>>1572659>I'm going to doubt that there's any environmental impact or technical issue that would prevent MARTA from turning a giant surface parking lot into an elevated rail station.That's not the only part that would be built though, in fact that's a minor part.
>And GDOT has gotten the land already to widen 400Yes, to widen Georgia 400. That doesn't mean it's easy or practical to forego the new lanes and plop rail down in the median. The legal and financial groundwork for that plan was probably laid down a decade ago and couldn't be applied to a new corridor with rail instead of toll lanes.
>Extending MARTA in place of the express lanes would absolutely have been a better choice.But toll lanes are an easy sell to politicians and the public: they will pay themselves off, but a rail expansion might never do so.
>I'm aware the politicians are utter idiotsThat's just how it is, there's not enough money for everything
>but the voters don't matterLol
>There was also never a referendum for the current highway project, so why should there be one for expanding MARTA?I don't know for certain but to expand Marta into a new county the county would need to join a new tax district or whatever, no such district was needed for the interchange rebuild or toll lanes. Another political advantage.
>Doesn't matter.Good luck with your political career!
>Assuming the interchange was actually necessaryYes, the bridges are nearing the ends of their useful lives and it will eliminate left hand entrances/exits.
>You could have still had MARTA going the 8 miles to Mansell>for just the express lanes pricePure speculation, without a serious technical study it's impossible to say. I'd bet north of 2 billion easily
