UrbanizeAtlNewsBot@yall.theatl.social

UrbanizeAtlNewsBot@yall.theatl.social

MARTA’s $230M Five Points transformation is officially back on Josh Green Thu, 11/14/2024 - 08:18 After a summer of friction between transit leaders and city officials that prompted a four-and-½-month pause, MARTA’s long-planned overhaul of its largest and busiest station is gearing up to plow forward again.

MARTA CEO and general manager Collie Greenwood is expected to formally announce at today’s MARTA Board Work Session and Meeting that plans are advancing for the agency’s original, $230-million Five Points remake.

The agency filed paperwork with the city Tuesday to move forward with commercial demolition for what’s called the Five Points Transformation Project.

According to MARTA spokesperson Stephany Fisher, plans for a revived and opened-up Five Points have not changed, but the process for executing them has received a “slight modification” after MARTA heads reached an agreement with Mayor Andre Dickens and other City of Atlanta officials.

That change calls for keeping one Five Points station entrance open during construction on the Forsyth Street side, allowing for street-level and elevator access, plus bus pick-up and drop-off during the majority of construction. (Walling off access to Five Points train platforms, as previous plans had called for, was a major sticking point between MARTA, city leadership, and other downtown groups.)

The downside for MARTA patrons: That Five Points access from the street will result in a longer construction schedule and early nightly closures. That’s because cranes are forbidden from moving construction materials over active station entrances, according to MARTA.

A revised construction timeline has yet to be finalized, Fisher tells Urbanize Atlanta.

A refined preview depicting how the opened-up transit hub could look and function. Courtesy of MARTA

Greenwood said in a prepared statement the agreement between MARTA and city leadership is “a win-win for MARTA, the City of Atlanta, and our customers as we move forward together to improve transit across our region.”

MARTA plans to remake Five Points’ plazas and peel off the station’s huge concrete canopy, replacing it with a modernized, brighter covering. The current canopy has been subjected to decades of water intrusion that’s led to damage around the station, including to crucial electric train control equipment, according to MARTA.

Once the overhaul is finished, MARTA hopes the bunker-like, 1970s transit hub will be more of a vibrant, centralized city center with smoother access to trains and buses.

MARTA’s Five Points redevelopment plans—and the schedule for executing them—had been a source of friction between the transit agency and city leaders, mobility advocates, and powerful downtown boosters who raised concerns about the designs and extended impacts on people who depend on downtown transit access. In June, opponents organized a rally in hopes of persuading MARTA to reconsider its tactics. By early the following month, MARTA had agreed to temporarily slam the brakes.

Detractors, including several city councilmembers, have publicly come out against MARTA’s redesign plan on the basis, in their view, it would detract from a town-square feel and restrict pedestrian and cycling access in favor of infrastructure for 10 bus routes that connect there.

MARTA officials have stressed the full Five Points renovation is estimated to take four years, but that street-level access wouldn’t be impacted for that long.

MARTA

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MARTA's $230M Five Points transformation is officially back on

MARTA's $230M Five Points transformation is officially back on