Wednesday, May 16, 2012
© Copyright 2013
Rockdale Citizen
CONYERS -- Rockdale residents will have an opportunity to speak with local elected officials about the upcoming Regional Transportation Referendum on the ballot July 31.
The Atlanta Regional Commission is sponsoring Wireside Chats June 4-7 and June 13-14 to give residents a chance to ask questions about the projects on the TSPLOST list and follow along using a regional map.
Rockdale's Wireside Chat will take place on June 7, starting at 7:30 p.m. Rockdale County Commission Chairman Richard Oden and Conyers Mayor Randy Mills will take calls and answer residents' questions for about an hour.
Residents should register for the chats in advance in order to receive materials they can refer to during the call. Participation in the call is free.
According to Jim Jaquish with the ARC, residents who preregister and want to participate in the call will be asked to leave a phone number where they can be reached during the call period. ARC staff members will call the residents, who can then listen in as questions are asked. Those who want to ask a question will be able to signal an ARC call screener by pushing a button on their phone, Jaquish said.
"If you are on the phone, you hear everybody's questions and the responses to everybody's questions," Jaquish said.
Residents' whose questions are not answered during the call will receive an email response or a follow-up phone call, according to Jaquish.
Oden and Mills will be at the ARC offices in Atlanta and will be able to see the incoming questions on a computer screen. This will allow them to avoid answering the same question multiple times.
The first 15 minutes of the call will focus on comments from Oden and Mills about the referendum and the projects to be included in Rockdale County.
To register to participate in the call, residents can go to www.wiresidechats.com or call 404-463-3227.
Jaquish said there will be 12 different Wireside Chats in different areas of the region during the first two weeks in June. Residents may participate in as many chats as they want.
More like this story
- Officials invite public to transportation town hall ( June 17, 2011 )
- Protest against T-SPLOST planned ( July 5, 2012 )
- Voters to answer regional sales tax question on July 31 ( June 4, 2012 )
- Chamber hears Oden on T-SPLOST ( July 1, 2011 )
- Region leaders seek unity on transportation ( December 1, 2010 )
Comments
EarlyBird 1 year, 1 month ago
The only chat we need should be geared toward persuading voters to vote NO to tsplost.
Rob 1 year, 1 month ago
Man, you stole my comment! LOL. That's exactly what I came here to say.
ClaytonBigsby 1 year, 1 month ago
Tons of frivolous waste like the "Beltline", but I'm in the road construction business, so I'm going to have to vote for it.
sls 1 year, 1 month ago
Another tax, I learned a lesson a few years ago to vote no for splost. They told us "we wont increase homeowners taxes for the schools if the splost is approved". It was approved I voted yes. What happened next? We got a storm water utility bill. Just another tax under a different cover. To quote Herman Cain. "They think we are stupid" If folks like this sales tax why not do a fair tax. A point of sale tax but no payroll deduction. I'd like to keep my entire check. www.fairtax.org>
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Clark 1 year, 1 month ago
I guess you people really want to see Rockdale die don't you? The T-SPLOST may have too much road construction, and may not be perfect, but unless we enact it now, the transit plans that ARE in there will have to wait for years more. Rockdale and the entire Metro area can't afford to vote no!
Rob 1 year, 1 month ago
You do realize there is ZERO benefit to Rockdale County in this plan? Big government projects are simply never the answer!
wayne 1 year, 1 month ago
Usually they are the question
Clark 1 year, 1 month ago
So I guess the Sigman road widening, Flat shoals road widening, Commerce Crossing bridge, Sigman Road extension and I-20 east corridor don't benefit Rockdale County at all? I admit the construction will probably be a tad inconvenient while it's taking place, but ZERO benefit?
wayne 1 year, 1 month ago
Do you think the DOT will quit letting projects if this bill doesn't pass? We will still have road costruction (state & federal), just not what the politicians are trying to push down our throat. If they take Rockdale out of the equation, I'll be all for it. Rockdale is the 2nd smallest county in the state. We should be grouped with Walton, Newton & Jasper. The bigger counties will reap all the benefits and we'll have a bus station at the Sigman and Salem Road exits. Dunwwod and Sandy Springs aren't Rockdale. They started out Atlanta and have been and always will be more influential than Rockdale.
INJUSTICE_FOR_ALL 1 year, 1 month ago
VOTE NO YOU PEOPLE!!!!!! Clark ,Rockdale has issues but MARTA,AND T-SPLOST will not fix them,just make it worst. To hell with the metro area. I worry about where i live,ROCKDALE.. IT's a bad investment of our taxes. WHERE'S ZO AT? Cant wait to here why its racist not to vote yes.LOL
Clark 1 year, 1 month ago
Why will they make them worse? Care to show us any evidence, or just keep saying that we don't need them because we don't need them?
Rob 1 year, 1 month ago
These idiots don't even have the courage to face the voters face to face. More government waste, only this time they want us to willingly fund it! Nah, no thanks!
