The Executive Committee of the Atlanta Regional Transportation Roundtable recently reached a unanimous agreement on a draft list of transportation projects for the next 10 years. The projects on the list were selected for the possible benefits to the entire region. This list goes a long way toward addressing many of Atlanta’s infrastructure problems.  Improving our infrastructure is necessary to continue to attract new business to the region and to continue to provide a safe place for people to live and invest in Atlanta real estate.

The five-member committee voted to approve a $6.14 billion draft list of transportation projects to be potentially funded by a penny sales tax to come before voters next year.

Using public feedback, the five-member Roundtable Executive Committee narrowed a $22 billion list of projects down to $6.14 billion. The committee was tasked with narrowing a list of more than 400 transportation projects to just over 100 in two and a half months. Some of the largest projects on the Atlanta Regional Transportation Roundtable’s $6.14 Billion Draft Constrained Project List include a MARTA North Heavy Rail Line Extension to SR 140, the Atlanta Beltline Streetcar Circulator and Trail, a Northwest Corridor (Acworth to Arts Center Station) Fixed Guideway Transit ‐ Phase 1 from Midtown to Cumberland, I‐85 North Transit Corridor (all phases), and the Clifton Corridor Transit (phases 1A, 1B and 1C).

Residents in the 10-county metro Atlanta region will have the opportunity to provide their input regarding the list at a series of 10 public meetings to be held throughout the Atlanta region during September. The list must then be approved by the full 21-member Roundtable by October 15 before submission to the Georgia Department of Transportation.

The Atlanta Regional Transportation Roundtable was created by a state law called the Transportation Investment Act that gives voters in 12 regions around the state the opportunity to enact a one penny sales tax to fund regional transportation improvements. The Roundtable’s 21 members include the county commission chair from each of the 10 metro Atlanta counties and one mayor from each county, plus the mayor of Atlanta.

What do you think about the projects selected? Do you have other ideas for projects that were not included? We’d love to know, so please comment.