Groundbreaking Wednesday for Ga. 400 Pedestrian Bridge

Buckhead's looking good with major transportation projects involving the Ga. 400 corridor.

The day after work began on the long-awaited Ga. 400-I-85 interchange, another significant project gets under way Wednesday, with the groundbreaking for the pedestrian bridge spanning Ga. 400 from Stratford Road to Tower Place Drive.

MARTA is carrying out the project, in partnership with the Buckhead Community Improvement District, Georgia Department of Transportation, State Road and Toll Authority, Federal Transit Administration and the city of Atlanta.

Participants in the groundbreaking will include MARTA CEO/General Manager Dr. Beverly A. Scott, MARTA Board Chair Fredrick L. Daniels Jr., Region 4 FTA administrator Dr. Yvette G. Taylor, Buckhead CID Board Chair David B. Allman, Buckhead CID Executive Director Jim Durrett and SRTA Executive Director Dr. Gena L. Evans.

The event takes place at 1 p.m. Wednesday at 3400 Stratford Road.

As well as reconnecting Buckhead over the highway, the project will offer a new, more convenient entrance to the Buckhead MARTA station.

"This project is the result of an agreement that was reached between the partners, prior to the construction of Georgia 400, to one day restore connectivity between the east and west sides of Buckhead," a MARTA news release said.

The project is slated for completion in November 2013, a month before the planned end of the Ga. 400-I-85 interchange.