Safety concerns raised by the Federal Transit Administration earlier this month have delayed the launch of the Atlanta Streetcar system again, documents obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution show.
Mayor Kasim Reed says those issues have since been addressed and is asking state and federal officials to allow the transit service to begin Dec. 6 instead of mid-November.
In letters sent earlier this month, the FTA informed Reed and staff that "outstanding safety and hazard mitigation issues" need to be resolved before the $98 million streetcar can accept passengers.
The FTA also expressed concerns over what it said were the city’s “compressed time frames” to complete the safety reviews, which could “result in insufficient reviews and compromise the overall safety of the system.”
The Nov. 7 letter was apparently written in anticipation that the city would begin streetcar service on Nov. 15, a date Reed’s administration had set as a target but not publicly announced. In the letter, the FTA says both it and the Georgia Department of Transportation believed that “very aggressive” service date was “unrealistic.”
In a Nov. 14 response to the FTA, Reed assured the agency that safety is his No. 1 goal and said that he believes the city and MARTA, its operating partner, have “fully prepared” the streetcar for passenger service.
After backing off the Nov. 15 start date, Reed proposed a soft opening around Nov. 28, with an official start date of Dec. 6, pending necessary approvals from state and federal authorities.
The mayor and members of his administration say the FTA’s concerns were based on a preliminary safety review conducted in October and that the issues raised during that analysis have been addressed. Some of those concerns included inadequate pavement marking and signage to warn drivers not to turn in front of streetcars, and the need to train employees on how to avoid electrocution when working on streetcars.
“The city and its partners at MARTA and (Atlanta Downtown Improvement District) are in agreement with you that safety and the public welfare are of utmost importance for the Atlanta Streetcar,” Reed wrote, noting the project will operate with the “highest attention to safety and security.”
A spokeswoman from the FTA said the administration is still reviewing the city’s latest documents. FTA Acting Administrator Therese McMillan said in a statement Wednesday that safety is the top priority.
“Outstanding safety issues and regulatory requirements remain unresolved by the project sponsors. Until such time as these requirements are addressed, and findings resolved, FTA will not support the opening of the service for revenue/passenger operations,” she said.
Reed’s administration has been under pressure to deliver the streetcar project in 2014.
Streetcar planners initially said service would begin in late April or early May. But paralyzing winter storms, complications relocating underground utilities and indecision about who would operate the streetcar wreaked havoc with that timeline. As a result, the city rolled back the start date to summer and later to November.
Reed allowed for a cushion earlier this summer, telling reporters the project would open by year's end, a pledge his then-spokeswoman Melissa Mullinax reiterated by saying "the only deadline that matters is his promise of opening by Dec. 31, 2014."
City leaders says they are close to delivering on that promise. They note that the blue streetcars are already rolling along — albeit without passengers — the 2.7 mile track that runs from the King Historic District by Auburn Avenue to Centennial Olympic Park.
Still, Atlanta hasn’t yet received its final approvals from GDOT and the FTA, something Atlanta Chief Operating Officer Michael Geisler said he believes the city should receive by December.
Geisler said the safety issues raised in the October review are manageable.
According to a draft report from the FTA, provided by the city, other possible concerns included improperly grounded electrical wiring at the vehicle maintenance facility, lack of training on avoiding collisions, the need to discourage vandalism to streetcar property, and improper clearances between streetcar tracks, structures and equipment — a problem the FTA said can be addressed with training and visual markings.
The FTA also raised concerns about “poor horizontal track alignment” and suggested the city perform periodic track inspections and develop maintenance programs to monitor the issue.
Streetcar spokeswoman Sharon Gavin said the city has used the October report as a “punch list” to complete its final checks, and that those concerns have been addressed.
“We want work with the FTA to make sure we’re running the safest system in the United States,” she said. “We use this (report) as a way to say we could do that better. And so we do it better.”
Gavin believes the project is well on track for a December opening, noting the vehicles and tracks have been certified, operators trained, and staff is fully assembled. Now, she said, “we’re waiting for the paperwork.”
As for whether the city is operating too aggressive a schedule in delivering the project, Geisler noted the city set its original time frames for completion, then exceeded them.
“We’ve not cut corners, and we’ve not skimped on testing because we are committed to safety,” he said. “We’ve done what they required us to do, and we did it in less time.”
MARTA spokeswoman Saba Long said while it’s Atlanta’s responsibility to obtain needed safety documentation, the transportation agency and the city are working together to meet all requirements.
A.J. Robinson, head of the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District, which helps fund the streetcar, said part of the push toward a Dec. 6 opening is to capture riders in town for the SEC football championship at the Georgia Dome and during the holidays.
Robinson has long seen the streetcar as a boon for tourism in a part of town now undergoing a renaissance with new museums and a future Atlanta Falcons stadium.
“We’re at the end of a long journey. The community has been very patient, and people have worked extremely hard on all sides,” he said. “I think we’re just getting down to dotting i’s and crossing t’s and making sure safety is paramount, which it is to everybody.”
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