Traffic stats make case for rail line to new Braves stadium – Atlanta Business Chronicle

Interstate 75 in the area of the stadium site already carries more traffic than the Downtown Connector during the afternoon rush, the period leading up to the start of most Braves home games, according to figures compiled by the Georgia Department of Transportation.

For example, the average hourly traffic volume on northbound I-75 between Windy Hill Road and Delk Road in August was 10,236 vehicles during the period covering 2010 through 2013.

Southbound, the same stretch of I-75 carried an average of 8,215 vehicles per hour during the afternoon peak.

When the stadium project was announced this week, Cobb County Commission Chairman Tim Lee said a series of planned transportation improvements in the Cumberland-Galleria area would be enough to accommodate the additional traffic I-75 would pick up from the Connector for Braves games.

But what is really needed is a passenger rail line, said Gordon Kenna, CEO of Georgians for Passenger Rail.

“There’s already a pretty strong case for rail,” Kenna said, referring to the stretch of I-75 in southern Cobb County that he called the most congested highway in the Southeast. “This just reinforces that.”

via Traffic stats make case for rail line to new Braves stadium – Atlanta Business Chronicle.