In the not-too-distant future

there will be over two million more people living and working in the 13

county Atlanta area.

Periods of traffic congestion

could last anywhere from one to six hours, even after a nearly $40 billion

dollar investment in new transportation projects.

Facing these alarming projections,

the Atlanta Regional Commission held the fifth of a dozen regional meetings

Tuesday night at the community room at Shannon Mall in Union City.

In trying to accommodate the

buildup of traffic and at the same time protect the quality of the air

and water, the ARC is gearing up for its biggest challenge to date.

"What are we going to

do when we have six million people in this region?" asked Tom Weyandt,

Director of Comprehensive Planning for the ARC.

Set to begin development in

early 2005, the new plan, dubbed "MOBILITY 2030," attempts to

solve these problems with a variety of short-term and long-term goals.

While some of these solutions

concentrate on upgrading and extending existing services such as MARTA

to Fulton Industrial Boulevard, ARC officials are also looking at other

transit options.

Officials said an express bus

service that would reach surrounding counties, including South Fulton

and Coweta counties, could start next year.

Using HOV lanes and up-to-date

systems of transport, fare collection and route structures, this new mode

of metropolitan travel could help smooth out the bumpy road ahead, Weyandt

said.

The comprehensive plan put

forth by the ARC also encompasses an extended HOV network for all major

interstates, including Interstate 85 in South Fulton and Coweta counties,

as well as 2,400 more miles of bicycle and pedestrian pathways through

densely populated areas.

The development of a grid system

of east/west, north/south multilane roadways to circulate traffic around

the outlying Atlanta area was yet another innovative proposal offered

The commission will prepare

their second draft of the plan in September after receiving comments and

suggestions from all interested parties and finalize the plan in November.

A more constrained outline, including cost estimates, will be developed

next year and projects will be given priorities for construction.

ARC officials plan to stage

a similar meeting in Coweta County July 7, but have not yet released the

location and time for the meeting.