Interesting Variation on Athens-Atlanta rail; not incl ATL!

As reported in Sunday's edition of this newspaper, University of Georgia School of Environmental Design professor Jack Crowley used a recent forum on transportation to tout the use of a near-dormant freight rail line running from the Jackson County town of Center to Madison, the Morgan County seat, as a means of taking cars off the road in Athens-Clarke County.

The Athens-Clarke portion of the 38-mile line runs through the University of Georgia campus, making it at least an option for UGA students, faculty and staff - not to mention the thousands of people who work in or near downtown Athens - to avoid a commute that, in the morning and evening rush hours, has become increasingly frustrating over the years.

And, of course, as Crowley pointed out at the recent forum - held as groups of county governments consider transportation projects for funding through a regional sales tax on which voters will cast ballots next year - a rail line tracing its way through the county and near Sanford Stadium could eliminate traffic and parking problems for large numbers of college football fans who descend on Athens on a half-dozen Saturdays each fall.