Cobb Country Transit - LRT or Commuter Rail

Cobb’s Department of Transportation received $1.4 million, the largest allocation in Georgia, to study a proposed rail line along the U.S. 41/I-75 corridor between Acworth and the Arts Center Station in Atlanta.

Sixty percent of Cobb County, Ga., residents who participated in a telephone survey conducted by county officials to determine whether residents prefer to connect Cobb to Atlanta via rail, or to improve the congested Windy Hill Road and Interstate 75 intersection, said rail to Atlanta takes priority, the Marietta Daily Journal reported. Officials are trying to determine the best use for money that could be generated by next year’s voter referendum for a 10-year 1 percent sales tax to fund transportation projects in a 10-county metro Atlanta area.

A proposed commuter railway from Cumberland Mall to Midtown Atlanta would cost about $1.2 billion to build, and $9.6 million more to operate each year, reports the Marietta Daily Journal, based on reports from the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority. The project is among several planning officials say could be built with money from a 1 percent sales tax voters will consider July 31, 2012.

Cobb Board of Commissioners Chairman Tim Lee on Wednesday said he plans to cut $300 million from a proposed Cumberland-to-Midtown rail line on the TSPLOST project list and instead use the money for a bus route and road improvements, reports the Marietta Daily Journal.

Lee said he and Kennesaw Mayor Mark Mathews had decided to reroute the $300 million from the $856.5 million earmarked for the rail line, the newspaper reported. He made the comments during the 21-member Atlanta Regional Roundtable meeting.

Even If Cobb Votes To Fund Transit In 2019, MARTA Rail Is Unlikely To Follow

With the prospect of Cobb County continuing to lose out on more than a third of the region's economic development deals, leaders are looking to add a penny sales tax that could fund the massive expansion of a transit alternative. One thing is very likely: MARTA will not be that alternative.

“Heavy rail is simply not affordable,” Cumberland Community Improvement District Executive Director Tad Leithead said during Thursday's Bisnow Future of Cumberland event at the Atlanta Marriott Northwest at Galleria.
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Gov. Nathan Deal recently signed a bill that creates a regional transit authority called Atlanta-region Transit Link Authority — known as The ATL — to plan and coordinate transit projects in a 13-county region that includes Cobb, Gwinnett, Forsyth, DeKalb and Fulton counties.
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If not MARTA, Leithead said he envisions a mix of projects that could include rapid bus transit, flex buses and light rail in coordination with The ATL agency.
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