Bike Share Launch Recap Video

The Cumberland CID launched a new bike share station at the Galleria Gardens last week. The station will become the 7th bike station in the Cumberland Bike Share.

Cumberland CID Project Updates

The Akers Mill Ramp

The Akers Mill Ramp is slated to begin construction later this year. With the funding for the $44.2 million project complete, the ramp will finish the I-75 NW Express Lanes, one of the most successful infrastructure projects in Georgia’s history. The ramp is scheduled to be open to the public in 2023 providing direct, safe access for more than 100,000 daily commuters.

Pictured above: Akers Mill Ramp

Cumberland Multi-Modal Path

A path connecting the community to Cumberland’s rich assets is underway.  The Cumberland Multi-Modal Path, a 3-mile path that will be Cobb’s version of the Atlanta Beltline. The $25 million path will connect to unrivaled cultural, retail, natural, hospitality, and performance venues in ways that exponentially increase the human experience and financial value of the district. The goal is to improve connectivity throughout the core of the district offering pedestrians and cyclists enhanced mobility options with the ultimate goal of adding an autonomous shuttle making travel even easier around the district. The path also will help build additional character in Cumberland increasing enjoyment for those that work, live and visit.

Pictured above: Renderings of the Cumberland Multi-modal Path

Paces Mill/Palisades Rehabilitation

A project that started in 2017 and gained momentum in 2020 is the Paces Mill/Palisades Rehabilitation. In July 2020, the Cumberland CID reached a key milestone in plans to help rehabilitate the Paces Mill/Palisades Unit of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area (CRNRA) by receiving project approval from the National Park Service. Built in the 1970s, the park unit is a popular destination for people participating in recreational boating, fishing, picnicking, jogging, biking and walking activities.

The total $14 million renovation will feature the following at the Paces Mill/Palisades Unit:

• A more national park-like visitor experience that realigns the entrance road and repositions the central open meadow and the main parking area.
• Improved vehicular circulation at both boat ramps allowing cars and trucks with boat trailers to circulate more easily.
• Increased river access with new river-viewing platforms and a wide set of river steps.
• An enhanced and expanded picnic area.
• Upgrades to the existing trail system to minimize conflicts with vehicular traffic inside the park.
• A series of bioswales to filter stormwater runoff before it enters the river.
• A new, expanded visitor contact station.

The Paces Mill/Palisades Rehabilitation is scheduled for construction in 2023.

Paces Mill/Palisades Rehabilitation Continued:

The Visitor Contact Station will sit in the center of the Park and is proposed as a cluster of three structures:

• An open-air pavilion that functions as a central gathering space with information and interpretative signage about the NRA and the connecting Cumberland CID trails.
• The other two buildings will provide individual restroom and changing room facilities.

The architecture is contemporary with a National Park Service style and feel. Made of durable materials, it will be long lasting and easily maintained.

Pictured above: Rendering for the Visitor Contact Station

River Overlooks / River Steps

Pictured above: Examples for Paces Mill/Palisades Rehabilitation.

Bob Callan Trail

The Cumberland CID continues to invest in the Cumberland Trail Network. Altogether, Cumberland’s Trail Network is part of a 60-mile network of completed or planned trails. In 2019, the Cumberland CID opened a 1-mile extension of the Bob Callan Trail. Today, the Cumberland CID and Cobb County are working to extend the Bob Callan Trail again. From its northernmost access point at Interstate North Parkway to Windy Hill Road with a new trailhead proposed at Windy Hill Road (see renderings). Cobb County’s Windy Hill/Terrell Mill Connector at Bentley Road project to the north will connect seamlessly into the Bob Callan Trail once both are complete.  Construction for the extension of the Bob Callan Trail and Trailhead are scheduled for late 2022 with an estimated investment of $3.2 million.

Pictured above: Renderings for the new Bob Callan Trailhead

Cumberland Trails

The Cumberland CID launched a new website (cumberlandtrails.org) dedicated to the Cumberland Trail Network. The purpose of the website is to provide the public with information on where and how to access Cumberland’s trails. Created with the user experience in mind, the site includes many features to help users quickly and easily find information about Cumberland’s trails.

The following features are included for each trail:

• A custom Google map for navigation
• A downloadable map to print for navigation
• Mileage information
• Parking information for each trail

The Cumberland Trails Network contains over 38 miles of trails and connects visitors and residents to Cumberland’s vibrant core area, including The Battery Atlanta, Truist Park, Cobb Galleria Centre, Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre and more.

Cumberland Bike Share

The Cumberland and Town Center CIDs were excited to announce new bike share programs in partnership with Tandem Mobility last year. The CIDs’ previous bike share provider shuttered operations in May. Before May, the Cumberland Bike Share had nearly 2,700 users enjoying 6,000 trips in Cumberland alone.

