The Fayette Citizen-News Page
Wednesday, October 13, 1999
ARC to reveal test results on transportation plan

By DAVE HAMRICK
Staff Writer

Fayette and other metro Atlanta residents will get an idea how well the Atlanta Regional Commission's new 25-year, $37 billion transportation plan may work in a public forum next week.

ARC, planning agency for the 10-county Atlanta region that includes Fayette, will release the results of extensive computer testing of the Regional Transportation Plan in meetings of the group's Transportation Coordinating Committee and its Transportation and Air Quality Committee tomorrow morning, followed by a public forum Oct. 26.

The committees will meet at 9 and 10:30 a.m. tomorrow at ARC headquarters, 3715 Northside Parkway, 200 Northcreek, Atlanta. The public forum will be at MARTA headquarters next to Lindbergh Station from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.

“That will be a general overview,” said Julie Ralston, ARC's director of communications. “It will tell how all the different projects and strategies work.”

Projects and strategies in the RTP will represent a significant departure from what's been done in the past. Ralston said 57 percent of the $37 billion in transportation projects will be for public transit projects like heavy and light rail, buses, commuter programs, sidewalks and bike lanes, with only 29 percent used for road improvements.

A commuter rail line to Senoia would serve the Fayette area, for example, and nearby Interstate 85 would receive some of the planned 300 percent increase in HOV (high occupancy vehicle) lanes.

A regional bus network and a $500 million expansion of bicycle and pedestrian systems are planned, along with stricter emission controls and a $50 million alternative fuel program.

Improved air quality is at the center of much of the planning, said Ralston. Metro Atlanta's federal transportation funds have been on hold in recent years because the area fails to meet Environmental Protection Agency standards for air quality. Those funds won't be released until a new plan is adopted that will bring the area into compliance.

The computer tests that will be revealed this week and next are designed to show how the projects will affect air quality and a host of other concerns, Ralston said. How the plan meets mobility targets, vehicle miles per capita and other criteria also will be revealed.

For information on the RTP, phone 404-364-2500 or check ARC's web site at www.atlantaregional.com.


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