AJC > NorthSide > Blog > Archives > 2007 > April > 07 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USMayor supports tax district for Holcomb Bridge
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
[Editor’s note: Roswell mayor Jere Wood submitted this letter to AJC Northside. For more about Charlie Brown’s Roswell East proposal, see the links below.]
One of the main problems we have to solve in Roswell is the traffic nightmare at the Ga. 400-Holcomb Bridge Road interchange. On most mornings it takes Roswell residents more time to drive from home to Ga. 400 than it takes to drive from there to Atlanta.
I believe there is a solution to this congestion. I expect the traffic engineering study requested by Roswell will show that we can make improvements to the intersection that would reduce traffic congestion at a cost of around $50 million.
However, with a $7 billion shortfall in state funding for transportation projects, I expect Roswell will have to make a substantial contribution to the cost of improving this interchange if we want it done before 20 years.
Some people believe that Roswell cannot afford to pay for the improvements needed for the Ga. 400-Holcomb Bridge Road interchange. I disagree. I believe that Roswell cannot afford not to improve this intersection.
Charlie Brown has proposed a $2 billion development at the southeast corner of the Ga. 400-Holcomb Bridge Road interchange. If a tax allocation district is approved in conjunction with this $2 billion project, the incremental increase in property taxes from new development could easily pay for the cost of improving this interchange, thus reducing the traffic problem.
I have told Charlie Brown and the Roswell City Council that if we can improve the Ga. 400-Holcomb Bridge Road interchange, reduce traffic congestion and pay for this with the additional tax revenues that would come from Charlie Brown’s development, he has my support.
There is no better way to pay for reducing traffic congestion than to have the development that generates traffic pay for it.
LEARN MORE
Huge Roswell project faces hurdles
Charlie Brown retired three years ago at 65 and installed his son Scott as head of his development company in Atlanta.
• Related blog topic: Is Roswell ready to go vertical?
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Comments
By Galina
April 8, 2007 3:40 AM | Link to this
This is absolutely ludicrous. What happened to having a historical town? Why do you think people come to visit Roswell, do you think this is going to bring in visitors when its the same as everywhere else. Take a lesson from Alpharetta, don’t tear down your history, you don’t have that much left! History can not be replaced, once its gone, it is gone for good and no one is going to come & see “what used to be”, this is just another series of high rise buildings that can be seen in any city. Mayor Wood, what are you seeing $$$$ signs perhaps, certainly not what’s best for the residents, and pfffft on paying for intersection changes, get back on board with your old self and forget the high rises, think more about preservation, conservation & we will all be better off for that!
By save_our_bond_rating
April 14, 2007 11:24 AM | Link to this
Since this project will begin dumping more traffic onto the clogged 400SB and everywhere else long before the reputed “$2B” worth of tax base is sitting there, I’d sure like to see the amortization schedule for this huge loan that the Citizens of Roswell will be taking out on behalf of the private development. (up to $50 million according to the article above)
I bet it will be 20 years or more, and if the widely flashed “$2B” figure is just more flash, we may be saddled with this debt forever, unable to fund any other projects in the city, and may jeopardize our bond rating to boot.
Remember, the city gets a very small portion of property taxes — compare your Fulton County tax bill to your City of Roswell tax bill.
Why do City of Roswell residents have to shoudler all this risk for a private development project? Isn’t this what they call “Corporate Welfare”? Why doesn’t the developer take out the loan himself if he needs a place to dump more traffic?
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On the interchange specifically — get out there at 7:30 / 8:00 in the morning. Observe the traffic pileup going south on 400. Is the blockage something that a flyover would improve? Of course not. Any person that has sit thru that traffic day in and day out knows that the blockage is what is in front of the on ramp to GA400 (which is GA400 itself), not what is behind the on ramp (the interchange).
Changing the entrance to 400SB from a normal on ramp to a flyover would have zero effect. Instead of cars being piled up on a regular on-ramp, not moving, waiting to merge onto the clogged GA400, you’d just have cars piled up on an expensive flyover, not moving, waiting to merge onto the clogged GA400. A $50 million parking lot.
Adding an extra lane on GA400 southbound all the way to 285 would certainly improve traffic, but a switch from on-ramp to flyover would just be an expensive parking lot. And then adding cars from 2975 new homes in Roswell East would just make it worse.
Or, maybe the traffic the flyover is supposed to help isn’t even the 400SB morning pileup (since we have established that it will not help) — maybe it is the westbound traffic af 5PM. Ok, get out there at 5PM and observe. Stand on the bridge over 400. Observe the pileup. Then look West. Anyone can tell you in 2 minutes that the pileup has nothing at all to do with the intersection of 400 and Holcomb Bridge. It is the miles of totally packed lanes of traffic backed up all the way to Crossville and beyond. Again, the problem is what is after the intersection, not the intersection itself. Improvement due to flyover: zero.
That land can be developed in many other ways that are highly profitable to the landowner without mortgaging the entire City of Roswell just so the development can be “even more” profitable. C’mon.