Cover Story: No-brainers or head-scratchers?

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NEEDS!

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Certain projects in the infrastructure bond package are no-brainers. They are either overdue investments into overlooked projects or transformational work that will change how people travel through neighborhoods. If done right, these projects could transform Atlanta’s streets in a positive way.

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GREEN LIGHTS AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE?
Cost: $35 million

Atlanta has a traffic-light problem. Woe to the motorist who gets caught behind nothing but red lights. Officials want to change that by spending more than $35 million to synchronize traffic signals throughout the city. Though traffic engineers have updated signals in some parts of Atlanta, lights haven’t been synchronized on a citywide level since the 1970s. More than a third of the city’s 960 intersections with traffic signals have already received upgrades. Bond package funding would take care of the rest. More than $17 million would make upgrades needed to automate existing traffic signals and, when necessary, allow city transportation officials to make real-time adjustments to traffic signals depending on congestion on city streets. Another $18 million would be spent on converting current traffic signals to energy-efficient LED lights and installing signal controllers that can transmit and receive information. How the syncing takes pedestrians into account remains an important, but as of now unclear, part of the project.

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GOODBYE, DEKALB AVENUE “SUICIDE LANE.” HELLO, MUCH-NEEDED BIKE LANES.?
Cost: $2.5 million

DeKalb Avenue, you are perhaps the hottest of messes in this city. The east-west route’s aptly named “suicide lane” linking Decatur to Downtown has long deserved to pass on into the afterlife. The road is riddled with potholes. It’s basically a highway for motorists, a death wish for bicyclists, and a hostile environment for pedestrians. No more! Tentative plans call for doing away with the reversible lane between the Inman Park MARTA station and the city limits of Decatur, slapping down new pavement, and adding bike lanes. The improvements would almost blend unrelated plans to overhaul the streetscape where the Atlanta Beltline’s Eastside Trail dead-ends into DeKalb Avenue. Garland says the infrastructure bond project has sparked so much discussion and detailed suggestions from residents that city officials are planning to hold separate meetings to gather more information about what residents would like to see. “DeKalb connects to Atlanta’s most bikeable neighborhoods,” says Rebecca Serna of the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition. “If we do DeKalb Avenue right, it won’t just get better for people walking or riding bikes, it will get better for people driving too.”

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AGING DOWNTOWN BRIDGES NEED TO BE REPLACED.?
Cost: $16.5 million

Every day, according to the city, approximately 30,000 motorists travel on Downtown’s Courtland Street viaduct between Edgewood Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. Hundreds of Georgia State University students walk along the span between classes. While this is happening, the 106-year-old bridge is falling apart. It’s not about to crumble, as workers have recently made temporary fixes to problem areas. But that’s not a long-term strategy. Should the infrastructure bond pass, the city would spend $2 million to acquire rights of way needed and relocate utilities to rebuild the bridge in partnership with the Georgia Department of Transportation. On Downtown’s southwestern edge, construction crews would retrofit the Nelson Street Bridge, a favorite of pedestrians walking from South Downtown to Castleberry Hill, for roughly $1.7 million. And closer to the under-construction Atlanta Falcons stadium, city officials want to use $12.8 million to help rebuild the Martin Luther King Jr. Drive bridge that was demolished to make room for the new $1.4 billion athletic complex — adding even more public cash to the project. It’s necessary because, well, a bridge is missing.

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MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DRIVE WILL GET A FACE-LIFT.?
Cost: $4.57 million

The mayor has big plans for Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. He’s promised to turn the major west Atlanta artery into “one of the most attractive streets in America.” To achieve that goal, officials are planning to pour millions into renovations and beautification projects along more than seven miles of the road from the Downtown Connector all the way out to Fulton Industrial Boulevard. Plans call for a two-way street conversion Downtown and lane reductions west of Northside Drive. Improvements would also include parallel bicycle lanes, roundabouts, pedestrian crosswalks, pocket parks, and public art all along the thoroughfare. The bond package would pitch in some funding for the project. Garland didn’t know the full plan’s total projected cost — but noted that additional cash will come from state, federal, and private funding sources. Over time, the massive project will be divided into seven roughly one-mile segments, each boasting unique design features. If everything stays on schedule, MLK Jr. Drive’s face-lift could be completed by the end of the decade.

