Latest news with #RAISEGrant
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
MARTA resumes $230M Five Points Station overhaul: What this means to riders
The Brief Construction on Five Points Station resumes on May 17, focusing on transforming it into a "vibrant city center" with improved connectivity, safety, and amenities. Major downtown bus route detours will occur, with several MARTA routes rerouted or terminating at different stations to accommodate construction. The project is funded by the More MARTA Atlanta half-penny sales tax, $13.8 million from Georgia, and a $25 million federal RAISE Grant. ATLANTA - The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority will resume construction on its $230 million transformation of Five Points Station on May 17. This will trigger major downtown bus route detours. PREVIOUS: MARTA to move forward with Five Points project after reaching agreement with city What we know The long-anticipated overhaul, paused last summer for further planning, begins with the deconstruction and removal of the station's concrete canopy. The project aims to turn Atlanta's busiest transit hub into a "vibrant city center" with upgraded connectivity, enhanced safety, and new customer amenities. What They're Saying "During deconstruction, street-level station and elevator access, as well as bus access, will be maintained on Forsyth Street," MARTA said in a statement. "Rail service and transfers are not impacted and will operate as scheduled." What you can do Starting May 17, several MARTA routes will be rerouted or will terminate at different stations to accommodate construction activity: Routes stopping at Five Points on Forsyth Street: 3 – Martin Luther King Jr. Drive/Auburn Avenue 40 – Peachtree Street/Downtown 813 – Atlanta University Center 21 – Memorial Drive 49 – McDonough Boulevard 55 – Jonesboro Road 107 – Glenwood 186 – Rainbow Road Drive/South DeKalb Routes detoured from Five Points: 26 – Marietta Street/Perry Boulevard 42 – Pryor Road 816 – North Highland Avenue New Termination Points: Georgia State Station:21, 42, 49, 55, 107, 186 King Memorial Station:26, 813, 899 – Old Fourth Ward Civic Center Station:816 Bus routes operated by regional partners CobbLinc, Ride Gwinnett, and Xpress will continue to run on their normal schedules. Details on rail station entrance closures (Alabama Street, Broad Street Plaza, and Peachtree Street) and office relocations will be shared when finalized. Dig deeper Beyond the canopy demolition, future phases of the Five Points project include construction of a new canopy, improvements to the centralized bus hub, a pedestrian corridor to Broad Street, and the addition of community spaces, public art, and even urban agriculture. The project is funded primarily through the More MARTA Atlanta half-penny sales tax, along with $13.8 million from the state of Georgia and a $25 million federal RAISE Grant. SEE ALSO: MARTA board chairwoman questions agency's leadership after audits Does MARTA owe Atlanta $70M? New report claims 2024 audit is wrong Fewer Atlantans are taking the train, but MARTA says numbers are off State of MARTA 2025: New train car unveiled as transit leaders look towards future MARTA launches new merch store for transit fans The Source The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority provided the details for this article.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Westover sidewalk delayed as state prepares US 19 corridor study
Mar. 20—WESTOVER — It's one of those good news, bad news situations. The bad news — A highly requested sidewalk project along Westover's Fairmont Road is being delayed at least a year. The good news — The delay is tied to a planning study that could lead to significant corridor improvements, sidewalks included, through the heart of the city. When the roughly $1.5 billion in federal RAISE Grant (Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity) awards were announced for 2024, the West Virginia Department of Transportation had three projects on the list. One in Charleston. One in Beckley. One in Westover. In Westover, the state is looking to spend the $1, 275, 000 grant to take a good, hard look at the U.S. 19 corridor that runs the length of the city as Fairmont Road and Holland Avenue. According to the information included with the U.S. Department of Transportation's 2024 RAISE awards, improvements are sorely needed. "The project will improve the safety of the US 19 corridor for pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists. The corridor currently poses a range of safety risks, which will be addressed with a combination of new sidewalks, repaired sidewalks, bike lanes and enhanced traffic management." The local Metropolitan Planning Organization agrees it's a priority. It listed the corridor as a Tier 1 project as part of the 2022 update to its Metropolitan Transportation Plan. At that time, the cost of the needed upgrades were estimated at $13.3 million. When Westover was informed of the pending study, the news came with a request from the state. "So, they're committed to making that better and the DOH came to us and asked us if we could postpone the sidewalk grants until they were done with this study, because they want to make sure all the work that gets done on this corridor, from front to back, fits with this study, basically, " Westover Public Works Director Jason Stinespring said. The sidewalk grants in question are a collection of funding sources pulled together by the city to construct a much-needed sidewalk along Fairmont Road, starting at Savannah Street and running toward Dents Run Boulevard. Two of those funding sources — a $400, 000 Surface Transportation Block Grant through the MPO and a $125, 000 Transportation Alternative Grant — are state sourced. Stinespring said those funds will be held for future use. That's not the case for a $400, 000 Community Development Block Grant, which the city will essentially lose. Westover's plan was to build as much sidewalk as the funds would cover, then pick it up again when more money became available. "[The state ] is doing this [study ] to eventually have all this work done, so they said there's going to be plenty of money to pull from to probably get a sidewalk the whole way down the road, to be honest with you, " Stinespring said, explaining any projects resulting from the study are likely at least two years away. "With the state putting that much effort into it with a million-dollar grant, our thinking at least is they're really wanting to do something nice with this, " he said. "It does stink with all the work we put into it, and we were excited for the sidewalk, but I think trying to look in the long-term, working with them on this is going to get us the best product in the corridor."
