On July 20, the Midtown and downtown business associations offered Atlanta a $600,000 grant to do a feasibility study for a streetcar on Peachtree Street, and to prepare the city’s application for $300 million of federal stimulus money.
I voted against the legislation to accept the grant. It passed 11-3 so the feasibility study and the application for federal money will be completed. My position is based on the following:
The Franklin administration asked for the legislation to be fast-tracked.
The City Council had not had a work session or public hearing on the project. We never specifically endorsed the streetcar proposal.
The streetcar is not the top priority in Connect Atlanta, the city’s first comprehensive transportation plan.
So where will the streetcar go? The east line stops at the King Center so riders cannot get to Grant Park, Zoo Atlanta or the Cyclorama.
On the south, the line stops at Five Points, so it misses the government centers near the State Capitol.
On the north, it stops at the Woodruff Arts Center. Riders will not get to the tourism attractions or places of employment in Buckhead.
It stops short of Lenox Square, Phipps Plaza and The Streets of Buckhead, a massive re-development project that will transform Buckhead into a mini-metropolis.
In fact, the streetcar doesn’t connect to the Beltline, a promising 22-mile transit loop, at any point.
The Peach, which is MARTA’s No. 110 bus, goes from Lenox Square to Underground. Why can’t this simply run more frequently?
No wonder the Buckhead business associations do not endorse the streetcar.
In the 1970s, I joined the campaign to support a penny sales tax that would create MARTA. The lines didn’t go several places that we thought were important.
But we were told it would be extended later. In 30 years, the north line has been extended to Perimeter Mall. That is all. I believe the same will be true of the streetcar.
Who will pay the annual maintenance costs of about $4.5 million? Stimulus money can’t be used for maintenance.
Backers say that none of our local tax dollars will be spent on the streetcar. However, federal dollars will be spent. There is no free lunch.
All of these questions are important. The application for stimulus money is due mid-September.
If we don’t know who will own the system, how can we apply for federal funds?
Anne Fauver represents Atlanta City Council District 6.
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