TSPLOST Project List
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New 'District' Roads in the Top Tier of Priorities:
Below is the Rendering from Urban Design Associates. The Findley Road Extension to Lakefield Dr is circled. Is spending $7.5million worthwhile to the current residents/taxpayers?
PUBLIC Buses in the 'Aspirational' Tier:
With the proposed 6 lanes for Medlock Bridge Rd and capacity improvements for State Bridge Rd, MARTA, GRTA or another flavor of public buses can have their own lane. Will you ride a Bus around Johns Creek? Is spending $40 million a good investment?
Source: City of Johns Creek, Work Session Packet
Also important to note, the ThrU went up in cost. Original $3-4million if the Federal Govt paid for it, now listed at $6million if Fulton taxpayers foot the bill.
GRTA buses are currently running up and down 141 every day. Am I the only one to have noticed how empty they are?
How is it that there are so many "new priorities" for spending on roads? If they were the right thing to do, would they not already be on the list of things to do within Johns Creek?
Residents of Metro Atlanta have not trusted GDOT for decades. It's why we voted against the last TSPLOST and why we are most likely to vote against it again.
Buses are not and have not improved traffic in any measurable way in Fulton County. GRTA buses, which have been running for years and years, have had no impact on traffic.
If buses were the answer, then the GRTA buses would be overflowing with passengers. They are not.
The residents that would use buses as their main method of transportation do not yet live in Johns Creek. Will you be walking from the center of your neighborhood to catch a bus? Will you be driving and parking your vehicle at a lot to catch the bus?
Parents do not even let their kids ride the bus to school. That is the reality we live in.
Or is the expectation that your neighbor will be doing so, and that you will still drive?
I agree most people in Johns Creek probably will not take the bus. However this total mistrust in GDOT has left us in gridlock. Over a penny that none would miss, we rejected TSPLOST in 2012 and now we have wasted way more in gridlock and those same road projects when they are eventually done will cost way more. I remember so much investment in our community back in the 1980s....widening of downtown connector, Marta expansion, Spaghetti Junction construction, Cobb Cloverleaf construction, Peachtree Industrial upgraded to a highway, even planning for an outer perimeter. Today it seems the opposite. So much opposition to rebuilding America. So much opposition to gas tax increases, to road funding, to Marta......yet we enjoy very low gas prices, surging stock market, low mortgage rates. Sad we are okay rebuilding Afghanistan and Iraq and sending our young ones over to die, yet back home so much opposition to spend a few pennies extra to rebuilding our own infrastructure
The answer is always, we need more money. We currently pay a gas tax, a property tax, and a state income tax. I am sure there is enough money there to solve all these problems, so figure out where it is being misspent and reallocate it, but stay out of my wallet again.
"I am sure there is enough..."
Based on what are you sure? Your experience in gov't, public policy, infrastructure planning??
I believe you are incorrect. We rejected Tsplost and thing have actually come down in cost. The Georgia 400 -285 exchange is being built today at a much much lower cost.
Why is that? They actually put the project out for real bids and got real competition.
Cities, counties and states only dole out so many contracts at a time, which keeps all the current contractors busy, but discourages new competition from coming into existence.
Have you heard why it is taking so long to pave the neighborhoods? Go back and listen to your public works director explain that we can only do so much in a given year.
Where do you think those crews are that work the Old Alabama Road Project when they are not there? Could they also be working other projects?
Like anything we do in the US, if there was a visible bang for the buck in what they did, we would throw money at it.
What have we gotten from GDOT recently? Electronic speed signs that work intermittently, if at all.
So what is the speed limit when the left sign says 45 and the right sign says 55, anyway.
Have you been on 285 with all the 18 wheelers in the two left lanes despite the signs that say "NO 18 wheelers in two left lanes"?
Should it really have taken 20 years for GDOT to realize that we needed two lanes from Peachtree Parkway to Peachtree Industrial Blvd in Peachtree Corners?
How many years has it taken to realize we have an issue at 285 and 400 with only one lane east bound onto 400 north?
In the meantime we have added lanes from Holcomb Bridge North all the way to Cumming.
Perhaps its not the City and Cities that need to create their wish list for TSPLOST.
It needs to be those that actually drive the roads daily.
As for 141 and State Bridge, all the asphalt has been there for years to make it six lanes through in each direction.
How long has it taken for anyone to say "why can't we do this?" I asked this question a year ago at one of the first Central Business District meetings.
Instead we get grandiose plans for a Michigan thru turn, for millions of dollars, and of which the improvement during rush hour is only marginally better than the six lanes, and likely much less efficient during the other 18 hours of the day.
Think of it this way: Every team in the NFL has an offensive coordinator. Not every team in the NFL has an offensive coordinator that knows what they are doing. Everyday fans can see that and realize that can't they?
Apply that to the DOT here and ask yourself what does the evidence say about what we are getting?
Think about that the next time you are waiting from the Chick Fil A on 141 south waiting to get up onto Peachtree Industrial Blvd.
You'll have plenty of time.
According to the "Georgia Gang", Mayor Bodker was down there til the end to ensure it got passed.
Now it's up to the voters if it will pass.
