Elizabeth Mathis often is hunkered down in paperwork, fortified by a strong pot of coffee.
“Always a strong pot of coffee,” Mathis said, laughing.
The Henry County commission chairman — better known in family and political circles as B.J., which is short for Beth Jo (a Southern thing, she says) — has the onerous task of sifting through proposed transportation projects and helping cut metro Atlanta’s $12.2 billion transportation wish list in half.
Mathis, 48, is one of five voting members for the executive committee of the Atlanta Regional Transportation Roundtable, which is responsible for creating a final list that metro Atlantans will vote on next July. The committee will present a pared-down list to the 21 member regional round table in August.
The Henry County leader spoke with us about her round-table duties and where the region’s headed.
Q: How do you see your role on the committee?
A: I'm looking for what's going to have the greatest impact on traffic congestion. Secondly, I'm looking at what's going to have the greatest impact on job creation and development. I'm also looking at it, not only from a metro perspective, but from the southern part of the metro region. We want to encourage more economic growth on the Southside.
Q: Transportation. Money. Traffic. These are all emotional issues. How do you take the emotion out of the decision-making process?
A: The Atlanta Regional Commission has all of this computer software that allows them to do modeling. When they do the modeling, they put the scope of the work into the computer model, which generates reports that tell traffic flow and job growth. They've put together a fact sheet on every project. They're taking the emotions and allegiance out of it. We're looking at it purely from a data base, from an information-based aspect.
Q: It looks like [Atlanta-to-Griffin] commuter rail is dead. It didn't make the cut. Why?
A: This particular commuter rail project has some challenges. The Atlanta-to-Griffin is the first phase, and that's the only one we're discussing. Then there's another phase that goes from Griffin to Macon. The Atlanta-to-Griffin phase didn't make the cut. The primary challenge is the fact it's going to be operating on Norfolk Southern train tracks. As a county, we've had some dealings with the railroad in the past. It's very difficult to get an approval from the railroad to do a simple train crossing. So trying to utilize miles and miles of their track for [commuter rail] services that they won't be operating could take years to work out. We have to have these projects completed and operational in 10 years.
Q: What is the Southside's biggest challenge when it comes to transportation needs?
A: What we keep hearing is transportation options. From Henry County's perspective, it's improved roadways and capacity and more GRTA buses, more park-and-rides. For Clayton County, they want transit. They also need some roadway projects improved, as well. Fayette has expressed an interest in roadway project but no interest in transit or express buses.
Q: The 20 or so projects in Clayton and Henry counties combined account for fewer than 7 percent of the $12.2 billion project that still has to be pared down. Does the Southside have a fighting chance?
A: Absolutely! My goal as a member of the executive committee is to assure that every county in the region proportionately receives their fair share of funding for their projects.
Q: How will some of the Southside projects benefit the region as a whole?
A: We have a project to widen [Ga.] 155 from Spalding County to Race Track Road in Henry County. Spalding has already widened its road to the Henry county line. So that is a very critical freight corridor for Henry County. We have a large number of industrial, warehouse and distribution centers in that area. Those businesses employ people from Clayton, Spalding, Rockdale, DeKalb and of course Henry. If those business can't move their freight, they'll relocate and we'll have people losing their jobs.
Q: The fear on the Southside among some people is that this transportation wish-list campaign will mostly benefit the Northside.
A: I've heard those concerns, as well. But I believe once the final project list is released those fears will be alleviated.
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