The leader of Cobb County's legislative delegation is pursuing his ideas for an alternative to a proposed transit line that faces ongoing criticism.
Rep. Ed Setzler, R-Acworth, is proposing a combination of a commuter rail line through the county using existing CSX rail lines and grade-separated “super arterial” roads along about 35 miles of Cobb’s major corridors that would remove traffic lights and allow for a continuous flow of traffic.
Setzler proposed the alternatives Wednesday night during a public forum at a Kennesaw church in his district before an audience mostly opposed to Cobb’s proposed transit line.
The transit line, possibly light rail, is part of Cobb’s almost $1 billion in projects on a draft list for a proposed regional transportation tax that will go before voters next year. About $856 million, or 85.7 percent, of Cobb’s proposed $1 billion in project funding would go toward the project.
Setzler and some of the county’s other state officials have said the transit line is too expensive, does not alleviate traffic and only benefits a small portion of Cobb's residents.
Setzler said his alternatives could be completed for about the same cost as the transit allocation. He's shopping his proposals to some of the transit roundtable members in charge of finalizing the project list by Oct. 15.
But Setzler’s proposals may not get consideration, Cobb Commission Chairman Tim Lee said, because they are not part of previous regional plans, which was a requirement for projects seeking the tax funding.
Setzler has maintained his projects would qualify for the tax list because they are consistent with the long-term traffic programs currently included. He said he has talked with senior state transportation leaders involved in the planning process who have indicated his approach could be considered as an option.
Also unresolved is whether a commuter system shared with CSX Corp. freight operations is feasible.
CSX leases the Western and Atlantic rail line from the state and expects its freight operations to increase over the next 20 years, said Craig Camuso, the company’s vice president for state government affairs. He has not yet reviewed any of Setzler's plans.
For any commuter and freight rail shared system to work, he said, safety liability issues would have to be worked out, along with cost and capacity.
“CSX is in the business of moving freight. This is not a project that we view as something we should be asked to pay for,” Camuso said, adding, “We don’t want to do anything that will prevent our ability to move freight both today and in the future.”
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