ATLANTA — Suburban Gwinnett County is voting today on whether to fund an expansion of the Atlanta-area MARTA transit agency, including an expansion of its heavy rail system, into the county.
The referendum asks voters to approve a contract between the county and MARTA that would allow MARTA to take over existing Gwinnett County transit operations and adds a 1-percent sales tax until 2057 to fund transit expansion.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that 32,000 early ballots have been cast in the election and that voting is expected to be close.
The tax would raise an estimated $5.5 billion, helping fund projects including a 5-mile extension of the MARTA rail system’s Gold Line from its current northeast terminus at Doraville to a new intermodal hub in Gwinnett. The line would take 15 to 20 years to build.
It would also lead to about 50 miles of bus rapid transit, 110 miles of faster bus corridors, new express commuter bus routes and park-and-ride facilities, and increasing traditional bus service.
Voter turnout was 16% compared to 60% last general election
It went down for a couple reasons IMHO.
Voter turnout: Special, one issue election occurred because the legislation enabling the vote to occur at all came a hair too late to get it on the ballot last fall. Special elections are dominated by old, conservative, retired voters.
Same old stupid fear: Lots of the “anti” chatter was just the same old (and still present) “dog whistling” about class and race.
Penny tax isn’t a big deal. The county regularly votes “yes” for an added penny sales tax every couple of years, without fail. That money goes to parks, library, road improvements. (SPLOST tax)
This is a setback for the county. They have lost jobs and failed to land others because of very poor transit. Best examples are NCR who left Gwinnett for a mid-town Atlanta location and State Farm who passed on Gwinnett to locate right a MARTA line in Fulton County.
Might take a while to spool up another proposal.
Charles; 54% no; 46% yes so; I’ll agree the defeat was decisive.
CURT – The website ajc.com doesn’t give the vote totals yea/ nay, only saying it was a decisive defeat. The article reflects your comments that Gwinnet County has had changing demographics and the vote was expected to carry or at least be close.
Transit advocates were mad because the vote was held on a special election day, not a general election schedule. Sorry, transit folks. Everyone knows that special elections lean left and lean toward special interests. If transit advocates can’t carry a vote in April they can’t carry it in November.
I have no position and am not familiar with the proposal. My familiarity with Georgia is once being diverted to the Atlanta airport, plus driving on Tennessee I-24 which has a mile in Georgia on the way to Chattanooga. So I’m not against the proposal, nor for it, just saying looking at it from Wisconsin it seemed doomed to fail. It looked too much like a suburban counties being asked to tax itself for the benefit of the central city counties. Fair or otherwise that’s what it looked like.
Curt, I know that many recent transit proposals have carried the election, as you stated below. This one looked like it would not.
And; looks like I’d have lost the bet too. Proposal was defeated.
No one is going to vote to be taxed now for a train that may/ may not be operational in 15 to 20 years.
How long did it take to build and to equip Oak Ridge in Tennessee, with all new technology never heard of before, with desperate shortages of materials, money, transportation and labor? I don’t know, a year or so. While simultaneously building Willow Run (Michigan) and Hanford (Washington) under much the same conditions.
You’re kidding right? 5 miles of double track will take 15-20 years, did I read that right or is this a misprint? How ridiculous!!!!
Charles, you’re out of touch in regards to people taxing themselves now for something they might not see in 15 – 20 years…just do a search for all the local transportation taxes that passed last November across the U.S.
I imagine it will be a combination of both above and below ground as are the existing MARTA lines.
And Charles; I’m betting while the vote may be close, it will pass. Gwinnett County has a much different voter demographic now than existed 15 or 20 years ago.
I too was concerned with the timeline. Is it all underground or elevated?