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Vote “YES” for the T-SPLOST
Click on image to connect to Untie Atlanta webpage
On July 31, voters in metro Atlanta will decide whether to support a penny sales tax to fund $6.14 billion in critical road and transit projects over the next 10 years in Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry and Rockdale counties. These projects were selected by a roundtable of local officials including Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed. Fifteen percent of the funds raised will be allocated to local governments for discretionary use. For the City of Atlanta, this amounts to nearly $94 million. These funds will help move the Beltline project forward and complete long-delayed pedestrian improvements such as a gateway entrance at Metropolitan Parkway and Dill Avenue which is the selected location for the new South Fulton library.
Unlike the gasoline tax, T-SPLOST monies collected in the metro region will stay in the metro region. And the collected funds can only be spent on capital projects and cannot be used to shore up city, county or state general budgets. A “yes” vote on July 31 will help to untie Atlanta’s traffic knot, build the Beltline and bring much needed investment and jobs to our community.
There are a lot of projects that have the potential to have a positive impact on our neighborhoods in Southwest Atlanta. There is a massive interchange reconstruction project at I-285 West and I-20 West which would have impact to our communities and $600 million for the Beltline which will help build the SW Atlanta portion. Of the local projects, there are pedestrian improvements to Cleveland Avenue and Metropolitan Parkway, but the most meaningful project for Adair Park, Capitol View, Capitol View Manor, Pittsburgh, Sylvan Hills and other surrounding neighborhoods is the pedestrian gateway project at the intersection of Dill Avenue and Metropolitan Parkway which would coincide with construction of the new South Fulton library.
A full list of Metro Atlanta regional projects broken down by county and metro area is listed at www.untieatlanta.com.
-Opinion piece contributed by Crystal Paulk-Buchanan-
Crystal Paulk-Buchanan is a resident of Adair Park and can be contacted at byron_wilde@yahoo.com