The new program offers technology that improves the user experience for renters. Bike share members can rent and return a bike from either program’s stations. The previous system allowed riders to rent and return bikes to only one program’s stations. Now, riders can use the programs interchangeably, with access to 80 bikes at 12 stations. Users of the new program ride for free for the first hour. After that, it is $3 per hour with a $24 per day maximum.

As spring and summer approach, the Cumberland CID expects more users to take advantage of this community investment as the Cumberland Bike Share helps make Cumberland more attractive, more accessible, and more connected.

The Cumberland and Town Center CIDs look forward to releasing more announcements in the future regarding Cobb’s bike share programs. To find out more about station locations, visit Cumberland (https://www.tandem-mobility.com/cumberland) and Town Center’s bike share page (https://www.tandem-mobility.com/town-center). To rent a bike, download the Movatic app on your smartphone and follow the registration guide.

 

 

A Conversation with Walt Ray on the Chattahoochee RiverLands Study

Q&A with Commissioner Bob Ott 

 

 

Commissioner Bob Ott talks about his tenure in office and the changes Cumberland has seen over the years.

John Shern on Cobb County SPLOST

 

Q&A with Cobb Chamber COO & Executive Director of SelectCobb Dana Johnson

 

Watch Cobb Chamber COO & Executive Director of SelectCobb talks about the workforce and business climate in the Cumberland region.

Q&A with Cobb Chamber President & CEO Sharon Mason on COVID-19

What are some of the common struggles businesses and companies are experiencing during this time?

The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted many businesses across numerous industries in Cobb, our state, country and world. From the onset of the crisis, small business owners, non-profits and corporate executives have faced lost revenue and the challenge of keeping their lights on. Some businesses have had to adopt new protocol, lay off workers, reduce expenses, work through supply chain challenges, and market themselves in new ways overnight. Now as businesses prepare to reopen, leaders are working to locate thermometers and source PPE, and reconfiguring their work spaces to promote social distancing while welcoming customers and employees. I have seen businesses take a variety of approaches to keeping their employees paid and try to stay in business.

Despite facing such uncertainty and daily challenges, I have been so proud of our community. I have seen leaders stepping up to work together for innovative solutions and new ways to keep people working, to keep serving clients, and to help our neighbors who need it most.

How will the Cobb Chamber Economic Recovery Taskforce help the community and businesses in Cobb County?

Starting with the early days of the crisis, we have continued to hear from businesses about how devastating this has been for them. That is why our 2020 Chamber Chairman John Loud of LOUD Security Systems, our Chair-Elect Britt Fleck of Georgia Power, and I created our Economic Recovery Taskforce to work on both short-term and long-term solutions for rebuilding our economy. The taskforce is comprised of community leaders and business leaders across all sizes and industries especially those most impacted. We have been meeting weekly since this started in March to develop strategic approaches to help businesses move toward recovery.

The taskforce has been instrumental in many initiatives including launching and implementing our weekly business recovery webinars for the last six weeks, gathering input from all types of businesses to determine support needed, finding resources that help businesses navigate handling this crisis, championing advocacy needs for businesses especially for loans and grants, and developing the reopening guidelines to help businesses prepare to safely reopen.

What guidelines and safety precautions should businesses consider before returning to work?

Our Economic Recovery Taskforce has outlined guidelines in partnership with Cobb Douglas Public Health. The guidelines cover how to prepare and protect your work space and your employees, how to protect customers, and how to mitigate the spread of the virus.

The guidelines take into consideration daily health tests, sanitization, reconfiguring the workspace to allow for social distancing, and a number of other recommendations on how their space could be reimagined to be as safe as possible for employees and visitors.These guidelines along with other reopening resources can be found at https://covidsupport.cobbchamber.org/reopening-guidelines.

How quickly do you think the Cobb County and regional economy will recover? What should businesses expect?

While it is uncertain how long the recovery will take, our SelectCobb team have seen a significant increase in companies looking to relocate to Cobb and our region specifically during the COVID-19 crisis. This is a very positive sign for our recovery. With the crisis impacting companies financially across the globe, many are reconsidering where they can most effectively do business. Georgia has been named by Site Selector Magazine as the number one state to do business seven years in a row due to many factors such as low taxes, low cost of living and our pro-business environment. Cobb has been intentional to be a top place for businesses across industries and have set the stage for continued growth. Having these new companies relocate to Cobb and Georgia will boost our economy.

Also, with businesses starting to open back up, this will help rebuild our economy and that’s why our economic recovery taskforce worked with Cobb & Douglas Public Health to develop the reopening guidelines to mitigate the continued spread of the virus. It will be important that as businesses open back up, that we all support and buy from our local businesses to help them recover.

What are some of the resources that businesses/companies can take advantage of during COVID-19?

The Cobb Chamber has been focused on providing resources, advocacy and support through every step of this crisis. To provide timely resources to businesses and our community, we worked with DynamiX to develop a one-stop resources page at https://covidsupport.cobbchamber.org/. This is update daily with information on the federal stimulus package and other financial resources, business recovery resources, helpful webinars and virtual events, links to job opportunities, reopening guidance, and resources from many partners.

