Friday, June 20, 2003
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Friday, June 20, 2003 |
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Local meeting to come on regional transportation plan By JOHN THOMPSON
South Fulton Residents who want a better look at the possible future of the county's transportation needs should head to Shannon Mall Tuesday.. The Atlanta Regional Commission, the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority and other planning agencies are coming to town that day to get residents' opinions on the Mobility 2030 Regional Transportation Plan. This is the latest effort by Atlanta's planners to try and plan for the future transportation needs of the region. ARC planners estimate another 2.3 million people will move into the region by 2030, pushing the area's population toward 7 million. But the latest approach seems to be a little different than past efforts. "We're looking at regional efforts to try and connect the different systems," said John Orr, long range project manager at ARC. The plan focuses on five regional systems; cross-regional thruways, HOV lanes and interchanges, express bus and commuter rail, bicycle and pedestrian and smart corridors. FultonCounty could see some traffic relief with the focus of South Fulton Parkways becoming part of the Intelligent Transportation Systems in the cross regional thruway portion of the program. The county would see an increase of HOV lanes and would see express buses by 2030. Orr could not provide a specific list of projects, but ARC maps show a number of bicycle and pedestrian paths planned for the county. The county will probably also see a number of its roads incorporate parts of the Intelligent Transportation Systems. ARC officials said this process involves laying fiber optic cable and having a better coordination of traffic signals. The Mobility 2030 meeting runs from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the community meeting room at Shannon Mall.
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