Cobb Commission Chairman Tim Lee has hitched his caboose to light rail, calling it “a good idea” for Cobb County's future.

At a meeting of the Smyrna Rotary Club on Tuesday, Lee outlined his support for the 12.8-mile, $857 million light-rail project that would connect the Cumberland-Galleria area to MARTA’s Arts Center Station in Midtown. The proposed light-rail line made it onto the Atlanta Regional Transportation Roundtable executive committee’s master list of transportation projects last month. The list will be finalized by an executive committee vote Oct. 15.

Lee explained that connecting the Cumberland-Galleria area to Midtown opens transportation gateways for what he considers to be the future of Cobb County: the U.S. 41/Interstate 75 corridor between the Cumberland area and Kennesaw State University.

“So I’m in a position now here in 2011 that if we were to go forward with this as we’re currently projected, we could have light rail within eight years from the Arts Station to Cumberland and light rail to the Kennesaw State University campus and beyond in 15 years,” he said. “Way ahead of what I think population growth will eventually occur and be ready with the infrastructure in place.”

The chairman said that to stay competitive with such Southeastern markets as Raleigh and Tampa, Cobb has to address its transportation issues.

“If you look at KSU, Acworth, Smyrna, Marietta, and all the cities and jobs located up and down the corridor, it only makes sense that transportation options be available to them as we develop that corridor over the next 20 years,” Lee said. “So I recommended that we look at putting in transportation, and it’s something that’s been talked about for 10 years. It’s not a new idea.”

Some have suggested that a light-rail line stretching along the northern arc of I-285 from Cumberland-Galleria to Perimeter Mall would be more beneficial to Cobb commuters. But Lee said that is not a viable option because of the criteria set by the Georgia General Assembly.

“To address the problem from Cumberland to Perimeter and Perimeter to Cumberland, it has not moved along enough to be delivered in 10 years, which by the way is another criteria,” he said. “You couldn’t be on the list unless you were deliverable at least 80 percent within the 10 years of the tax period. So that project got set aside, although it is a big problem.”

Lee said Cobb residents will generate about $1.086 billion in TSPLOST revenue and receive about $984 million for transportation improvements in the county. Cobb commuters also will benefit from $839 million worth of improvements to infrastructure outside Cobb on I-20, I-285 and Ga. 400.

“So now we’re up to $1.6 billion in direct benefit to Cobb homeowners ... from a $1.086 billion investment,” he said. “Plus, on top of that, we get 15 percent of all the money back directly to us. So when I said we get another $132 million to spend as we want, now our investment is $1.7 billion on a $1 billion investment. So if we approve this tax, the way it stands on the current project list, we will have invested $1.086 billion, and we’ll get a return of $1.7 billion in projects. Pretty good return on investment in 10 years.”

For every dollar spent on transportation improvements, Lee added, there is a $4 return in economic development. Lee estimated that the $1.086 billion in projects would yield $4.5 billion in economic development.

As you can see from Tuesday night’s transportation forum at Walton High School, not everyone is as enthusiastic about Cobb’s transportation future.