With just two scheduled meetings left before a panel of elected officials signs off on the $6.1 billion transportation project list to put before voters, the transit vs. roads debate that has brewed throughout the drafting process may be about to boil over.
It’s an issue that’s causing friction between counties -- and within them -- as a 21-member panel works on a list that will go before voters in 10 counties in a referendum next summer. A 10-year, 1-cent sales tax would fund the list's transit and roadway projects in hopes of loosening metro Atlanta's stagnating gridlock.
Cobb Commission Chairman Tim Lee, responding to outcry voiced at public forums, said at Wednesday's regional roundtable meeting that he wants to add a list of road projects that didn't make the cut, and reduce funding for a controversial rail line that would run from MARTA's Arts Center station to Cumberland Mall.
The change would make the rail line’s completion uncertain. While Lee said the line could be finished with federal dollars, the funding isn't a sure thing.
“There’s no guarantee that we’ll get it,” Kennesaw Mayor Mark Mathews said.
Clayton Commission Chairman Eldrin Bell is continuing his campaign to re-include a commuter rail line running from Atlanta into Clayton and Henry counties, envisioned as eventually linking to Macon.
And DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis threw down a gauntlet, of sorts, announcing that he wants funding for MARTA's I-20 east line beefed up from $297 million to $522 million. Some of the money, he said, should come out of the $172.5 million allocated for the Ga. 400/I-285 interchange overhaul, a project viewed as benefiting north Fulton.
Ellis called the MARTA line "critically important," and said since Ga. 400 is a toll road, that project could leverage more federal dollars. The total project is estimated at $450 million.
"The roundtable," Ellis said in an e-mailed statement, "voted that projects which ensure regional economic development, job creation, congestion relief and air quality improvements, such as the I-20 East transit project will do, are the highest priority for the Atlanta region and the state of Georgia, for us to compete globally in the 21st century.”
With tongue partly in cheek, Eaves told Ellis that, for their counties to continue as allies and friendly neighbors, he needs to find some other source of replacement funds. Ellis said dipping into the Ga. 400 project is just "a starting point for discussion."
Lee said he is not backing off the Cumberland line. After conferring with the Federal Transit Administration, he said, he's learned the project could qualify for more federal funds. However, that will depend on FTA’s findings in an alternatives analysis that won’t be finished until next year.
The chairman said he wants to reduce the rail line's construction costs from 100 percent to 60 percent on the sales tax list, taking it from $856.5 million to $585 million.
"What we've found is that there's some projects that we should have considered more seriously," Lee said, citing improvements to Windy Hill Road, the Windy Hill Road/I-75 interchange and Roswell Road as examples.
The proposal also would add $107 million that would have a bus line possibly running from the Arts Center station to Town Center.
Lee, whose involvement in shaping the list has helped fuel a GOP primary challenge against him, said he believes Cobb voters will support linking their county to MARTA "once they get educated."
"Ultimately, I want to be able to put forward a list [to voters] that includes transit," he said.
The draft list, approved by the roundtable's five-member executive committee, was 54.1 percent transit and 45.4 percent roadwork.
Norcross mayor and roundtable chairman Bucky Johnson explained Wednesday that, under the state law that made the referendum possible, the roundtable must first vote to reject the draft list, then vote to accept or reject new lists with suggested amendments. Ellis' and Lee's proposals must be submitted in writing by Friday, voted up or down by the roundtable on Oct. 6, then ultimately included or excluded from the final list on Oct. 13 -- two days before the state-mandated deadline to approve a final list.
Bell's proposal on the commuter rail line has already been submitted, but it will also be voted on Oct. 6 because he opted to table it Wednesday. He's seeking about $350 million from the sales tax, with another $126 million coming from other sources.
Also on Wednesday, a scare over having to cut project funding to accommodate administrative and project management costs was put to rest by Gwinnett County Chairwoman Charlotte Nash, who heads a committee dealing with the issue.
Early estimates for the costs ranged from $50 million to $100 million, or possibly taking up 4 percent of the project list -- $246 million.
Nash said it turns out management costs were built into most of the project estimates submitted by jurisdictions. In some cases, they can be covered by cost overrun contingencies, she said.
"We worried about it before we realized whether it was really something to worry about," Nash told the group.
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