MARTA Board to Decide Light Rail Plan

From Patch Reports

The MARTA Board of Directors is scheduled to vote Monday on a proposal to build a light rail line from the Lindbergh MARTA station southeast to the Emory area.

The board will meet at 1:30 p.m. Monday, with 20 minutes for publc comment at the start of the meeting, according to a news release. Comments can also be submitted in writing. The meeting will be held at MARTA headquarters, 2424 Piedmont Road.

The Clifton Corridor plan, one of the Locally Preferred Alternatives that are being recommended by MARTA Planning Staff after months of detailed studies and community meetings, envisions 8.8 miles of new light-rail transit service that would eventually run from the Lindbergh MARTA Station to the Emory and Centers for Disease Control jobs centers to the Avondale MARTA Station.

Parts of the line would operate adjacent to the CSX Railroad right-of-way, acording to the news release. The proposed alignment also includes in-street operations on the medians of Clifton Road (through the CDC/Emory area), Scott Boulevard, North Decatur Road, DeKalb Industrial Way and North Arcadia Avenue.

The project is one of 157 regional projects to be funded under the proposed 1-cent transit tax to be voted on in a July 31 referendum. If the referendum fails, MARTA would have to find other means of funding it.

For more information on the Clifton Corridor plan, as well as another LPA along I-20 the board will consider Monday, see http://www.itsmarta.com/expansion-projects.aspx.