# MARTA Chooses Clifton and I-20 corridor preferred options



## MattW (Mar 21, 2012)

MARTA has finally selected its Locally Preferred Alternatives for both the I-20 East corridor and the Clifton

corridor.

http://itsmarta.com/I20-east-corr.aspx

The Clifton corridor is a transit corridor that branches off south of the Lindbergh station and runs through the Emory campus to the Avondale transit station. There were several proposals MARTA was considering including Heavy Rail, Light Rail, and Bus Rapid transit. All of the options would use a mix of dedicated right of way and in-street running along the length of the corridor. The only major difference between them is that the Heavy Rail option would have terminated at North Decatur and required a cross-platform transfer to continue to Avondale from Lindbergh. The option that has been selected is Light Rail transit all the way from Avondale to Lindbergh. After some consideration, I personally think this was the better option as Light Rail or Bus Rapid Transit would have to be used anyways between Avondale and North Decatur Road. I would have liked the option to run trains directly from the airport and Atlanta to Emory which the heavy rail option would have potentially allowed, but the fewer the transfers, the better. The total cost for this is expected to be $700,000,000 which will be entirely funded by the T-SPLOST if it passes.

Now, the I-20 East corridor is the one that's more important to me. I live just off its planned eastern terminus, Stonecrest mall so I'd definitely make the 10 minute drive to get to the train to reach Atlanta (assuming they build this thing while I still live out here  ). The 6 alternatives being considered boiled down to heavy rail direct to Atlanta, heavy rail merging with the existing line east of Atlanta, light rail on either alignment, BRT direct to Atlanta, and reavy rail off the end of the Blue Line terminus, Indian Creek. The option I was hoping for (and expressed during the public comment period to MARTA) was the Heavy Rail direct to Atlanta which would give a 36 minute trip time to Five Points, and 42 minutes to Arts Center (Amtrak, Cobb County Transit) and a one-seat ride as far as Lindbergh. However, the option that won out was the final option to extend the line from Indian Creek down I-285, then out along I-20 with BRT from Wesley Chapel (I/20/I-285 interchange) direct into Atlanta with a travel time of 40 and 48 minutes respectively. I can't figure out however if these times are for traveling completely by train, or taking the train/bus option, or if the numbers are the same for both.

My feelings about this are mixed. While I'm glad that transit will finally reach along I-20, and will arrive quicker than the other rail options, I'm unsure about the longer travel times and less direct route as well as the existing line. In the documents I've read online, it appears that that plan was or is to run some type of express service from Indian Creek to Atlanta stopping at only a handful of the existing stations. The entire line to H.E. Holmes is double track and the Candler Park (King Memorial most of the day) to Ashby segment already hosts a second (Green) line. Unless MARTA plans to reduce frequencies on the Blue and Green lines in order to slot-in new express service, I'm not sure if the current infrastructure can support more trains running at the same 15 minute headways (7.5 minute Candler-Ashby) (dropping to 5 minute?) without adding at least a third track which I doubt there's much room to do. The cost for this project is expected to cost $1.78 Billion of which $225,000,000 appears to be set aside in the upcoming T-SPLOST referendum if it passes.


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## MattW (Sep 5, 2012)

Bit of a bump here, MARTA has released details of the I-20 East project in anticipation of the start of the Environmental Review which is necessary to apply for Federal funding (likely, the FTA's "New Starts" program). The details hold no real surprises. Unlike what I may have indicated, it appears the Heavy Rail portion will be an extension of the Green line. Currently, the Green line runs from Bankhead to King Memorial most of the day with service to far as Edgewood/Candler Park during the rush hours. Under the plan, the Green line would run from Bankhead to Georgia State station as normal, then run express stopping at Decatur, Kensington, then Indian Creek, and turning south and serving all the new outlying stations with the blue line terminating at Indian Creek as it does now.

This concerns me however. Currently, trains serving Bankhead are limited to two cars because of Bankhead's platform and tail-track length. Based on what I've read elsewhere as well as my own measurements in Google, there appears to be provisions for four-car trains, but I still don't think this will be enough. I really think the line needs to be six-car trains at least with provisions for eight-car trains like the rest of the system. At a public meeting next week, I'm going to ask about this, and if they aren't planning to expand Bankhead, suggest via public comments that during the rush hours, MARTA run full size trains as far as the Dome station, then use the pocket track between Dome and Vine City to turn trains. I'd also like to know if they're planning to provision the Wesley Chapel station for future conversion of the Bus Rapid Transit into Atlanta, to Heavy Rail. If I were in charge of things, I'd ensure that the trackage east of Wesley Chapel has enough space in the middle to support a pocket track to turn existing East line (Blue or Green) trains at Wesley Chapel while running Stonecrest to Atlanta trains straight through.

http://itsmarta.com/I20-documents.aspx


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