Staff Writer
A year ago, Commissioner Andy Cheek shared his vision for turning Ellis Street into a canal and Augusta into a tourist mecca. That faded, and this year's remedy for downtown decay is a trolley.
Mr. Cheek couldn't muster enough votes on the Augusta Commission to pursue his dream via a feasibility study, but the Downtown Development Authority got the green light to go forward with a $37,000 trolley feasibility study, which Mr. Cheek called "a very clear-cut demonstration of the wisdom of the leadership of Augusta for looking into a trolley system that in every city that has one is subsidized from that city's general fund and ignoring a proven economic engine in the proposed Ellis Street option."
Mr. Cheek said the trolley will cost taxpayers as much as or more than the canal.
"Traffic Engineer Steve Cassell projected the cost of the Ellis Street project 10 years from now, and that made it look like it would cost $300 million instead of the $150 million ballpark figure we were looking at," he said. "This was done to make it look un-doable."
Mr. Cheek has continued to work on cleaning up the third level of the Augusta Canal and Aqueduct Park, which is what many folks say Augusta should improve as a tourist draw, rather than create a canal down Ellis Street.
Today, it's hard to find anyone else with a good word to say for the canal idea, and many, including Augusta real-estate broker Bernie Johnson, think a trolley is equally unrealistic.
"A canal is the craziest thing I've ever heard about," he said. "It would cost too much money to do. If they want to do something with the canal, let them improve the canal we already have."
And a trolley would be too expensive and "ridiculous," Mr. Johnson said.
"The taxpayers in this county are already getting crucified," he said. "We don't need a trolley. And we don't need a canal down Ellis Street."
Augusta resident Barbara Hale said a canal would be a waste of money.
"And to continue with this thing on a trolley?" she said, dismissing the idea. "When I was a child I used to ride on a trolley in Augusta. We needed it. We don't need it now."
Commissioner Joe Bowles said both projects are too expensive.
"If people need to get from the medical center to Broad Street, maybe they could walk and get a little exercise," he said. "After all, we're one of the fattest nations in the world."
Commissioner Jerry Brigham called the canal an "interesting proposal" but too impractical, and he's not a big fan of a trolley.
"I think that's going to be an expensive process," he said. "I don't see the funding coming. We can't seem to run our transit system. I'd rather see us improve service there. I don't know how a trolley is going to be paid for. It can't be paid for out of the general fund, and I don't see another revenue source."
Commissioner Calvin Holland agreed that a canal would be too expensive but thinks a trolley would enhance the city.
"I would prefer seeing the trolley because in other cities you go into, the transportation is much easier," he said. "It's much more conducive to the communities and much more conducive for the people in those different cities. So I'm more in favor of the trolleys right now, more so than that canal."
Reach Sylvia Cooper at (706) 823-3228 or sylvia.cooper@augustachronicle.com.
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING
"Personally, I think the trolley's got a better shot. There's a lot of information coming forth. There's studies being made, and from my perspective, the trolley's got a pretty good shot."
-- Augusta Commissioner J.R. Hatney
"I think the trolley would be a 100 percent blessing to Augusta. It would move people from one end to another. When we have problems with the parking and stuff, we can move them around with a trolley. And all the businesses will survive off of that, from building to building, from Broad Street to the hospital."
-- Coliseum Authority member Harry Moore
"I think the trolley idea is a good one. That idea about the canal running down Ellis Street was totally impractical, and how that didn't get shelved in five minutes, I don't know. I mean, that was just an idiotic idea. But the trolley idea, I think, might have some possibilities if you confine it to the local area."
-- Augusta attorney Paul Dunbar
"It's not a good financial move. Not at this time. Trolleys are beautiful, but how many people downtown would actually use a trolley? Maybe for a short time when the idea is new."
-- Coliseum Authority member Mildred McDaniel
"I don't like either one of them. It's too much money. We've got a whole lot more problems to face right now than whether we've got water or a trolley downtown."
-- Former Commissioner Roy Reardon
"I don't think a canal would work. Trolleys would probably be helpful if they ran on electricity, but a canal down Ellis Street -- I don't like that idea."
-- Langdon Atkins, retired chief probation officer for the Augusta Judicial Circuit
