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Regional Success in Developing Local Transportation Visions
By Laura Keyes, AICP
In the State of Georgia, local jurisdictions are required to develop Comprehensive Land Use Plans with a transportation element. However, the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) recognized the need for counties in ARC’s 18-county transportation planning area with their respective municipalities, to develop a more comprehensive, stand alone transportation vision, which relates to adopted county land use plans. In 2005, ARC initiated the Comprehensive Transportation Plan (CTP) funding assistance program to encourage counties and their municipalities to develop a joint long-range transportation vision and plan to support local land use planning efforts or vice versa.
A key purpose of the program is for local jurisdictions to develop transportation projects and policy priorities to identify priority projects for the region’s Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) and Regional Transportation Plan (RTP). The CTPs also evaluate connections between local and regional land use and transportation. CTP elements include an inventory of existing conditions, a needs assessment analysis and report, final recommendations for projects and transportation and land use policy recommendations. The recommendations provide input in developing future regional plans.
One of ARC’s initial CTPs, the Coweta County CTP, is complete and the County is already implementing policies from the plan. Cherokee, Paulding, Cobb, Barrow, and Gwinnett will have CTPs completed and approved by their respective Boards of Commissioners by April 2008. Douglas, Newton and Clayton Counties and the City of Atlanta expect to complete and adopt CTPs in the summer and fall of 2008. These jurisdictions are initiating outreach with stakeholders and the public and collecting data to support early work efforts in the development of the plan. ARC’s has plans to initiate work on CTPs in Bartow, Fayette and Rockdale Counties in early March 2008. ARC’s 2008-2013 TIP includes funding for additional County CTPs through 2013.
ARC is encouraged at the level of work in project prioritization and the development of project recommendation lists. County elected officials are engaged in planning and supporting CTP recommendations and policies. Significant policy proposals in each CTP include attention to Access Management Plans, the freight network, bicycle and pedestrian facilities, transportation demand management, and Intelligent Transportation Systems.
ARC expects that CTP recommendations will continue to address connections between local and regional land use and transportation and consider the ability of recommendations to support local and regional land use and transportation plans.
CMP for AICP MEMBERS
AICP members can now log AICP credit for the 11/30/2007 & 02/29/2008 Planner’s Lunch. Also, if you attended the November Planner’s Lunch and requested CM credit please fill out this Evaulation Form (pdf). This information will allow us to put together programs that continue to meet your needs.
Find more on "How to Log Your AICP CM Credits", download the PDF Instructions.
PLANNER’S TOOLBOX –
Information on ARC’s CTP Funding Assistance Program:
http://www.atlantaregional.com
Links to Ongoing CTPs in the ARC Region:
ARC's Livable Centers Initiative (see District Highlight Article below):
http://www.atlantaregional.com
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March 11, 2008
Georgia Rides To The Capitol 2008, Atlanta, GA
for more info please visit their website at GeorgiaRidesToTheCapitol.org
March 13 – 14, 2008
Greenprints Sustainable Communities By Design, Atlanta, GA
for more info please visit their website at www.southface.org
March 31, 2008
7th Annual Parks and Greenspace Conference by Park Pride, Atlanta, GA
for more information please Download the PDF
April 3 – 6, 2008
CNU XVI: New Urbanism and the Booming Metropolis, Austin, TX
for more info please visit their website at www.cnuxvi.org
April 4, 2008
Southface – Sustainable Atlanta Roundtable, Atlanta, GA
for more info please visit their website at www.southface.org
April 14 – 15
Designing Streets for Pedestrians, Atlanta, GA
for more info please visit their website at www.peds.org
April 17 – 18, 2008
GPA Spring Conference, Atlanta, GA
for more information Download the Save the Date PDF
April 25 – 29, 2008
ACCG Annual Meeting, Savannah, GA
for more info please visit their website at www.accg.org
April 27 – May 1, 2008
APA National Convention, Las Vegas, NV
for more info please visit their website at www.planning.org
Visit the GPA Calendar of Events website page for a full listing... |
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District 3 – Improving Multi-modal Accessibility in Centers and Corridors
submitted by Rob LeBeau, AICP, District 3 Director
Examples from the Atlanta Regional Commission's Livable Centers Initiative
Town centers, activity centers and major corridors are vital to the Atlanta Region’s overall success. These areas are the traditional employment centers and shopping areas of the region, but have typically lacked a strong residential component. Additionally, these areas are mostly built-out with significant investments in the supporting infrastructure. However, many of the infrastructure improvements – particularly related to the road network built over the last 50 years - have focused primarily on the automobile. Even in our traditional town centers, more recent road improvements have focused on moving vehicles through these centers, with little attention to internal multi-modal circulation.
The Atlanta Regional Commission’s (ARC) Livable Centers Initiative (LCI) program encourages local jurisdictions to plan and implement strategies that link transportation improvements with land use development strategies to create sustainable, livable communities. Planning grants are provided to local governments to prepare plans for the enhancement of existing town centers, activity centers, and corridors taking advantage of the infrastructure and private investments committed in these communities and achieving more balanced regional development, reducing vehicle miles traveled and improving air quality. The primary goals of the program are to encourage mixed-use communities, with access to a range of travel modes, and developed using an outreach process that promotes the involvement of all stakeholders.
Since the inception of the program in 1999, 86 communities have completed LCI studies throughout the region. These communities are then eligible for transportation project funding to help implement their LCI plans. The first year of funding for LCI transportation projects was in 2003, and to date approximately $136 million has been programmed for the preliminary engineering, right-of-way acquisition, and construction of eighty-five projects in centers are corridors around the region. Over 80% of these projects focus on enhancing the pedestrian environment through new sidewalks, bike lanes, crosswalks, pedestrian lighting, street furniture, and landscaping. These elements are essential to supporting the land use mix and establishing a strong pedestrian environment that attempts to follow the concepts of both “complete streets” and “context sensitive solutions”.
Over 25 LCI funded transportation projects have been completed, are under construction, or have been authorized to go to construction. A few examples of these projects follow.
Chamblee
 The city of Chamblee completed an LCI study in 2000 for their MidCity district. This is the area surrounding a MARTA rail station and dominated by low-intensity industrial buildings. Since the completion of their study, this area has seen a tremendous amount of new residential development – primarily as apartments and condos –along with some supporting commercial services. Unfortunately the existing transportation infrastructure was severely lacking in pedestrian accommodations, including a MARTA station that was designed primarily for vehicular access. The transportation projects have focused on building new sidewalks with safe and clearly demarcated crosswalks to access the station.
Midtown
 Midtown Atlanta has traditionally had a strong office market, but has also recently seen a significant amount of new residential, retail, restaurant and other pedestrian supporting development. Peachtree Street is the primary artery in Midtown and contains a tremendous amount of automobile traffic. However, the pedestrian infrastructure was inadequate to support the increased focus on street front retail and residential developments along with the increases in pedestrian activities. Improvements are being made along the length of the Peachtree corridor to enhance the multi-modal character of the area – improvements include features such as wider sidewalks, street trees, and pedestrian lighting.
Decatur MARTA Plaza
 The City of Decatur was one of the first town centers to benefit from the movement of new residents and retail services back to the downtown market. In addition, Decatur benefits from a MARTA rail line running through the center of town. The Decatur MARTA station is built under the town square in the center of the downtown, but was often seen as creating an incongruous environment to the town center. The station improvements, and particularly the entrance, were re-designed to blend in with the existing building fabric creating an enhanced pedestrian environment that supports creating pedestrian circulation, stronger business environment, and sense of place.
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