U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx met with Atlanta leaders Wednesday for an update on the city’s flashiest federally funded transit projects: the Atlanta Streetcar and Atlanta Beltline.
Foxx’s visit was part of his eight-state, five-day “Invest in America, Commit to the Future” tour promoting President Barack Obama’s $302 billion transportation re-authorization bill.
Hopping off a charter bus, Foxx met with Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, MARTA chief Keith Parker and others for a sneak peek of the streetcar. The streetcar’s four-car system was largely built with a $47.6 million federal transportation grant and is set to begin operation sometime this year.
Foxx later stood at the Beltline’s Eastside Trail and adjacent Historic Fourth Ward Park touting the need for investment nationwide in transportation. Like the streetcar, portions of the Beltline are funded by federal money. The project received an $18 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation last fall to build a 2.5-mile trail in Southwest Atlanta.
Warning of “explosive growth” coming to the South, Foxx said the region needs federal funding to accommodate current and future transportation problems.
Atlanta has a “pretty good highway network,” he said, but “travel times will keep increasing unless you create more ways for people to get around.”
Addressing the congestion will “require multi-modal solutions, good planning and a good partnership with the federal government,” he said.
To that end, he called for support of the $302 billion transportation bill, saying without it, “The money is going run out.”
Funding for national transportation surface programs is set to expire and the U.S. Highway Trust Fund is nearly depleted, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. Because of the uncertainty surrounding federal transportation funding, new road projects in Georgia may be delayed for several months starting as soon as July, state officials said.
Slightly more than half of the Georgia Department of Transportation’s $2.2 billion in annual revenue comes from the federal government, which issues reimbursements to state officials.
GDOT Commissioner Keith Golden has said the department might not authorize any new projects for preliminary engineering, right-of-way acquisition or construction from July through September if Congress doesn’t take action, because it’s unclear when they would be paid back.
Reed said both the streetcar and Beltline would “be impossible” without Foxx and his predecessor, Ray LaHood, directing federal funds to Atlanta.
Foxx said the Beltline is “what the president refers to when he says the ladders of opportunity,” adding the project is designed to connect geographically and economically disparate communities.
Set to be completed by 2030, the Beltline will be a 22-mile loop of parks, trails and transit. Part of the plan calls for an expansion of streetcar lines across the city, connecting with MARTA and the soon-to-open streetcar system.
The nonprofit building the project faces tough financial headwinds, however, and has stated the need for federal funds to realize its $4 billion plan. The Beltline is funded by a tax allocation district, local and federal grants and public and private philanthropy.
The Beltline’s Eastside Trail has spurred $775 million in residential, commercial and retail development, according to city officials.
Officials also rattled off statistics about the streetcar’s success, saying despite the fact it hasn’t started running, it has generated $370 million in capital investment since 2010.
The streetcar was originally set to take flight this spring, but city officials now say the nearly $100 million project could open sometime this summer.
The tour — which lasted about an hour — had one hiccup. Just as Reed and Foxx prepared to enter a streetcar, the doors failed to open. A worker pried them open and held the doors wide as the men toured the interior.
“Y’all are killing me,” Reed said amid laughter.
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