A $59B plan to ease metro Atlantans’ transportation pain | www.myajc.com

The newest blueprint for helping to unsnarl metro Atlanta’s traffic problems includes nearly $59 billion worth of transportation projects over the next 26 years, a sum so huge it could finance a new Falcon’s stadium 49 times over.

Three-quarters of that money will go toward maintaining the existing roads, bridges and transit systems, but a fourth — about $15 billion — will bankroll projects aimed at relieving traffic congestion and providing alternatives to commuting by car. The public can go to www.atlantaregional.com/rtpupdate to weigh in on the plan.

Transportation planners acknowledge that a $15 billion investment won’t be enough to keep pace with the expected increase in traffic congestion. The average commuter’s time spent stuck in traffic is expected to worsen as the predicted 3 million people and 1.3 million jobs take root in metro Atlanta by 2040, according to the Atlanta Regional Commission.

“The best thing that happened to congestion in the past five years was the economic collapse,” said David Haynes, a senior planner at the ARC.

“That’s not a good way to solve it,” he hastened to add.

The average yearly cost of congestion is $1,860 in wasted fuel and work hours. By 2040, that is expected to more than double to $3,900.

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