Vinings Neighborhood

Position on the Northwest Corridor HOV/BRT Project

August 9, 2004

The Northwest Corridor HOV/BRT Project should affirm the "LPA" recommended by GRTA in March 2004 for the Northwest Connectivity Study (NWCS). GRTA's LPA identified the most time-effective solution that will do the best job of meeting the needs of communities and commuters in the Northwest Corridor, and will get the most cars off of I-75 and utilizing transit alternatives.

· The Northwest Corridor Project must remain focused on providing time-effective regional transportation solutions. Only the HOV/BRT plan with stations adjacent to HOV lanes, and stations accessed directly from the HOV lanes, can provide time-effective regional service that meets the needs of suburban commuters in the Northwest Corridor. The TSM plan will severely lengthen trip times, and therefore will fail to meet the needs of regional commuters.

· Every minute that travel time is extended by forcing the buses out of the HOV corridor and into regular traffic on surface streets, the more ridership will suffer.

· The U1 HOV option should be eliminated from consideration. All other options can be built without major disruption to existing traffic. U1 will disrupt traffic on all lanes on I-75 for many years. U1 will force the rebuilding of every bridge along the way of this project. And it will result in the most disruptive and least safe traffic flow once the project is completed. Any of the other options can be implemented less disruptively; and once it is built, any of the other options will result in superior and safer traffic flow than U1.

· With either the TSM or BRT, nearly all types of land uses will be impacted along a thin sliver of land adjacent to I-75, from commercial and industrial to various types of residential. Yet all of these properties, and all of Cobb County will be adversely impacted by failing to implement the HOV/BRT plan. And the implementation of this plan will create redevelopment opportunities that will ultimate benefit all of these areas. The I-75 corridor is precisely the correct place to promote high-density, mixed-use redevelopment. However the TSM plan will unnecessarily destabilize land uses and existing communities over a dramatically larger area.

· The objectives, problems, needs, and purpose in the Scoping Information Booklet for the Northwest Corridor HOV/BRT Project are correct. They should not be modified nor restated.

· We support the 5 transportation needs for this project, as currently stated, and would oppose modifications to these needs. As stated in the Scoping Information Booklet, "the corridor's activity centers are all (already) clustered along I-75 . . ." Because this is where the activity centers should exist, and where they do exist, the first need of "Coordinat(ing) transportation and land use solutions so that growth can be accommodated without overburdening the transportation system" should focus on enhancing and promoting high-density, mixed-use redevelopment along the I-75 corridor.

· We agree with the second stated need to "improve the ability of the transportation system to meet growing travel demand by offering additional transportation choices that increase capacity and enhance mobility." We would oppose changes to this stated "need".

· We agree with the third stated need to "Improve the competitiveness of transit by providing a reliable travel time alternative to single-occupant autos so that it can attract a greater share of travel demand." This cannot be achieved by the TSM alternative. It can only be achieved with the HOV/BRT alternative. We support the current language, and would oppose any modifications to this stated "need".

The HOV/BRT plan is the only solution that meets the needs of suburban commuters and suburban communities in Cobb County. The HOV/BRT plan is the only plan that can provide a time-effective regional transportation solution.