City Council Recommends $40 Million in Buckhead Transportation Improvements

A $40 million set of transportation improvements around the Buckhead and Lindbergh Center MARTA areas was part of a larger, $3.26 billion list of projects unanimously recommended by the Atlanta City Council on Wednesday.

The projects could be funded if metro Atlanta voters approve a 1 percent sales tax referendum next year. Atlanta's overall list of projects include $920 million to repair roads, bridges and sidewalks in the city; $1 billion for light rail lines between the BeltLine corridor, downtown and Midtown; and $1 billion for capital investments to bring MARTA into a state of good repair.

The recommendations call for a series of bus and rapid transit operational improvements on Roswell Road and Piedmont Road up to the Lindbergh Station. They include bus and rapid transit stations that feature real-time arrival information; pedestrian and bicycle improvements around those stations; new roadway construction; roadway lane conversions and widenings; and intersection operational improvements.

Several second-tier projects didn't make the final list, including a series of similar improvements between the Lindbergh Center and Doraville MARTA stations, as well as extending heavy rail from the Lindbergh station to Emory University.

Elected officials in each of the state's 12 regions have been asked to develop a list of projects to be funded by a 1 percent sales tax. Once all local governments’ lists are submitted, a roundtable group of 21 elected leaders from the 10-county metro area will choose what projects make the final list for voters. The Atlanta Regional Roundtable includes local city and county officials from Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry and Rockdale counties.

Should the tax pass in a region, all revenue collected there would stay in that region. Local governments would share 15 percent of the revenues to be spent on any projects they choose. The other 85 percent will be used to fund the list of projects created by each region's transportation roundtable.