Here is what I have learned from reading these three reports:

• In 2009, the total costs of crashes in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta metropolitan area were estimated to be $10.8 billion.  This is the fifth highest cost among all metropolitan areas in the U.S.  The elements that were considered in deriving the total cost included property damage, lost earnings, lost household production (non-market activities occurring in the home), medical costs, emergency services, travel delay, vocational rehabilitation, workplace costs, administrative costs, legal costs and pain and lost quality of life.  The cost of congestion for our region was estimated to be just over $2.7 billion for the same one-year period.  This is the tenth highest among all metropolitan areas.  This cost was based on delay estimates combined with value of time and fuel costs.

• Now consider what is coming out of the tailpipes of our automobiles as they sit in congestion caused by bottlenecks and accidents.  Scientists are becoming increasingly concerned about apparent linkages between tailpipe emissions and public health – specifically decreased mental capacity, intelligence and emotional stability, all from brain-cell damage caused by exposure to vehicle emissions.  Many recent studies from around the world are providing evidence of this direct linkage.

• Finally, the Atlanta region’s population continues to experience dramatic change.  And the demographic trends we are experiencing today should continue for the next quarter century.  The region is one of the fastest growing in the country, and we are getting older and more diverse.  The needs and wants of our changing population will be different than they have been up to now, and we must be prepared to respond to that demand.

Considering each of these reports, I come to the following conclusions:

• First, in order to address the concerns above, we absolutely must increase our investment in transportation infrastructure in the Atlanta region (click here to visit Transform Metro Atlanta’s website to learn more).  The transportation referendum we will vote on next July 31, 2012, will give us the chance to pump approximately $8 billion over a 10-year period into the region’s transportation portfolio.  Consider that this is approximately what the state will collect in motor fuel taxes state-wide.    Now subtract 30 percent to cover current debt service, and more dollars to cover the costs of the state Department of Transportation.  What is left over must be balanced across Georgia’s 13 Congressional Districts.  A relatively small fraction is, therefore, spent in the Atlanta region, almost all of which must be spent on roads and bridges.  The July transportation referendum would dwarf what we get from the state and federal governments.

• My second conclusion is that we must begin to invest more in public transportation and in making our region more walk-able and bike-able, providing more choices to a choice-starved population that will want and require more options going forward.  The project list that the transportation referendum would fund does just that.  As I heard Richard Florida, best-selling author of The Rise of the Creative Class and The Great Reset, proclaim in his keynote address at the American Public Transportation Association’s annual meeting last month, public transportation, biking and walking are fundamental for priming and sustaining our future economic prosperity.  As Edward R. Murrow coined it 60 years ago, “this I believe.”

- Jim Durrett, executive director

Public transportation is a vital part of these regional economies, yet a huge backlog exists in investment required to bring the systems in our top regions up to a state of good repair.

My friend, Neal Peirce, recently wrote an excellent essay on this subject, which referenced MARTA and our region’s transportation investment referendum to be held next July. I recommend it to you.

-          Jim Durrett, executive director, BCID

Metropolitan Atlanta has a problem with transportation.  Georgia spends less money per capita on transportation than all but one other state.   We have underinvested in our infrastructure, and we now have traffic congestion that is adversely impacting our economy and quality of life.   After four years of repeated attempts to get a bill passed in the Georgia General Assembly allowing the citizens of metro Atlanta to tax themselves to fund transportation improvements, we finally had a bill pass in the 2010 legislative session, which the Governor signed, creating the Transportation Investment Act of 2010. This gives the 10-county metro Atlanta region, as well as the 11 other regions that make up Georgia, the opportunity to add an additional penny sales tax for 10 years to fund specific transportation projects and programs within each region.

Roundtables have met in each region of the state, consisting of county commission chairs and mayors.  These groups of locally-elected officials have held public meetings to decide how the expected tax receipts over the 10-year period should be invested.  They have been told how much money should be collected, and they have been given a list of eligible projects and programs which could be funded with the tax.  The public has had opportunities to voice their opinions about various projects.  In the Atlanta region, a series of public meetings is being held this month to explain what has been done to date and what is ahead.  Please attend a meeting.

This is the first time in Georgia that regions will come together to take regional votes to solve regional problems.  Also for the first time, we will have an opportunity to create a pool of funds that can support not only roads and bridges, to which our gasoline tax is limited, but all modes of transportation, including transit, pedestrian and bike facilities.

This effort is about jobs and quality of life for our families, our region and our future.  It is about job creation and keeping jobs in the region.  It is about relieving traffic congestion so that we can spend more time with our families and at work and less time in traffic.  It is about creating more options for getting where we need to go.  This effort is also about creating very clear expectations regarding where the funds will be spent, what projects will be built, how much they will cost and when they will be delivered.

The project list for each region will be set by October 15.  You will have an opportunity to vote next July to create this 10-year tax to fund the October 15 project list.  This is big.  This is important.  Be informed.

Before and after images of the Streets of Buckhead temporary sidewalks.

