A Desire For Street Cars In Augusta
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A Desire For Street Cars In Augusta
A year-long study suggests Trolley cars could make it carrying passenger?s downtown, but could the cost derail the plan. WJBF News Channel 6's George Eskola has the story.
A year-long study suggests Trolley cars could make it carrying passenger’s downtown, but could the cost derail the plan. WJBF News Channel 6’s George Eskola has the story.
Published: October 22, 2009
Updated: October 22, 2009
Augusta, GA—A year-long study suggests Trolley cars could make it carrying passenger’s downtown, but could the cost derail the plan. WJBF News channel 6’s George Eskola has the story.
Augusta, GA—Buses run downtown, so should trolleys share these streets, tourism folks say it could help put Augusta on the map.
“It could be a nice addition to the visitor experience could create a nice ambience and it would be something we haven’t seen anywhere else in the state of Georgia,” said Barry White, President of the Augusta Convention & Visitors Bureau.
A year long study on the feasibility of trolleys in Augusta has been presented to the Downtown Development Authority.
The study considered a three mile route downtown crossing the 13th Street Bridge to link with North Augusta.
Consultants say it could work, helping to spur development; if the money was there to build it. But, trolley lines do not come cheap.
“Three point one miles would range any where from about $22 million to $30 million to build that entire alignment that came out of the report,” said Brian Plascik, Principal Transportation Planner for URS Corporation.
A lot of money, but supporters feel the costs should not put the brakes on pushing forward.
“It’s easy to sell the developers if developers see your making a commitment putting track down and investing money and they feel good about investing money in the community,” said Margaret Woodard, of the Downtown Development Authority.
Business owner “Bear” Shelton is an investor in Augusta. He is excited by the idea of street cars coming downtown, but the cost is a concern that could de-rail his support. “Using that much money it would be a hefty price to pay I don’t know as a businessman here in Augusta I don’t know if I’d be willing to pay that yet,” he said.
To read the feasibility study, click here. (Adobe Reader required)
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Reader Reactions
Just like all of Augusta’s projects, the costs are over inflated, too many people look for personal gain and all of the bickering.
Few people will be interested in riding the proposed street cars in Augusta. If you look at other cities that have street cars, it ends up primarily being used by tourist, not the general public.
Maybe Augusta should consider something a little more progressive, a mix of old and new. Has anyone looked into the possibility of a monorail system similar to other cities.
MONORAILS are proven, safe. As monorail is elevated, accidents with surface traffic are impossible. Zero accidents translates to no system down time, less liability suits and most importantly, NO INJURIES OR DEATHS. Street rail systems with grade crossings (light rail, trams or trollies) can’t offer this kind of safety unfortunately. MONORAILS are environment friendly. Since most are electrically powered, monorails are non-polluting. MONORAILS are cost effective. The Tokyo-Haneda Monorail has been operating since 1964. This eight-mile dual-beam system is privately owned and TURNS A PROFIT each year. The Seattle Center Monorail, built in 1962 for the Century 21 exposition, is run by a private corporation. In return for the concession to operate the 1.2-mile system, the corporation pays the city $75,000 every year. MONORAILS are popular with people / taxpayers. Voters have demonstrated their preference for monorail more than once. In Los Angeles, they voted five to one in favor of monorail in a referendum. LA transit officials ignored them and continued to build light rail and subways. In November of 1997, approximately 93,000 Seattle voters said yes to a grass roots-produced initiative for a 40-mile citywide monorail system.
Source: http://www.monorails.org/index.html
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