TSPLOST: Major Projects Impacting Buckhead
Here is a look at the Final Investment List Projects that will be built in Buckhead should the TSPLOST pass.
Atlanta residents are being asked to vote July 31 on a referendum that will fund $8.5 billion in transportation improvements through a regional ten-year, one-percent sales tax. With the sheer amount of projects being discussed concerning the Regional Transportation Referendum (157 regional projects and many more local projects), trying to sort through them all and figure out which ones will have the biggest impact on you can be overwhelming.
Below is a look at the Final Investment List Projects that will be built in Buckhead should the TSPLOST pass. These projects, approved on Oct. 13, 2011, were selected by the Atlanta Regional Transportation Investment Act (TIA) Roundtable, are not subject to change and are being funded by 85-percent of the regional revenue that will be collected during the ten-year period.
The City of Atlanta, as well as 20 other regional jurisdictions, was represented on the roundtable and over 200,000 members of the public participated in the development of this list.
Piedmont Road/ Roswell Road between the City Limits and Lindbergh MARTA Station:
Bus rapid transit and road improvements will improve the accessibility, availability and reliability of transit service along Piedmont and Roswell Roads. The focus of the project lies between the Lindbergh MARTA Station and the city limits and will also address key congestion points and reduce delay for all modes of transportation traveling along the corridor.
The project includes bus rapid transit (BRT) and pedestrian improvements along the entire corridor, a limited scope multimodal widening of Piedmont Road between Lindbergh Drive and Miami Circle, multimodal intersection improvements at Piedmont Road and Darlington Road / East Wesley Road, lane conversions on Piedmont Road between Miami Circle and Pharr Road, a limited scope multimodal widening of Piedmont Road between Pharr Road and Peachtree Road, multimodal intersection improvements at Piedmont Road and Tower Place Drive, and assorted signal and operational improvements.
The total cost of the project is $50,000,000, which will be entirely funded under the TIA.
Buford Highway from Lenox Road to Shallowford Terrace:
Pedestrian, landscape and BRT improvements will expand the limits of the current streetscape projects along Buford Highway and eliminate the the sidewalk/streetscape gap between Afton Road and Shallowford Terrace.
Design features may include raised medians, sidewalks, landscaping, enhanced pedestrian crossings, pedestrian scale street lighting, improved traffic signals (new equipment, retiming, intelligent systems) and other traditional streetscape elements.
The primary focus will be to improve and encourage transit use by improving pedestrian safety and accessibility. Improvements related to BRT will be considered based on the results of the traffic analysis.
The total amount of TIA funding committed to advance the scope of this project is $12,000,000.
Other projects on the Final Investment List:
Three other projects on the final investment list that will impact Buckhead are similar in scope and the type of improvements that will be made.
Northside Drive from West Paces Ferry Road to Whitehall Street: The total cost of this project is $525,325, which will be entirely funded under TIA.
Peachtree Road from Peachtree Dunwoody Road to Collier Road: The total cost of the project is $1,713,450, which will be entirely funded under TIA.
Piedmont Road/Ave. from Roswell Road to Edgewood Ave.: The total cost of the project is $612,000, which will be entirely funded under the TIA.
Each of these traffic improvement projects will include traffic signal coordination, modernization, and observation and associated traffic studies, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) improvements, milling and resurfacing, pavement markings, signage and street lights, as appropriate.
The remaining 15-percent of money collected through TSPLOST will be considered local discretionary revenue, which is being split in Atlanta between high-priority projects, Livable Center Initiative Projects and Neighborhood Projects. Tomorrow, Buckhead Patch will provide a detailed look at these projects.
Me Me ME
3:11 pm on Wednesday, June 13, 2012
What is happening here:
Peachtree Road from Peachtree Dunwoody Road to Collier Road: The total cost of the project is $1,713,450, which will be entirely funded under TIA.
Michael Packer
3:27 pm on Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Me - that project is grouped with the the project above and below it: "Each of these traffic improvement projects will include traffic signal coordination, modernization, and observation and associated traffic studies, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) improvements, milling and resurfacing, pavement markings, signage and street lights, as appropriate."
SG Williams
8:57 pm on Wednesday, June 13, 2012
I am voting YES.
Bob T.
8:02 am on Thursday, June 14, 2012
I am seeing lots of Jobs............................great for the city. I'll be voiting Yes.
Bob T.
8:11 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
You must have meant your response for someone else......because it doesn't fit anything I said.................................................HUH?
Bob T.
8:03 am on Thursday, June 14, 2012
I should have said "voting".