Peachtree Road Race

The AJC and Atlanta Track Club’s Fourth of July tradition takes runners through the heart of Buckhead.  This year, runners will have a safer route along Buckhead Atlanta (formerly the Streets of Buckhead) on Peachtree Road.  Construction previously blocked the existing sidewalks, making it unsafe for pedestrians, but recently, the BCID had the construction barriers moved back and replaced with temporary sidewalks – just in time for Peachtree Road Race participants!

Lenox Mall Taste of the Fourth

Lenox Mall has always produced spectacular fireworks displays after the sun sets on the Fourth of July, but this year they are adding a new, delicious event – Taste of the Fourth.  For a $10 admissions ticket (which benefits the Atlanta Mission), you can sample food from local restaurants and reserve a spot to view one of the largest fireworks displays in the Southeast.

Walking and driving to Lenox Mall is getting a whole lot easier, thanks to BCID’s Peachtree Boulevard Transformation.  We are currently installing 11,500 linear feet of new 11-foot wide sidewalks, complete with new oak shade trees, 188 new pedestrian and street lights, modern benches.  In addition to the streetscape, we are a constructing new planted median with dedicated left turn lanes, new bike lanes and crosswalks to help you get to future fireworks shows safely!

BCID's executive director, Jim Durrett, discussing plans for the new Ga. 400 trail

Last month, the Buckhead Community Improvement District made several exciting announcements at our annual reception, including our partnership with the PATH Foundation, City of Atlanta, Buckhead Coalition, Livable Buckhead and the Buckhead Business Association to create a trail along Ga. 400.

This greenspace will begin near Loridans Drive and end in Midtown, providing a pedestrian route through the heart of Buckhead and beautifying our community.  The PATH Foundation has divided the trail into five segments, and the BCID and City of Atlanta have each donated $200,000 to complete the first two segments.  We expect additional funding from the Buckhead Coalition and even more funding from an unlikely set of gigantic, colorful statues.

One of the many statues available for sponsorship, with proceeds going to the proposed Ga. 400 trail.

That’s right – statues.  The Buckhead Business Association has large statues of Bucks available for local businesses to purchase.  The plain statues will be transformed into works of art by Atlanta artists and placed around our community, much like Chicago’s famous cows.  Proceeds from the “Bucks on the Street” program will go directly to our community, benefiting the proposed trail.

BCID’s involvement with the creation of this greenspace is another way we are making Buckhead a more livable community.  To learn more about our pedestrian initiatives, click here.

So what is Buckhead Community Improvement District (BCID) doing to make it easy for you to “be there” in Buckhead?  We are redesigning and rebuilding Peachtree.  We are redesigning Piedmont and finding the funding to rebuild it.  We are creating bike lanes.  We are rezoning for appropriately-scaled mixed-use development.  We are studying how to make Buckhead work for people who want to walk and then we are building safe and inviting sidewalks.

One sidewalk that was recently constructed is only going to be in place for a while, until the Streets of Buckhead is built by OliverMcMillan. Then it will be replaced by a much better sidewalk and streetscape, with much more to follow. Soon it will be possible  to walk down Peachtree between Pharr Road and E. Paces Ferry again when that sidewalk is returned to public use.

Before and after images of the Streets of Buckhead temporary sidewalks.

Bit by bit, a walkable urban environment is being created in Buckhead. And being there, without being tethered to your car, will be not only possible, but desirable.

BCID was instrumental in pulling together the necessary funding, including $1.2 million from BCID, to secure a project of this magnitude.  In addition, the BCID board distributed information and facilitated meetings among Buckhead businesses, developers and community leaders to build consensus and support.

Renderings of the future MARTA Concourse Bridge

Construction on the project will commence this fall and be completed by mid-2013.  Once the bridge is complete, pedestrians from Tower Place Drive and Stratford Road on the north side of Peachtree will have direct access to both sides of GA 400 and to MARTA’s Buckhead Station without having to walk to Peachtree Road, making existing and future development transit-accessible.

The MARTA Concourse Bridge will provide more than 3,000 people who live, work, shop and worship in the area with a more practical rail transit alternative.  How will you utilize the new bridge? Share your ideas in the comments section below!

Work will begin Sunday to restripe one lane of I-85 southbound to produce a dedicated merge lane — a “free on” lane — for traffic on GA 400 southbound at its merge with I-85. The rightmost (outside) lane of I-85 southbound will be restriped from just south of Exit 86 (Peachtree Street) to the GA 400 on-ramp; the I-85 traffic will then have three general purpose lanes on the left.  After the restriping, motorists merging onto I-85 from GA 400 southbound will have two dedicated lanes for a much longer distance. The outside GA 400 lane (right exit lane) will end at the same location where it ends today and the HOV lane will remain. Work will be completed by morning rush hour on Monday, March 14 (weather permitting). Once the project is complete, morning rush hour speeds are projected to increase from 15 mph to 50 mph, alleviating commuter frustration.

A rendering of the future I-85/GA 400 interchange. Click here for more images and video of the project.

BCID understood the impact of the traffic congestion on the Buckhead community and was instrumental in working with community partners, government agencies and the governor’s office to achieve this outcome.   We’re pleased that the project is off to a quick start and look forward to the positive impact of its completion.  To learn more about the new I-85/GA 400 interchange, click here.

Subscribe to this blog for updates on this sidewalk transformation as we make Buckhead’s streets work for everybody.