North Fulton commuters weigh MARTA expansion

Construction costs / $1.6 billion / $1.8 billion / $473 million

Number of daily transit boardings / 23,700 / 15,800 / 13,300

Source: MARTA

For more information

MARTA is collecting feedback and disseminating information on a Facebook page, www.facebook.com/Connect400, and at www.itsmarta.com. A newswletter about the project is available at www.itsmarta.com/uploadedFiles/Newsletter%20No3%20Draft_130911.pdf.

Commuters in north Fulton aren’t asking whether MARTA should extend service to their community. They’re asking when.

“We want it now,” Shubha Jangam of Alpharetta declared after a public hearing Thursday at Alpharetta City Hall to discuss options.

Joining her in the chorus were others such as Alpharetta resident Malcom Horvath, who complained, “I wonder why it’s not here already,” and frazzled Alpharetta dad Shashank Honovar, who asked MARTA planners, “What can be done immediately?”

“We need relief right now,” Honovar said. “Our commute … affects our stress levels and quality of life. … It would help a lot if we had public transportation.”

The clamor for some form of public transit in north Fulton has taken on a renewed urgency now that MARTA is starting to plan an expansion. Of those who provided written comments to MARTA, 23 were in favor of having transit service in north Fulton, nine were opposed and two were uncertain. No one interviewed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution at the meeting was opposed to MARTA expansion, although many had questions about the form it would take.

But MARTA officials caution that just because they’re mapping out options doesn’t mean a train, streetcar or even a bus rapid transit system will happen any time soon. Bringing such a huge project to fruition can take 10 years or longer. And the feasibility hinges on the agency finding up to $1.8 billion for construction costs, and tens of millions of dollars more each year for operating and maintenance.

That funding is unlikely to come from federal and state budgets that are already severely constrained. And the 1 cent sales tax Fulton and DeKalb counties pay to keep MARTA afloat couldn’t even begin to cover it.

“We’re not going to be able to fund this the way we’ve done in the past,” MARTA senior project manager Janide Sidifall told about 150 people at the public meeting. “We’re going to have to involve other partners and probably private investors.”

The primary expansion would likely run 12 miles northward along the spine of Ga. 400 from the existing North Springs Station to Windward Parkway. Options under consideration for that stretch include streetcars, buses with dedicated fast lanes, or trains like the ones MARTA currently operates.

East-west connecting routes could then be added for buses or streetcars at Mount Vernon Highway, Holcomb Bridge Road, Haynes Bridge Road, Old Milton Parkway and Windward Parkway.

Many area residents at the meeting expressed frustration with congestion on Ga. 400 that seems to worsen every year, sapping time and energy away from their families and other priorities. They already pay a 1 cent sales tax to fund MARTA, but don’t benefit from having access to local transit service. Numerous attendees like Johns Creek resident Josh Gibbs were in favor of MARTA taking a phased approach, starting with express buses and then adding rail or streetcars as ridership builds.

“A phased approach is good,” Gibbs said. “We can use the money we’ve got to get started and then expand over time as we get grants.”

If MARTA does opt to build heavy rail, four of the six proposed rail stations would be in Alpharetta — a concept that has caused some pushback from the city’s leadership.

Alpharetta City Council members Chris Owens and Jim Gilvin said they were glad to see so many people at the meeting, but MARTA needs to hold more events to get feedback from residents about what they want. Gilvin said he believes heavy rail is not economically feasible, while Owens questioned how adding trains or streetcars would impact the city’s current land use plans.

If all of this talk feels like deja vu, it’s because north Fulton has been here before.

MARTA has evaluated the area several times since 2003. Each time, planners concluded that the community couldn’t support transit because the population and employment density were too low.

Now that there’s an increased need for transit, the money may not be there to provide it.

“The biggest challenge is the money,” said Adelee LeGrand, a consultant on the project. “If we don’t have the money, we’ll be standing here 15 years from now saying the same thing.”