Metro Leaders Approve Regional Transportation List

“I look forward to a successful July vote on moving the Atlanta region forward and keeping us competetive with our neighbors throughout this country, so thank you very much and its been a joy for me but I’m glad it’s over with,” said Wortham.

And for the recipients of the $6.1 billion in revenue that would fill local coffers if voters approve the tax, the mood was downright giddy.

MARTA chief Beverly Scott stands to receive $600 million for transit repairs if the tax goes through.

“This is historic. It is – as I’ve said all along – it’s a journey and this is certainly a very, very big milestone for us,” said Scott.

Over a ten year period, approximately half the money will go to highway projects. The other half will go to transit and rail projects.

Among the most high profile on the final list include full funding for direct transit to Emory University; road improvements to Sugarloaf Parkway; half the funding for DeKalb’s I-20 rail project; and 60 percent of the money needed to build a rail line to Cumberland in Cobb County.

Now the focus turns to selling the tax plan to local voters from the 10 county metro Atlanta region.

Recent polling has put the chances of approval at roughly 50/50.

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said his fellow roundtable members will not back down from Tea Party and libertarian groups, which have already expressed strong opposition to the tax plan.

“As intense as they are about opposing, we are going to be as intense about trying to pass it because we’re all on the hook. Everybody stood up. And the people in front of you are not losers. Nobody’s going to give a year of their life to this process and be a loser,” said Reed.

But Reed and the roundtable did agree that some other pieces must fall into place.

Among those is the creation of a governance authority that can manage and possibly help fund all the separate transit systems in the region.

“Transit governance has to be in place before that vote takes place. That is key. I cannot stress that enough,” said Norcross Mayor and roundtable chairman Bucky Johnson.

What that governance authority will look like is anyone’s guess right now. Last month, Governor Deal created a special task force to address that. The goal is to ready legislation for when state lawmakers return to the Capitol in January.