What are the goals of the Connect Atlanta Plan?

The study team wanted to ensure that it had a clear understanding on the long-range vision and goals of residents and stakeholders of the City. The following set of core goals were developed to serve as guides throughout the study process:

• Promote safe and balanced transportation choices.  This goal is intended to encourage consideration of projects that will provide an alternative to the use of single occupant automobiles.  This includes transit, pedestrian and bicycle facilities as well as congestion reduction strategies.
• Promote public health and safety.  This goal is intended to focus attention primarily on pedestrian safety and on those areas of the city that are experiencing high levels of traffic accidents.
• Prepare for growth.  This goal encourages the city to be proactive and plan for the projected growth;
• Strive for environmental sustainability.  This goal is intended to encourage consideration, designs and strategies that conserve resources, reduce vehicle emissions and promote water quality.
• Maintain fiscal sustainability.  This goal encourages selection of projects that exemplify the vision of the plan with relatively low investment required to complete the project.
• Preserve neighborhoods.  This goal promotes projects and strategies that will protect and enhance Atlanta’s neighborhoods.
• Create desirable places for all citizens.  This goal reflects the desire of Atlanta’s citizens to have more attractive public and private gathering places in which to mingle, discuss, share ideas and exchange information.  The transportation network can contribute to the development of such places.

The study team started by drafting a preliminary set of goals, which were then taken to the public in a series of seven (7) visioning workshops conducted throughout the City in December 2007.  Citizens provided ideas and suggestions regarding the goals as well as regarding transportation needs.  The preliminary goals were refined to reflect the public input.  

Does the Conntect Atlanta Plan cover the entire City?

Yes.  The Connect Atlanta Plan will be a multi-modal plan designed to meet the needs of every area of the city as well as to accommodate and facilitate the mobility of the Atlanta region of which the City is a critical component.

What are the major transportation challenges facing the City of Atlanta today and in the future?

The city is growing again—in population and employment, and this growth is projected to continue at an accelerated pace: from 480,000 people in 2006 to 780,000 in 2030; and from 395,000 jobs to 570,000.  From a transportation point of view, the challenge is to accommodate this growth while maintaining the quality of life desired by an increasingly diverse population.  The imperative is to strengthen the connection between land use and transportation.  The Connect Atlanta Plan seeks to accomplish this overarching goal and in so doing will make Atlanta a more desirable and exciting place in which to live, learn, work, shop, and play.

What are some of the principal findings from the analysis of the existing transportation system?

• A large portion of Atlanta’s streets have been designed and engineered to facilitate speed thereby discouraging travel by means other than the automobile.
• The construction of high-speed, high-volume infrastructure in the city may no longer be possible without unacceptable consequences and side-effects on Atlanta’s neighborhoods.
• The regional freeway system, which tends to serve long-distance regional trips, does not serve city dwellers well because they tend to make shorter trips. In fact, trips originating in the city tend to be 60% shorter than trips originating in the suburbs.
• The pedestrian system in Atlanta is uneven and inadequate to support walking, which is one of the primary modes of travel in an urban environment.
• There is a serious imbalance in the transportation system, with some streets overused and some underused. There are some streets in Atlanta that were built with more lanes than will ever be used given the nature of adjacent land use but still must be maintained long term.
• Transit is underused due in large part to poor collection and distribution facilities and poor connectivity.

What are the major recommendations of the study?

Based on the analysis of the existing transportation, the needs assessment and feedback from City Council Members, the Administration, the Technical and Stakeholder Advisory Committees, other stakeholders and the general public, the study team is proposing the following categories of improvements:

• Transit.  Ninety-five (95) miles of rail transit and high-frequency bus transit are recommended in the plan.  This includes existing proposals to extend MARTA’s West rail line to I-285 and construction of a Bus Rapid Transit line from the HE Holmes station to Fulton Industrial Boulevard.  It also includes implementation of the planned BeltLine transit facility and the Peachtree Street Streetcar.  In addition the study team is proposing high-frequency bus service, streetcar and light rail lines in several other major corridors in the city.  The complete list of proposed transit improvements can be found on the project website.
• Bicycle Network.  200 miles of bicycle lanes are proposed. A core set of bicycle lanes is proposed that will link key travel corridors to activity centers; a secondary set of bike lanes will link neighborhoods.  The bicycle network will be developed by restriping existing streets and by creating bike lanes as part of new construction and street widening.  The bicycle network map is on the website.
• Pedestrian Facilities. The plan will include guidelines for the location and design of sidewalks and other pedestrian amenities in new developments.  There will also be guidelines for developed areas that reflect current land use and proximity to community facilities.
• New Streets.  The plan proposes seventy-three (73) new streets to better connect the existing road network and improve its efficiency.
• Road Widening.  The plan will include twenty-two (22) proposed road widening projects to add more capacity to the system.
• Other Projects.  There will be other projects in the plan such as intersection improvements, modifications in the one-way pairing of streets and roundabouts.  For detailed maps of the proposed improvements please click here. 

What is the estimated cost of the recommended projects?

Cost estimates are in preparation.

How will the projects be funded?

New funds are required to fund the program of projects in the plan over the next 25 years.  The local, state and federal funds that the City currently uses for transportation projects will not be sufficient. The issue of new funds for transportation improvements is being addressed at the regional and state levels.  The Connect Atlanta Plan provides the basis for the City to articulate and defend its needs when in discussions with its state and regional partners regarding regional and state transportation funding.

What are the priorities and what is the implementation schedule?

A list of priorities and an implementation schedule are in preparation.  Projected completion date is (November) 2008.

Click here for a PDF of the above document.