Michael Packer
8:29 am on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Guys, here is a look at "high priority projects," which are different from those on the Final Investment List. http://patch.com/A-vgFC
Michael Packer
11:06 am on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Ollie Kennon had this to say over on our facebook page - "If you vote for this TAX it will Never go away. Look at the Toll Booths on Ga. 400. VOTE NO!"
Opinion is certainly divided. Make sure you weigh in here and make your voice heard.
Ken Guthrie
11:11 am on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Instead of metro residents paying another $1.00 out of every $100 they spend, the government needs to live within its means. And are residents really so stupid to believe the 1% will only last 10 years. They will find another reason to extend it no matter what the proposed bill says. Look at what happend to the GA 400 toll - all a lie.
Mark A
6:17 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
GA has the lowest gas taxes and spends less per capita on transportation on any state in the contiguous 50. Less than Mississippi. Less than West Virginia. You should soften your stance just a little.
Chris H
2:43 pm on Friday, June 22, 2012
Ken, This is not like 400. The only way it can be extended is for it to come up for vote again in 10 years. At all the T-SPLOST meetings I've been to, this question comes up about 400. It is the big misconception that this is like the 400 toll. This project will have complete transparency and you will be able to go online and see the progress of each project and where the money is going. I encourage you to go to a T-SPLOST meeting and get informed.
It's 100% yes for me!
Joseph
11:04 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
C'mon people, aren't you paying enough taxes already?
Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
Capital Gains Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Court Fines (indirect taxes)
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel permit tax
Gasoline Tax (42 cents per gallon)
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax Interest expense (tax on the money)
Inventory tax IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax)
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Local Income Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Septic Permit Tax
Service Charge Taxes
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Taxes (Truckers)
Sales Taxes
Recreational Vehicle Tax
Road Toll Booth Taxes
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone federal excise tax
Telephone federal universal service fee tax
Telephone federal, state and local surcharge taxes
Telephone minimum usage surcharge tax
Telephone recurring and non-recurring charges tax
Telephone state and local tax
Telephone usage charge tax
Toll Bridge Taxes
Toll Tunnel Taxes
Traffic Fines (indirect taxation)
Trailer registration tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
Michael Packer
10:41 am on Friday, June 15, 2012
Joseph, very interesting to the taxes listed like that. Allie F. seems to agree with you, she had this to say a few moments ago: "Sadly, this "tax" does nothing to alleviate the traffic morass in Atlanta. Just more needless spending....bike trials and walkways in parks? Please. Our inept local government is already spending MILLIONS on a trolley to no where. Atlantan are taxed enough, and now even being charged to drive down freeways paid for by the same tax payers on I-85. This is Government spending OUT OF CONTROL."
Chris H
3:07 pm on Friday, June 22, 2012
I always find it interesting when people say "Trolley to no where" when they don't know the whole story. Yes, the Auburn district needs a hell of a lot of work, but Edgewood is becoming one of the new "it" spots for bars and restaurants. Just take a walk down the street and almost every empty store front is bustling with new construction.
Also, people fail to realize that this is just Phase I of an entire new system of streetcars that will crisscross the city and connect to the Beltline. The original plan was to have the streetcar run up Peachtree from downtown all the way to the Brookhaven MARTA station. It was then shortened to run from Arts Center Station up Peachtree to the Brookhaven MARTA station when a chance came to win a Tiger grant from the Federal government to help finance the project. However the city could not come up with enough money to match what the Feds would put in for the Peachtree route, so they shortened to the Auburn route (which was always planned). We then were able to win the federal money beating out other cities.
Of course the Peachtree Streetcar would have been more useful now, but it was a matter of winning the federal money and that's what we did. I believe in the long term outlook of this project and I think if people took the time to educate themselves on it they would too.
sioux
12:33 pm on Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Vote NO.
Michael Packer
5:21 pm on Friday, June 22, 2012
Chris, being new to the area you helped shine some light on this for me. Thanks for the information.
Meesay
10:11 am on Monday, July 16, 2012
The government accountants tallied up how much money they could raise with 1% over ten years and just figured out ways to spend it. Much of it seems like cosmetics, with no real impact on traffic. This is typical government stealing of our money to use where they see fit. For one tenth this money they could do things like set up free segway stands to be used up and down peachtree and a lane to use them in. That would do more for traffic congestion than this stuff. Ridiculous the way the government is throwing billions of OUR money around. That train in California that few will use, billions. The debt? Trillions. That is going to have to be paid. Think of the tax to pay that! This is nuts.
gregory gray
11:48 am on Thursday, July 19, 2012
Joseph you forgot the lottery........An additional voluntary tax. Vote NO!