Metro Atlanta's challenges are now Nathan Deal's challenges

Those are all ARC priorities, Leithead said, who added that education remains a primary concern for everyone.

“Governor-elect Deal campaigned on the fact that he intends to improve the education system in Georgia,” Leithead said. “It’s a very, very important issue facing our future and facing economic development in the region.”

Still, Leithead said, metro Atlanta is depending on the 2012 referendum that will ask voters to raise the sales tax they pay to help fund specific transportation projects.

But, even with the referendum and more private investment, “for solving our problems, there just isn’t enough funding to do that,” said Tom Weyandt, the ARC's chief of comprehensive planning.

Brian Robinson, Deal's spokesman, said Thursday that the governor-elect, a Gainesville resident, supports the penny sales tax for transportation and is ready to get started on fixing the region's transportation problems.

"A priority for metro Atlanta that sort of stands apart from the rest of the state is that traffic is monumentally worse in the metro Atlanta region than in other parts of the state," Robinson said. " ‘Creative' transportation solutions are part of what Nathan will focus on. Some of which we're already moving toward, such as ‘HOT' lanes for new construction."

But Deal also wants to explore creating new east-west corridors, particularly south of Atlanta, which he believes will divert tractor-trailer traffic away from downtown Atlanta.

"Getting some of those trucks that are just going through town south of Atlanta will be good for all involved," Robinson said.

Metro Atlanta’s crippling traffic congestion, the third-worst in the nation, is already turning away business and jobs, according to company relocation experts. Deal supports two of the measures currently aimed at it: the 2012 referendum and public-private partnerships to fund public toll roads.

Georgia's transportation investment is lower than any state but Tennessee, according to a 2008 study outgoing Gov. Sonny Perdue commissioned. It found a lack of new investment could cost the metro region 230,000 jobs over 20 years.

While Robinson did not specifically mention transit or commuter rail Thursday, Deal has said mass transit solutions, including rail, are important for the region, although the economic downturn has limited the resources available to the state.

But federal money is coming for limited projects and studies. The city of Atlanta last month won a $47 million grant to build a streetcar project, and the state was awarded an additional $4 million to study a high-speed rail project from Atlanta to Charlotte.

Deal can expect a phone call from U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. LaHood, in town late last month for the streetcar announcement, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Atlanta was doing well on transit but the state government "really has got to get its act together."

He vowed to call the new governor "to figure out if Georgia's going to be in the mix on high-speed intercity rail."

"They should be," LaHood said. "They're an important region of the country. We want them to be, but it's going to take extraordinary leadership from the state."

Deal has the cautious support of a group not known for backing Republicans. The Georgia Sierra Club, which endorsed Democrat Roy Barnes for governor, is hopeful Deal will move the state forward on passenger rail, said Mark Woodall, the state chapter's president.

"Nathan has said some supportive things about mass transit and commuter rail," Woodall said. "Hopefully he'll follow up on it. You would think a North Georgia guy would be more concerned about that than Sonny Perdue."

Woodall's off-the-cuff remark about Perdue is one that lingers in the minds of many, however. Will Deal focus more on metro Atlanta and the northern part of the state, much like Perdue, from Houston County, focused on the lower half? Deal isn't saying, promising to be governor for all of Georgia.

But transportation is not the region's only challenge. Water will continue to occupy the new governor's time, too. Deal's first focus will be on trying to solve the decades-old war with Alabama and Florida as the clock ticks toward July 2012, when a federal judge said Atlanta must stop drawing water from Lake Lanier.

"This is going to be one of those things where Nathan honestly, from the bottom of his heart, believes he can get done," Robinson said. "He believes he brings a special expertise and a special ability to negotiate."

Republicans were also elected governor Tuesday in Alabama and Florida, something Robinson said can only help.

"Striking this deal after it has lingered for so long will be high on his list," Robinson said. "It is something he would like to be part of his legacy."

As the region moves to improve its water and transportation systems, it must also focus on who will be using them, Leithead said. The area's fastest-growing demographic is seniors, he said, a population expected to double in 20 years.

"Programs, facilities, opportunities, transportation systems for our elderly populations are vital," he said.

On the other end of the spectrum, education remains a priority. While Deal's plans for K-12 would affect the entire state, he has said he would continue the investigation into a cheating scandal that includes Atlanta Public Schools.

Deal must also find ways to work with the city of Atlanta itself, the central cog of the metro region.

"Anyone who is governor recognizes the role that the city of Atlanta or the Atlanta region plays," said Eric Tanenblatt, senior managing director at the McKenna Long law firm and Perdue's first chief of staff. "The entire state should want Atlanta to prosper, and Atlanta wants the rest of the state to prosper."

Deal, Tanenblatt said, has a strong understanding of the region's needs as Gainesville is just on the fringe of metro Atlanta.

He said Deal also has the added benefit of having a pragmatist like Kasim Reed in the Atlanta mayor's office.

"Mayor Reed demonstrated in the last session of the Legislature that he can be an enormous asset," Tanenblatt said.

Reed and Deal, who each served in the Legislature, are "pragmatic political figures" who should work well together, Tanenblatt said.

Reed said he welcomes the chance.

“It has become increasingly clear that the economic prosperity of the state of Georgia and the city of Atlanta are inextricably linked," Reed said. "We are stronger together. I congratulate Gov.-elect Nathan Deal and look forward to working with him on initiatives that move the city of Atlanta and the state of Georgia forward, create well-paying jobs, and keep us competitive.”

Tom Boland, the economic development director for the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce, also saw prosperity and job creation as areas where Deal can help.

"Any jobs, any economic development in the current climate is welcome," Boland said. "And we're confident that the governor-elect will be able to accomplish that. We look forward to working closely with him to let him know what Cobb County offers. I'm sure he's well aware of that already, but we welcome the opportunity to engage with him and his staff and promote Cobb County. That goes for the Atlanta region as well."

Staff writer Ariel Hart contributed to this article.