The Chamber also launched Cobb Shops To Go, https://www.facebook.com/CobbShopsToGo/, giving restaurants and retailers a platform on Facebook to promote their deals and broaden their social media audience and reach.

And, the Chamber continues to provide virtual programming that our business community needs now more than ever. We’ve brought together voices from various industries to share insight into financial recovery, marketing, reopening plans, rewriting business plans, and all aspects of leadership. Our signature monthly event series, Marquee Monday, is taking a virtual format this month. On May 11, our Chairman John Loud is interviewing the top executives from Atlanta’s professional sports teams – the Atlanta Braves, the Atlanta Hawks, the Atlanta Falcons, and Atlanta United – to give us all a boost and a collective rally cry for businesses around the region. All of these programs are free for all to attend and you can register at https://www.cobbchamber.org/calendars/chamber-calendar.aspx?OE=True.

How can business or individuals help the community during this time?

As our community moves toward recovery, there are more ways to help local businesses and non-profits. If you’re missing your favorite restaurants, shops, and other service providers, check in with them by phone or social media to determine how to best support them whether in person, to-go orders, or purchasing gift cards to use later.

There are several community funds that support important initiatives that you can support including Operation Meal Plan, Cobb COVID-19 Community Response Fund, and other funds set up to support our schools, healthcare and more.

Operation Meal Plan is a partnership between the Cobb Chamber, Cobb Community Foundation and the Center for Family Resources to keep restaurants afloat while sourcing meals to non-profits providing hunger relief. Businesses and community members can donate to a fund to support the program. To date, Operation Meal Plan has served more than 11,000 meals by 21 participating restaurants to 23 non-profits. The need for this program is growing, so donations are appreciated. You can learn more at https://covidsupport.cobbchamber.org/operation-meal-plan.

The Cobb Community Foundation has also established the Cobb COVID-19 Community Response Fund as a vehicle to support non-profit organizations serving Cobb as they respond to the spread of the novel coronavirus. Contributions to this fund will be distributed swiftly as needs arise. CCF has intentionally established this fund with flexibility in mind to ensure that these resources may support communities as conditions, circumstances, and needs change throughout this crisis.

For more details on supporting our non-profits, schools, healthcare and more: https://covidsupport.cobbchamber.org/covid-19-resources.

What general advice would you give small businesses and companies during this time?

Please know that the Cobb Chamber will continue to be here for you and to help this community overcome. I encourage you to take advantage of the resources we have, lean on the network you have or can create through involvement with the Cobb Chamber, and look for ways to help others.

by Tim Matthews, MMIP Manager – Georgia Department of Transportation

Commuters in Georgia are probably familiar with managed lanes. From hot lanes to toll lanes to express lanes, all are part of the Georgia Department of Transportation’s (GDOT) Major Mobility Investment Program (MMIP). The MMIP, created in 2015 by the Transportation Funding Act passed by the Georgia General Assembly, is an $11 billion initiative, focused on improving statewide mobility and building a connected transportation network. As the program manager at GDOT, I have the incredible opportunity to work with the MMIP to help solve some of Georgia’s biggest transportation infrastructure challenges.

Under the MMIP network is Georgia’s express lanes initiative. First derived from the concept of managed lanes, an express lane is a paid option for a commuter or transit customer to bypass congestion for a free-flowing commute. Today, the MMIP includes five express lane projects, one of which is part of the hugely successful I-75 Northwest Corridor.

In the I-75 Northwest Corridor Express Lanes’ first year alone, the corridor has seen a one hour reduction in rush hour commutes and more than seven million commuters. Additionally, those express lanes are 20% faster than the general purpose lanes during peak travel times and speeds in the general purpose lanes are up to 20 mph faster than before the express lanes opened.

Because of this demonstrated success, we couldn’t be more excited about the I-285 Top End Express Lanes project. These new express lanes will feature the first dedicated travel lanes for commuters with the overall goal to improve mobility along the northern portion of I-285, one of the most heavily-traveled and congested interstate highways in the nation.

This project is broken down into two parts: I-285 Top End West Express Lanes and I-285 Top End East Express Lanes. The east portion of the top end lanes will start construction in 2023 and will be open to commuters in 2028 while the western portion will begin construction in 2026 and will open to commuters in 2032.

For Cumberland, the I-285 Top-End Express Lanes will open many opportunities for the region by giving commuters another travel option along with the experience of faster, easier travel. New transit prospects for commuters may also be revealed as bus services achieve more reliable travel times.

At GDOT, we will continue to work to boost Georgia’s competitiveness via transportation and help deliver a transit network focused on innovation, safety, sustainability and mobility. While this task may not be easy, we are committed to our goals. We can’t wait to see what the future holds for transportation in Georgia.

 

Tim Matthews is a registered professional engineer and has almost 18 years of experience in the highway industry including Roadway Engineering and Program/Project Management.

For more information on the MMIP visit their website at majormobilityga.com.