Report: MARTA deviates from original plans for Five Points station

Much to the dismay of Atlanta’s mobility advocates, various downtown agencies and even the city’s mayor, MARTA continues to move forward with plans to begin the redevelopment of its city center next month. largest and busiest public transport. But that job might not be as restrictive for regular customers and downtown residents as previously thought.

As 11Alive News reports, MARTA engineers are currently exploring ways to leave at least one entrance to the Five Points MARTA station open to allow access to the facility from the street during what is expected to be four years of construction. Previous plans called for fencing off the bustling center – except for a brief two-year reopening period during Atlanta’s FIFA World Cup matches – in an effort to ensure the safety of pedestrians and users at street level as the station’s large canopy and concrete pillars are removed.

Keli Davis, MARTA’s facilities director, told the news channel the agency is responding to widespread concerns by revising its plans, conducting technical studies and working with the project’s contractor to potentially improve access at the station without reducing safety.

Davis stressed that a solution involving re-engineering will take time and that Five Points is still expected to be closed starting July 29 without street access, allowing the $230 million overhaul to begin.

Any reopening of entrances won’t happen until sometime after that closure date, Davis told 11Alive.

Another potential change, according to Davis, could be the addition of a temporary elevator at Five Points to accommodate passengers with disabilities during construction.

Under MARTA’s initial plans, any customer needing an elevator to transfer between the North and East lines and the South and West lines would have to get off trains at the Georgia State or Peachtree Center stations and board a shuttle to make the transfer.

What should not change for the moment: At the end of July, all Five Points bus routes will be rerouted to the Georgia State, King Memorial or Civic Center stations. All Five Points restrooms will close. And StationSoccer, MARTA Market and the station’s community garden will be temporarily closed during construction, while access tunnels to the Richard B. Russell Federal Building and Metro Atlanta will also be closed.

MARTA’s goal is to transform this bunker-like 1970s transit hub into what the agency describes as a vibrant, centralized downtown with smoother access to trains and buses. However, powerful downtown groups, including Central Atlanta Progress, have called on MARTA to put the brakes on these plans and consider an overhaul, while Mayor Andre Dickens has asked MARTA to keep the Five Points station open until an ongoing audit of the agency is completed.

Collie Greenwood, MARTA general manager and CEO, responded in a letter last week that any plaza closures are intended to protect riders and that changing the construction schedule would jeopardize federal funding for future MARTA projects and others in the city.

Meanwhile, the general public seems torn: An Urbanize Atlanta poll asking readers whether MARTA should proceed with the Five Points redevelopment as planned has garnered nearly 700 votes as of this writing, with more “Yes” votes than what some urban planners might expect.

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