T-SPLOST won’t work

T-SPLOST won’t work

By Norb Leahy

Too Little Congestion Relief

T-SPLOST is weak and late on congestion relief.  Assuming drivers will take trains and buses is naïve at best and dishonest at worst. Congestion relief requires reducing road and highway pinch points and establishing a grid.  T-SPLOST doesn’t do that.

What T-SPLOST Does

T-SPLOST spends $3.12 billion on transit, a MARTA bail-out and expansion of wasteful public transit including $602 million to build Atlanta’s BeltLine. There are very expensive re-dos of highway interchanges. There is some bridge replacement. There is premature road widening plus sidewalks, bike lanes, and trails that have no impact on congestion.

All Roads Lead to I-285

The worst congestion causer is the top of I-285 and T-SPLOST doesn’t solve that problem. This is an interstate bypass and should be funded with federal transportation funds from gasoline tax revenue.  It worked when the population was 3 million.  It wasn’t expanded as our population went to 5.5 million. The combination of no real grid for roads and highways, and continued interstate traffic ensures gridlock.  We need lanes or a real bypass.