Gwinnett County Votes Against MARTA Expansion
Gwinnett County’s decision on whether MARTA will expand to Georgia’s second largest county
The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, formally known as MARTA, was formed by an act of the Georgia General Assembly in 1965. In that same year, the City of Atlanta passed a referendum that authorized the participation in the city of Atlanta and the metro area. The MARTA runs all the way from the airport towards North Springs right by I-75/85, and from Bankhead heading East towards Indian Creek towards I-285. The MARTA has served as one of the main sources of transportation for residents to maneuver their way throughout the city for over four decades. As Atlanta has grown in population severely over the years, the MARTA has increasingly grown in importance.
On March 19th, voters had the opportunity to decide whether they wanted to bring MARTA all the way out to Gwinnett County and have a contract between MARTA and the county approved. The ballot for the contract between the transit system and the county eventually came back as a no. The proposal that was approved back in 2018 by the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners would call for an expansion of the rail lines from Doraville to Gwinnett Place Mall along I-85, with it ending at Jimmy Carter Boulevard. Gwinnett County officials stated that the estimated cost for this project in total would be about $5 billion. If this contract would have been approved, it would have been funded by a new penny sales tax that would be in effect starting in the summer in July.
Many individuals voiced their displeasure in the results of the ballot and did not understand why Gwinnett county would not vote yes for this to be put in place. The Beltline Rail Now transit advocates issued a statement regarding the ballot results.
“ It’s time to start work on rail projects like the Beltline, where trains run separated from traffic,” one of the members of the Beltline Rail Now Association said. “It’s time to start building new stations to connect those projects to today’s MARTA lines. And it’s time to find new ways to link other MARTA communities to the metro core.”
Cathy Woolard, a former city council president and now cofounder of Beltline Rail Now also commented on this situation.
“ New people are already pouring into Atlanta, and we need a way to get around town that doesn’t leave us wasting valuable time in gridlock … Let’s build transit that will get people moving and show others why they want to be part of it.”
Gwinnett County is one of the fastest growing counties not only in Georgia, but in the whole country. The metro-Atlanta area is now home to over 900,000 people and is the second-largest county in Georgia. It is predicted that by the year 2040, the population will surpass 1.3 million people in Gwinnett alone. That will make it the most populated county in Georgia.
Traffic in Atlanta and the metro area is one of the more talked about issues in the area. Many people who have moved here recently and even citizens who have lived here for some time often complain about how difficult it is to get around at times. The traffic has grown to be so bad that it could take a person one whole hour to get to their destination that’s only several miles away. As the population grows and shows no signs of slowing down soon, it is imperative that county leaders encourage others to vote to provide more transportation options to clear up the roads.
Brandon Jack. From Atlanta, GA. Senior at Morehouse College
