Photo by Laura Moon
Click to enlarge photos.By Talia Mollett
tmollett@mdjonline.com
MARIETTA - Mayor Bill Dunaway has enlisted the help of Sen. Johnny Isakson and Rep. Phil Gingrey to get the proposed trail between Kennesaw Mountain and the Chattahoochee River routed near the Marietta Square.
Dunaway said he asked Isakson (R-east Cobb) and Gingrey (R-Marietta) about a month ago to lobby CSX to allow the trail on its right-of-way.
"I was happy to make the call" to CSX on the mayor's behalf, Isakson said. "They said they would look at it and get back to me."
A spokesman for Gingrey confirmed that he, too, is working on the issue.
The 3.5-mile recreational trail is slated to begin at Tower Road and Roselane, near WellStar Kennestone Hospital, where it will pick up the Kennesaw Mountain trail.
From the North Loop, city leaders want to route the trail straight through the Historic Walk, where the Pullman dining car now sits. A New York man, Michael Thomas, bought the railcar for $425 on Oct. 29 via an Internet auction. Thomas is president of Spica Technologies in Nashua, N.H., not far from Boston.
"We've been contacting the people where the car is located and trying to make arrangements to move it, but we don't have any definite plans yet at this point," Thomas said Friday. Thomas said he owned a railroad company, but did not want to divulge his plans for the car.
Dunaway said the railcar is not an issue with the trail.
"The best route is to have it come down the Historic Walk past the railcar. The presence or absence of the railcar makes no difference," he said.
"We're already coming down the CSX right-of-way with the Historic Walk, and no one has said anything about safety for that. Now they have a concern for it? It doesn't make any sense, but when you're dealing with government, it never does," Dunaway said.
The city's Plan B is to route the trail along the outside of the Loop, near First United Methodist Church. The trail would jut back east nearly to the railroad tracks, either at Waverly Way or the South Loop.
"It's the best route. It's prettier and will be more advantageous. We'd like to have the trail come through the Square. The alternative route would be more expensive and less safe," Dunaway said.
From the loop, the trail continues south between West Atlanta Street and the tracks. Just past South Cobb Drive, it would connect with a county trail.
The trail is estimated to cost nearly $1 million per mile, or $3.4 million for the 3.5 mile trail. SPLOST revenues will cover $1.1 million, and grants from the Atlanta Regional Commission and the state transportation department will pay the $2.3 million balance, city leaders said.
If construction begins in fall 2010, as planned, the trail could be in use by summer 2011, said Dan Conn, the city's public works director.
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Posted Comments
I agree. major dumway does, indeed, need help...
Way to go Dumbaway, create more congestion near the Square. We really need THAT. You should retire to the old folks home already.
Dumaway, bicylers go 15 to 20 mph. Walkers on the historic walk go about 2 mph. It's both more likely and more dangerous to lose control and hit a train car at 15 to 20 mph than at 2 mph. We all know you're not the sharpest tool in Goldstein's shed, but come on. Even you know higher speed crashes are more dangerous. What is this apparent anti bicycler safety agenda of yours?
If Marietta is really so desperate for bicyclers, why did the Roswell St makeover not include any bicycle lanes? Why does no road in all of Marietta have a bicycle lane? 3rd world countries have better bicycle infrastructure than Marietta!