CitizenPat 1 year, 1 month ago
It appears that most of the changes would add more traffic to Rockdale streets and yet no arrangements or funds are being set aside to assist the Emergency Service staff that will be required to absorb the increase. How about the additional impact on the Hospital from the increased number of auto accidents? And let's not forget the noise and air pollution too. Bad idea; we should be looking at ways to better handle the current traffic flow and repair the roads within the county. Also, putting reflectors on all the raised dividers in the middle of two lane highways so you can visualize even in the rain.
wayne 1 year, 1 month ago
A M E N
Clark 1 year, 1 month ago
The only way that could work is if you did something like London does and charge people a congestion-mitigation fee to travel on Rockdale's roads. The traffic is there already and there's very little we can do other than widen the roads and make them safer by installing proper intersections and control devices. Unlike I-20 where large-scale rapid transit can make a massive impact vs. adding lanes, the local roads will never have the luxury of using mass transit to help with congestion.
wayne 1 year, 1 month ago
What if we did something like Barcelona?
AJK 1 year, 1 month ago
If T-SPLOST passes, the Georgia DOT (GDOT) will be in control of the funds.
Isn't GDOT responsible for the GA 400 and I-85 intersection were 7 lanes of traffic squeezes into 4?
Wasn't GDOT responsible for the GA 400 toll booths that were supposed to go away 10 years ago when the construction of 400 was paid for, but are still there because the state "needs the money"?
Wasn't GDOT responsible for the colossal mess on I-85 when they opened the "HOT" lanes?
Wasn't GDOT responsible for the idea of using the emergency lanes on GA 400 as travel lanes, and the mess the implementation created?
Isn't GDOT responsible for the GA 138 intersection with I-20 and Dogwood Drive?
I know past performance is not indicative of future future performance, but with a history like GDOT's, I'm not willing to invest in them.
I know we need a better transportation plan, but this isn't it. I'm voting NO on T-SPLOST.
AJK 1 year, 1 month ago
Trying to remember something GDOT did right.....oh yea, they're responsible for the HERO units....that have turned into traveling billboards for State Farm.
pootette 1 year, 1 month ago
"Wasn't GDOT responsible for the GA 400 toll booths that were supposed to go away 10 years ago when the construction of 400 was paid for, but are still there because the state "needs the money"? "
No. That was the SRTA - the "toll people" (State Road & Tollway Authority) who made this decision.
AJK 1 year, 1 month ago
Thank you. I stand corrected.
pootette 1 year, 1 month ago
SRTA was also responsible for the I-85 HOT lanes as well.
AJK 1 year, 1 month ago
Thank you again. I'm not as young as I used to be, and my memory isn't as sharp as it used to be either.
Clark 1 year, 1 month ago
Not only wasn't GDOT completely responsible for those, but most of those weren't built with funds from a SPLOST which have completely different sets of laws and regulations from these other funding sources. You say we need a better transportation plan, well where is it and when can we vote to implement it? Something less than perfect now, is a LOT better than nothing! Vote YES to the T-SPLOST!
INJUSTICE_FOR_ALL 1 year, 1 month ago
JUST SAY NO . SPEAK UP OR SHUT-UP! HAVE a great weekend, (tip) stay off 138 .
Clark 1 year, 1 month ago
Say no, and get more and more mired in the same congestion that those in power have been unwilling to change until now. Vote YES for a better Rockdale and Metro Atlanta!
AWOL 1 year, 1 month ago
I dont know much about this tsplost and do not care. I am voting no for all tax increases. These cats have too much of my money already. Good money after bad is a bad idea. If they need money for roads, crack down on EBT card abuse and use what is left over from that. Stop advertizing for welfare on the radio and take away government phones. STOP WASTING OUR MONEY!!!! I do not trust you with my money and will always vote no. I do not trust you to keep your promises. Stop asking for our money and use what you are already taking from us by force!!!!
steve 1 year ago
i have lived in this area over 50 years and i am going to vote no july 31 because it is just like religion they are in it to make money it is not that they care about us at all. and rockdale county will not die if we do not pave sigman road again . fix the roads that need to be fixed it is not the tax payers job to keep these paving contractors in business.if they have to rely on the government for jobs that is almost welfare checks to all their workers
Tony 1 year ago
I moved to Rockdale County about 24 years ago to get futher away from Atlanta. I sure can't see paying an additional tax to see the Atlanta crowd dictate to us what we can and cannot do in Rockdale. This additional tax will not untie the congestion of our roads. Most of the money will be going to fund Mass transit, which I don't even use.
I for one DO NOT want to see marta buses running on the streets of Rockdale County. They claim this additional tax will only be for 10 years. That's a false statement and the politicans know it. I'm voting NO on this, and most of the people I've spoken with feel the same way.
Clark 1 year ago
MARTA buses are not in the plans, technically rail to Rockdale isn't in the T-SPLOST plans either, but rail service to Stonecrest is being planned, and it's only 1.8 miles from Stonecrest to that vacant lot off of Sigman road that MARTA could (and hopefully will) use one day. There's no magical solution to fixing the congestion around Metro Atlanta, but this is as big a help to the problems as we will see for years more. I'm sorry that you think that Rockdale is "far enough" from Atlanta and don't want to see it change, but it's going to change, and not for the better, if the T-SPLOST doesn't pass. It may not change for the better if it does pass, but any chance for good change, is better than no chance for good change.
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