DeKalb County is the fourth largest county in the 10-County metro Atlanta region. With close to 700,000 residents, you can imagine the headache that comes along with the morning and evening commutes. For over 30 years, DeKalb County board members and its denizens have voiced their assenting position for a MARTA rail system expanding along I-20 East Corridor. Unfortunately, it seems those cries have fallen on ears that refuse to listen and pens that refuse to compose a referendum encompassing the much need construction of a South DeKalb rail line.
According to www.rally4railnow.com, the benefits are great: traffic congestion will be reduced, businesses can expand to South DeKalb, carbon emissions are diminished and air quality will improve, less time sitting in traffic yields more time spent with one’s family, and more money can go into bank accounts rather than gas tanks and car maintenance. With the economic, health, and personal benefits, how can one not be a proponent for the proposed rail system? It’s unfair that while DeKalb County has contributed billions of dollars into the funding of the MARTA system over the last 39 years, the July 31st transportation referendum is not only seeking to hike the sales tax an extra penny, but it also neglects to address the looming need for the rail system that the county has rallied for for so long.
A Park & Ride at Stonecrest and Panola Rd are not enough to scale back the rising traffic congestion in South DeKalb. Think long and hard about the proposed transportation referendum before voting on July 31st. Yes, the referendum proposes $556.8 million to fund other transportation projects, but how long will we allow the scraps to placate us when we really deserve the full meal?
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