Lovejoy Commuter Rail Funds: Use it or Lose it

State Transportation Commissioner Harold Linnenkohl wants to spend $106 million in federal and state funds already on hand to build a 26-mile commuter rail line from Atlanta to Lovejoy, with stops in Forest Park, Morrow and Jonesboro. It is part of a planned line to Griffin that at one time was scheduled to be opened this year.

The federal funds set aside for the Lovejoy line can't be spent elsewhere, and officials have about three years to use the money or Georgia loses it. Read more...

Source: Horizons, ajc.com

The debate that rages over spending the allocated Atlanta-Lovejoy commuter rail funds centers on ridership. State government officials seem to be paranoid over the acceptance of a commuter rail by southside residents. The truth is, many current southside residents are lukewarm over the issue. However, to understand the ridership issue, you must foresee what a commuter rail station in Lovejoy would spawn. If you've been to Lovejoy, you know it's one of the most sparsely populated areas of southside. Therein lies the beauty of it. Lovejoy is wide open for a world-class transit village to be constructed around the commuter station. Build a mixed-use village with residential, retail, and business at appropriate densities with sufficient connectivity to the station and they will come and these urban pioneers will ride.

Of course a typical response is: "we don't want them to come." Well they're coming whether you like it or not. Atlanta's population is projected to increase by millions within the next couple of decades. Lovejoy is in close proximity to one of the fastest growing counties in the nation and certain to have it's share of the influx of these new citizens. I live in Hampton, a Henry County town just south of Lovejoy that is already starting to show signs of explosive growth.

Have we learned nothing from the northside growth? Einstein defined insanity as the expectation of different results without changing the way things are done in the first place. Citizens and government that think the southside can accomodate growth by simply building more roads should wake up and smell the coming cloud of car exhaust.

Transit-oriented development if allowed to be properly built around the commuter rail station will put the ridership question to rest. Atlantic Station is being touted as the model of city building for the future and rightly so, when you understand how quickly the residential component is selling. Density and accessibility to transit are two of the primary reasons for the early success. Why is it so difficult to overlay the concepts that are making Atlantic Station so warmly embraced onto a project like Lovejoy Commuter Rail and a resulting transit village? I'm sure there's a Jim Jacoby or Kim King who could envision and execute on such a project if the current constraints were removed by a cooperative and visionary government.

This project could live or die on Governor Perdue's decision. If you agree with the observations above, contact Gov. Perdue today and make it clear that the Atlanta-Lovejoy Commuter Rail should happen.