Now that the T-SPLOST has become political roadkill, it's time to let the dust settle on the baking asphalt and consider what comes next.
In Fayette County, where many folks utter the term "mass transit" with the same affection as "child rapist," reaction to the vote is cause for gloat. Even though no mass transit was ever planned for Fayette, voters ran the referendum out of town on ironically imaginary rails.
Road signs will take on new meaning now that we've got time -- particularly while sitting in traffic -- to contemplate the practical and political outcomes of the lost SPLOST. For example:
Low Visibility. Metro Atlanta's shortsightedness regarding traffic planning is as looming and impenetrable as Stone Mountain. The severely limited scope of MARTA trains and lack of enough buses or light rail in surrounding suburbs forces thousands of people onto roads that only get more clogged each year. Different areas may need different solutions, but doing little solves little, either. If employers and investors are going to evaluate Atlanta as a region, we need to behave like one.
Fog. A campaign strategy that successfully used the dirty words "tax" and "government" to thwart comprehensive public analysis of project benefits. Even though it's perfectly reasonable to predict that some of the proposed transportation projects would have taken longer and cost more than projected -- don't they always? -- anti-SPLOST rhetoric relied heavily on boogeyman tactics.
Detour. As in, "de tour of Fayette County will take awhile." Whether you're inching through the traffic lights along Ga. 85 in Fayetteville or taking 20 minutes to get through the Peachtree City intersection of Ga. 54 and 74, you won't get where you're going very quickly even within the county limits.
Fayette residents who commute to the airport and northward will remain stuck in the same squeeze onto I-85 or wind through back roads in a desperate attempt to shave a few minutes off the drive.
The number of traffic lights between the interstate and my house has more than tripled since 1994. What will another 20 years bring?
Yield. Or rather, don't. Political gridlock can be just as impenetrable as traffic gridlock, but by all means don't concede any ground, especially if you're in the Fayette conservative majority. Dig in your heels, put on your brakes and refuse to consider compromise. It's the one federal government example we like down here.
One Way. As in, "our way or the highway," literally in this case. The mantra for tea partiers who seem to think revenue will just fall from the sky and infrastructure will fix itself without more community funding.
Dead End. The ultimate destination for T-SPLOST in the foreseeable future. Opponents haven't offered much in the way of alternatives, and piecemeal local projects with limited funding won't do much to address the larger regional issues that planners and voters should have tackled two decades ago before conditions got the way they are now.
But because traffic will only get worse as roads and bridges decay and urban sprawl continues, the lack of a coordinated transportation plan is a classic example of being penny wise and pound foolish. Maybe it's a sign we're going nowhere.
Jill Howard Church has lived in Fayette County since 1994. Reach her at jillptcblog@aol.com.
