Clifton Corridor Project, College Avenue Improvements Make Transportation List

The final project list for the $6.14 billion regional transit tax referendum in 2012 includes the and improvements to College Avenue (U.S. 278) from Adair Street to North Clarendon Avenue.

A proposal to extend Marta lines east along I-20 didn't get nearly as much money as proponents wanted.

Mayors and county officials from a 10-county area approved the project list on Thursday. The final list of projects had been whittled down by the Atlanta Regional Roundtable, a much smaller group which included Decatur Mayor Bill Floyd and DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis.

If you call up the PDF of the final list, you'll see the Clifton Corridor project on Page 87 and the College Avenue project on Page 90. The list includes other projects in or affecting Decatur, Avondale Estates and DeKalb County.

When asked for his opinion of the project list, Avondale Estates Mayor Ed Rieker offered this email comment:

"I did see the current $5,000,000 allocation for funding the College Ave corridor improvements in 2013-15 timeframe. I think this is a great example of the cross-jurisdictional partnership that the TSPLOST will provide regional governments in the future if passed by the voters next year.

"This particular project shows the mutual benefits of cooperation between three governmental units; the City of Avondale Estates, the City of Decatur and DeKalb County. If the TSPLOST is passed next year the City of Avondale Estates has the potential to realize an additional $60,000 in transportation funding that can be used in the city for our transportation infrastructure improvements."

According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "The final list spends 51.5 percent of its money on mass transit, with bus projects and rail expansion including the Atlanta Beltline and a line to the Emory University and Clifton Corridor area.  It's 47.3 percent roads, from surface street improvements to major highway projects such as a rebuild of I-285 and Ga. 400.  The rest goes to airports, bicycle and pedestrian projects, and a project that is a crossover road/transit project."

The Atlanta Business Chronicle reported that several proposals to expand rail service took hits, such as a plan to extend Marta north to Roswell.

"At the other end of the spectrum," the Chronicle reported, "two projects along the Atlanta Beltline received about $600 million, and the proposed Clifton Corridor rail line got $700 million.

"Two other rail projects – an extension of MARTA rail service along the I-20 corridor and a planned light rail line from Midtown Atlanta to the Cumberland Mall area of Cobb County – also took substantial cuts. But those projects still ended up with $225 million and $695 million, respectively."