Clifton Community Partnership

Five Questions article:
Five Questions: Jason Morgan, MARTA planner leading Clifton Corridor Transit Initiative
May 24, 2010
Source: Community Partnership Update/June 2010

1. Can you explain the Clifton Corridor Transit Initiative?

The Clifton Corridor Transit Initiative was begun by MARTA in spring 2009. Our goal is to identify both short- and long-term transit improvement options for the area extending from the Lindbergh Center to the City of Decatur (including the CDC, Emory University, and the areas of LaVista, North Druid Hills and Clairmont roads, and the DeKalb Medical Center district).

The first step toward making the project eligible for various federal funding options is conducting an Alternative Analysis (AA) which involves evaluation of the best possible technologies (light rail/streetcar, bus rapid transit, express buses, or combinations of options) and alignments available to address the access and mobility limitations within the corridor. The AA will result in an alignment and technology that will be presented to the community and decision makers for critique. Eventually, a locally preferred alternative (LPA) will be presented to the MARTA and Clifton Corridor Transportation Management Association (CCTMA) boards and the Atlanta Regional Commission for adoption.

2. What is MARTA doing to make sure consensus for an approved alternative has been met?

We have convened a Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) which includes representatives from various agencies and local governments; they are responsible for helping make sure our analysis techniques are sound and logical. A Stakeholder Advisory Committee (SAC) was developed, which includes representatives from homeowners associations, institutions and appointees from the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners among others, to provide policy guidance. We also have a project website (www.itsmarta.com/Clifton-Corr.aspx) and a Clifton Corridor page on Facebook.

3. What major milestones have already been accomplished and which are outstanding?

In March, we completed a major round of discussions with the community and are in the process of developing alignment options. This will enable us to eliminate many alignments that don't meet the needs identified by the community during the initial phases of the project.

When this process is complete, we will have six build alternatives that we will further evaluate. This process will involve significant interaction with the Federal Transit Administration to ensure that our evaluation process makes sense and ridership and cost/benefits are properly assessed.

4. What are the next steps for this project?

A recommended alignment and technology must be adopted for this project. We are anticipating having this recommendation ready to present to MARTA and CCTMA boards by March 2011. The preferred alternative must then go through an environmental analysis which involves identifying all environmental and social impacts posed by the project and strategies for mitigating these impacts. The project must then go through preliminary engineering, design, and final design which can take up to four years.

The above are required steps to maintain eligibility for Federal funding, however MARTA will research other funding opportunities and will continue to work on developing and implementing shorter term solutions (bus route changes and bus stop coordination with CCTMA) to help prepare the corridor for the construction of the selected alternative.

5. What brought you into this role/position at MARTA?

I arrived at MARTA after working with the DeKalb County Planning and Development department for about one and a half years; before that I worked with consulting firms in Houston and the DC-Maryland area.