If we vote to approve TSPLOST, can the GA-400 onramp lights be turned on around the Christmas holidays to flicker red and green? Imagine how festive that would look and we can finally get some benefit for the millions that were spent on this idea.
The less Marta buses in the area the better. Just like the "trolley" in Atlanta, what an incredible waste of money. They sure are pretty though, empty, but pretty.
@Craig,
Then you better have a look at what your Mayor is proposing if he gets the TSPLOST passed.
And rest assured, he wants that TSPLOST passed. It's another stream of funds that they get to decide how it will be spent and we get to sit back and pay for it.
I hope the TSplost passes. I don't believe in lower taxes. I believe in best value. In the past decade this poisonous mentality has overtaken us that the Government is bad, taxes are bad and despite having very low personal income taxes, very low gas taxes and surging Wealth for households across America thru stock market and real estate rising, people complain instead of appreciating how great we have it.
Anonymous, by any chance... are you mayor of a city in N.Fulton?
@anonymous,
And yet Americans have never had more of their income taken or taxes in US history.
Your arguments do not bear up to scrutiny.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/americans-spend-more-on-taxes-than-food-clothing-housing-combined/article/2587799
Feel free to write a check to GA DOT to pay a bit more if you like. Maybe they will name a traffic circle for you.
Very interesting. I appreciate the link. Personally I would love to write GDOT a check if my check alone would magically fix traffic. As for the other taxes, I guess it doesn't feel as burdensome as electronics and clothing are getting cheaper compared to a generation ago especially once you factor in inflation. Even homes seem so much more affordable with the very low mortgage rates and gasoline is quite low. When u combine all that with the stock market boom, the taxes we pay seem very manageable .
Anonymous, please note that the United States recorded a Government Debt to GDP of 104.17 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product in 2015. The only reason that our standard of living remains relatively high is bc our debt is in US dollars, the world's default reserve currency. If and when the dollar's status as this reserve currency changes the rest of the world will not want to buy our debt like it does now. When the government can no longer float our debt and we have to pay a real finance charge to pay our bills, we will be in a very precarious situation. Politicians that seek ever greater spending and taxes are a threat to our political and economic freedom. We MUST change our view of government and debt and spending and taxes before it is too late!
I agree with you John. The people must also change. If people would save and invest we would not need Social Security and other government programs. If people would get their own health insurance, we would not need Obamacare. The Politicians reflect society. We must reduce our reliance on government by practicing self reliance. Many people who are against bigger government, are the same ones not putting the maximum into their retirement accounts, and they are not trying to pay off their mortgage in 15 years. Government has grown in many instances since many have failed to take care of themselves. Someone retiring today would have entered the work place in the mid 1970s when the DOW was around 500. Today we are knocking on 18,000. There should be no reason they need their social security with such an incredible run on the stock market and with 401k deductions and IRA's offered to participate. Lets hope we can get people to take care of themselves and reduce the need for government to expand in response.
The TSPLOST looks to extract another $14 million plus out of my pockets and yours-annually.
As this is a sales tax, it is ultimately paid by the consumers. Sure, we can hope that millions of out of towners arrive and pay the tax for us, but in the end, it is likely you and I that will pay the bulk of these dollars out of our very own wallets.
My question for you is this: How heavy of a tax burden can we support overall? Is there no limit to the amount of taxes that can be added?
Or is there a level that will begin to detrimentally affect our local economies?
If Johns Creek has 32,000 households, that equals around $437 per year. Do you think there are households in Johns Creek that will feel the pinch?
What could your household do with that money over the next several years if you were able to keep it and spend it as you saw fit rather than paying it in another tax?
$437 a year is barely more than a dollar a day. No one will miss that. That's actually a very low investment to fix traffic....a dollar a day!
If u can't afford a dollar a day, your income is so low that you are probably having minimal tax burden.
The guys paying the heavy taxes making seven and eight figures aren't complaining. We will know when taxes are too high when NFL players and CEO's turned down their 8 figure salaries over taxes.
I do not think most in Johns Creek are rich. Most people, including myself are not rich and we live here because we cannot afford to live in Buckhead and put our children in private schools. We have to live here for the great public schools, since private schools and Buckhead / Sandy Springs etc. housing is too expensive for us in Johns Creek. I do think that most in Johns Creek should be able to pay a dollar a day more, since most of them are the ones complaining about Making America Great Again. We are beyond lucky to live here. Things are not good, they are great in America. Surging stock market (DOW is back over 18,000) which helps the middle class by elevating their 401k and IRA. Very low mortgage rates help the middle class, as does low gasoline. I don't like Michigan U turns either. I wish we could raise gas taxes much more and ask drivers to fund real improvements like overpasses - imagine the improvement in traffic a grade separated intersection at 141 / States bridge would do for traffic! Guess what, gas was a dollar more not long ago....people did not notice it.
Time to invest in America instead of just complaining about it. Things are fantastic. America is great....if it wasn't we would not have to put a wall up to keep people out. Nobody would want to come here if it wasn't great. Let's keep it great by investing in our infrastructure, the same way we are rebuilding Iraq and Afghanistan we should rebuild America.