson Ferry intersection?
Roswell rd is already an alternate for 285. That is a mess that needs fixed.
Additional police for handling traffic enforcement. Roswell Road is a raceway at night. Billions of dollars will be a total waste to establish mass transit. Ed says,
let’s throw a billions of dollars at it, that will fix the problem? No one‘s gonna ride the buses. How are things going in New York? Oh, that’s right all mass transit has gone to hell and the commuters moved southern states.
Is that you Ed, are you one of the smart guys that has all the answers for our traffic problems. Many years ago I attended a mass transit meeting hosted at the Pro Bass store in Fort Lauderdale. Officials came from all over Florida to attend that meeting. We took a pole of asked the attendees how many of you took mass transit to this meeting? Not one official.
So you don’t live in East Cobb and your only transit arguments come from sensationalized right wing talking points about NYC and a bs story from years ago in Florida? Thanks for playing Don, you’ve done a great job explaining how both your comments are irrelevent to this topic. Please don’t complain about traffic when you are actively opposing a solution. For those reading who want real info – cobblinc buses have a kneeling feature and electric ADA ramps so disabled residents can ride safely.
“this corridor has thousands of service industry jobs where bus ridership can take a real dent at replacing the car trips”
A real dent? Hardly. As with most mass transit proponents, this is an evidence-free statement.
Throughout the United States, there is no evidence that pouring money into transit reduces traffic. Quite the opposite is true: every dollar you sink into empty buses is a dollar that you’re not spending on the mode of transportation that nearly everyone actually uses: cars on roads.
Just like our current mass transit projects in the Atlanta area, this would be another money pit. Even if you could design a magical transit system that could theoretically carry enough passengers to make a measurable difference in traffic, there is no possible way that the county could afford it, even with state and federal handouts. Chances are, like MARTA and CobbLinc today, few would even ride it.
Perhaps Ed imagines that everyone else will take public transit, freeing up the roads for him. That’s not how it works. Even in cities like Los Angeles and Austin that have spent massive amounts on bus and rail, these modes of transportation cover only a fraction of a percent of the passenger miles that automobiles do.
How about New York City, you ask? Atlanta and Cobb are not New York City and will not have that kind of density even in our grandchildren’s lifetimes. Even so, NYC transit is over $30 billion in debt with another $30 billion maintenance backlog that they are unable to afford.
It is inconceivable how Cobb politicians can dream up such expensive schemes when it has failed everywhere else. What do they think makes them special? If you want to build cities based on fantasy, there are video games for that. Please play those instead of impoverishing taxpayers.
In addition, with autonomous vehicles in the not-so-distant future, the idea of expensive transit boondoggles is even less forward looking.
BT, I give you a thousand thumbs up on your comment.
This is a bad idea. I’m disabled and this another way to slow down traffic, and infringe on our idyllic lifestyle. Leave us alone and cut the fat out of government. No mass transit.
Don
I really hope this passes! I have disabilities to where I need Paratransit and I can’t even get it at my apartment because there’s no bus service along Roswell Road