MARTA has been soliciting feedback from the community on its proposed North Line expansion (Connect 400). The plan relies heavily on the Atlanta Regional Commission’s 40-year master plan, where you can see statistics and forecasts for greater Atlanta’s transportation vision, and the cost of that vision.
The feedback process is designed to help MARTA select a locally preferred alternative and is highly recommended for a project seeking federal funding under the FTA New Starts program. The Connect 400, ARC and Sandy Springs websites have some great information if you feel your life needs a serious dose of community involvement. The dozen documents — 1000-plus pages — take quite a bit of focus to unravel.
The North Springs area, north of Spalding Drive and Roswell Road, is the most densely populated portion of Sandy Springs. The area west of Ga. 400 is primarily multi-family residential, commercial and retail; the area east of the highway, well into Dunwoody, is entirely single-family homes and schools.
The west side has a better existing network of roads, sidewalks and facilities to support a transit station. Cisco, the top employer in Sandy Springs, is one of the businesses on Northridge Road.
My employer and others with whom I have spoken would gain many advantages if a MARTA station was located west of Ga. 400: greater access to the Atlanta employee pool; reduced commute times to and from the airport; significant improvement in commercial property values, rental rates and tax revenue; reduced through traffic on Roswell Road, and more options for private investment, station design and location.
Most important, a west side station holds the potential for revitalization of northernmost North Springs. If you look at MARTA stations around Atlanta, it is clear that commercial and high-density residential get considerable benefit from these stations.
I believe a revitalization of the Northridge area cannot be done with MARTA alone. Sandy Springs, Fulton County and commercial developers must make a focused investment in the area. The Sandy Springs Comprehensive Plan supports future mixed-use development at Northridge and Roswell roads as well as along Dunwoody Place, all west of Ga. 400.
Support from Sandy Springs should be defined in conjunction with this project, and in the form of property owner and developer incentives; consistent zoning requirements; a simple and effective permit process; green space requirements; tax breaks; and most important, funding of a core project that will represent and complement the community in the area.
All this must happen west of Ga. 400, as land-use opportunities on the east side are virtually nonexistent, and a greater portion of the ridership is west of that highway. Sandy Springs should develop a revitalization plan that includes a MARTA station on the west side of Ga. 400 in the Northridge area.
The location of the station is critical due to the traffic bottleneck in this area. The bridges carrying Northridge and Pitts roads over Ga. 400 are the only arteries between North Springs and Dunwoody.
The Dunwoody community currently has easy access to the North Springs station via Peachtree Dunwoody Road and Mt. Vernon. A new station anywhere on the east side between North Springs and the river will seriously congest Northridge and Pitts roads because most riders and benefactors would be west of Ga. 400.
MARTA says the reason for the east-side proposal is the cost of crossing over Ga. 400. But the additional benefits of being west of that highway — and community preference — should justify the minor additional cost of the crossing.
I ask that MARTA place the expansion and stations on the west side of Ga. 400 in the greater Northridge Road area. It’s SMARTA.
David Centofanti, a Sandy Springs resident, is president of the Northridge Community Association.
