Re: [at-l] Pedestrian Deaths (not really trail related)

["W F Thorneloe, MD" <thornel@ibm.net>]

Actually, I could care less what folks in East Cobb think about the mess of 
politicians and their bridges. Only a fool would spend that kind of money 
to live in East Cobb and not investigate transportation. Once again, we 
prove there are a lot of fools, even in the upper socioeconomic brackets.

BTW, we do have walk paths in Atlanta. For instance, the Silver Comet Trail 
is a 15 foot wide park from near my home and eventually will reach 
Birmingham. It is paved. It has at most a 1.5% grade. It is well used. 
There are more coming.

Yet today's paper shows a park in Kennesaw (NW Cobb) got sold to a former 
county commissioner, rezoned to industrial, and the park is now in 
development to the profit of a few politicians. Fulton and Atlanta have no 
monopoly on corrupt and short sighted politicians.

What will be interesting is the effect of GRTA (Georgia Regional Transit 
Authority), a new agency our new Governor created. This is a super-agency 
that will take local politics and politicians out of transit and some 
developmental planning. There will be hell to pay when subways pop up in 
our back yards, and locals have no input, but that is the only way we will 
get our pollution and sprawl under control. If you think the conflict over 
Saddleback was interesting, wait until folks in Georgia really understand 
what GRTA will do, and later when they realize the benefits. It may make 
Rudy Guliani (sp?) look like a conservative Republican.

OrangeBug
Atlanta, GA

At 10:46 AM 9/13/1999 -0400, David  F. Addleton wrote:
>As I said, pedestrians get the raw end of the deal when politicians talk
>about "transporation" issues. I would imagine OrangeBug, who lives in Cobb
>county, could have some nasty things to say about Fulton county's dragging
>their feet on widening Johnson's Ferry Road which narrows to two lanes from
>four, after crossing the river from Cobb. I live across the river in Fulton
>county, where most residents resent Cobb county's refusing to join the mass
>transit club, and where people aren't interested in paving its land for the
>convenience of people who will not compromise on mass transit. But those
>arguments, which attract much local press attention, do not address the
>lonely pedestrian, who has no representation, it seems, in political
>circles People here seem more interested in punishing drivers who use cell
>phones than considering the value of sidewalks for pedestrian safety.

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