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WANTS?

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Two-hundred and fifty million dollars sounds like a lot of cash — but that money goes quick. The city has a more than $900 million infrastructure backlog. And a lot of those projects won’t receive cash this time around. Here are a few of the head-scratchers that don’t address the city’s transportation infrastructure needs.

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PLAN DETAILS UNCLEAR, COSTLY TO EXPAND THE CITY’S CAMERA NETWORK?
Cost: $3 million

The Atlanta Police Department has an eventual goal to link 10,000 cameras into its surveillance network watching over the entire city. It could receive $3 million to continue expanding the operations of the Loudermilk Video Integration Center operation. The Peachtree Street facility is headquarters for Operation Shield, the city’s surveillance program that currently links 4,600 public and private cameras throughout Downtown, Midtown, and other parts of the city. Only about 5 percent of the camera network — that’s roughly 230 cameras — are owned by the city. With the bond package cash, APD plans to purchase 170 cameras and mounts, buy VIC monitoring screens, upgrade part of its network, and hire additional personnel to watch the video feeds. That’s a high price tag for a small number of cameras. If voters approve the bond package, APD will then review the latest crime statistics to determine where the new cameras and resources should be placed. Garland says the cameras would likely be set up along major thoroughfares in neighborhoods “burdened with higher crime rates.” She declined to elaborate further when pressed for more details about exact camera locations.

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BANKHEAD BRIDGE?
Cost: $290,000

Yes, cash to build things will also be used to tear them down. The iconic bridge to nowhere — one part of the bridge that spans freight railroad tracks was demolished about 20 years ago to make room for a parking lot — would be razed. Doing so will wipe away what’s left of a literal and symbolic link that gave people who lived in West Atlanta and along Bankhead Highway (now known as Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway) access to Marietta Street shops. Though plans have been pitched in the past to build restaurants with skyline views on top of the bridge, it’s mostly a homeless camp these days. Last year the bridge was one of several routes proposed as a possible transit bridge for a streetcar route from Georgia Tech to Hollowell Parkway. But according to city officials, the Bankhead Bridge made the list of eligible projects because the Georgia Department of Transportation says it is beyond salvation. The city says debris falling onto the railroad tracks underneath have caused problems for the railroad and the homeless.

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BUILDING MAINTENANCE?
Cost: $10.5 million

Once upon a time in 2014, city officials said that cash from the infrastructure bond package would go only to pay for new streetscapes, bridges, bike lanes, and other asphalt projects — you know, the things we drive, walk, and ride our bikes on. But the plan changed last year to bring public buildings into the mix, including some of the city’s municipal facilities. Garland says the Office of Enterprise Management, the department that oversees the city’s real-estate portfolio, has tagged almost 40 public buildings that are in dire need of fixes and repairs. Of those, the vast majority — 30, to be exact — belong to Atlanta Fire Rescue. Four Atlanta Police facilities, three parks and recreation department buildings, and one public works department building are next on the list. Improvements are ranked on priority, starting with safety enhancements, updating HVAC and other systems, and needed repairs to existing buildings. The city hasn’t yet determined how many will actually receive the funding — Garland says the list must be updated and include input from councilmembers — just that those are the facilities with the greatest need.

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THE CITY SHOULD REBUILD THE MLK NATATORIUM. BUT WITH CASH FOR INFRASTRUCTURE??
Cost: $17.5 million

For more than three decades, the Martin Luther King Jr. Natatorium has served Atlantans from all walks of life, from Old Fourth Ward children learning to paddle to professional swimmers perfecting their stroke. Three years ago the facility shuttered due to its unsound structure. Officials have since wanted to replace Atlanta’s lone natatorium east of the Downtown Connector. The new aquatic complex landed on the bond package list because of the parks department’s inadequate funding. Plans for the new community pool call for an up-to-70,000-square-foot facility with changing areas, a fitness facility, and community rooms. It would be expected to last more than 20 years. At $17.5 million, the new natatorium is the most expensive project not related to transportation. Should the infrastructure bond be used for a pool? The mayor’s office says it’s taking a “broad view of infrastructure” by including the construction project. Not everyone agrees. “Fixing bridges is a top priority,” one City Hall source says. “Spending nearly 10 percent on a swimming pool is surreal.”