Taxpayers may have legitimate concerns about some aspects of the Cobb-Braves deal, but traffic concerns may be greatly exaggerated.
Traffic management and parking in the immediate vicinity of the stadium will be a challenge, but the Braves and Cobb County are working on it. The traffic impact for the rest of Cobb may be minimal.
The Braves can help by scheduling weeknight games to start at 7:35 p.m. instead of 7:05 p.m. This will enable fans to begin their trip after the worst part of rush hour.
The stadium capacity will only be about 42,000. Braves games are typically attended by groups of two or more. Even if there were no transit, there probably would be no more than about 17,000 car trips, dispersed among numerous roads. Many of these trips will be in the opposite direction of rush-hour traffic. And in reality, there will be effective transit options that will eliminate several thousand of those car trips.
The I-75/575 managed lanes project will help considerably. That project will provide two extra lanes of capacity in the direction of rush hour traffic. Even people who stay in the general purpose lanes, and pay no tolls, will have reduced traffic as a result of the toll lanes. If 5,000 people decide to pay the toll during the height of rush hour, that is 5,000 fewer cars in the general purpose lanes.
Similar projects are planned for I-285. Revive285 Alternative 6-A (modifications at most interchanges and two new toll lanes in each direction between Cobb Parkway and Spaghetti Junction) would provide a pretty dramatic improvement for traffic on the top end of I-285. Already-planned improvements to Windy Hill Road will also help.
The region already has a very successful express bus network. After the afternoon express bus commute is completed, Braves fans could use the same express bus lots for express bus rides to Braves games. Express buses from throughout the region can provide excellent game-day transportation very cost-effectively.
Cobb is studying a BRT (bus rapid transit) plan for Cobb Parkway. I agree with Cobb that BRT would perform approximately as well as light rail at a much lower cost. Nevertheless, I would encourage Cobb to look at 21st century alternatives that might provide far better service at a far lower cost to operate and maintain.
Prior to Cobb announcing the Braves deal, the AJC had reported that the Braves were negotiating with American Maglev to build a transit connection between the Georgia State MARTA Station and Turner Field. Cobb should reopen its BRT study to take a closer look at 21st century technologies, like American Maglev and High Road, and explore whether one of these companies could provide superior transit service at a far lower cost than BRT.
Transit will be part of the equation, but it must be at a reasonable cost to taxpayers.
Also, Cobb should change the BRT route so that there would be a stop adjacent to the stadium.
Ron Sifen is president of the Cobb County Civic Coalition.
