Cobb Residents Support Light Rail in Transportation Call

About 61 percent of Cobb County residents support light rail as the most important transportation concern in the coming years, according to a conducted by the Atlanta Regional Transportation Roundtable.

Cobb County Chairman Tim Lee and Kennesaw Mayor Mark Mathews led a discussion with 16,181 Cobb County residents over the course of a one-hour call on Tuesday. Both serve on the Roundtable, a group of elected officials from around the 10-county Atlanta region that is working throughout the summer to develop a list of regional transportation projects that would be funded through a penny sales tax if passed in July 2012.

The Roundtable has set a goal to reach more than a million residents through 10 scheduled telephone town hall meetings as it solicits comments about transportation priorities and concerns in metro Atlanta. More than 149,000 households were called in Cobb County on Tuesday, bringing the total so far to more than 300,000 homes.

Town halls also have been held in Henry, Douglas, DeKalb and Cherokee counties. Upcoming calls will be conducted in Fayette, Gwinnett, Rockdale, Fulton and Clayton Counties.

During their call, Lee and Mathews led a discussion about ways to improve transportation for Cobb County residents, particularly for those who regularly travel across county lines. From a poll of participants, the Roundtable found that 13.5 percent believed that improvements to the Windy Hill intersection with Interstate 75 is the most important investment that could be made in Cobb County, while 61 percent believed that connecting Cobb to Atlanta via rail is the most important. The poll found that 25.5 percent said neither of those is the most important investment that could be made in the county.

“It’s very important that we hear from our constituents and that we make this process as open and transparent as possible,” Lee said. “The telephone town hall helped us get input on the participants’ needs and on the options they believe will improve their quality of life.”

For an audio recording of each call, or for information, visit www.atlantaregionalroundtable.com.