Local Civic Groups rally to enhance visual appearance of the Connector and you’re invited.
“What if we greened the corridor, captured and reused storm water, gave people places to walk and jog, expressed our artistic and cultural side and reconnect the city?”
Midtown Alliance, Midtown Improvement District, Central Atlanta Progress and Downtown Improvement District hope to do just that.
These civic groups have partnered with City of Atlanta to create a strategic plan for enhancing the visual appearance of the Downtown Connector.
To kick off the plan, residents are invited to attend an “interactive, hands-on, visioning session,” Tuesday July 26, according to the project’s Facebook page.
Here’s what the project’s organizers hope to discuss with session attendees:
How would you enhance the visual landscape of the Connector? Green walls, urban forest, art, lighting? Would you use jogging trails? What would make our “front door” more appealing to visitors and result in economic growth for the city? Come to the visioning session and tell us what you think.
The formal invitation can be found here.
But what are your initial thoughts (besides some of the worst traffic in the world)? Drop a line in the comments.
13 Responses
Lipstick on a pig…
Enhancing the aesthetics of something that doesn’t work is precisely what they did on the “14th street” streetscape. Instead of widening the street, and fixing the lights, to improve the flow of traffic, they added two islands (one of which has been plowed over by cars on 3 separate occasions in the past month), thereby decreasing the available room for traffic on that stretch of 14th street.
When is this city going to stop throwing money after useless projects, and start investing money in projects that could make a difference. I think what residents and visitors alike would like to see is a functional city, rather than a city with a bunch of BS landscaping hiding the fact that it’s infrastructure is little more than a chaotic patchwork.
Uh Urbanist wrong again. Your example of “throwing money after useless projects” was funded by the GA DOT not the city of Atlanta.
I’ve always said they should turn the stretch of Connector from 14th to North into a tunnel and then create greenspace above it. Wouldn’t it be great to have one long park uniting midtown and the westside of the highway?
@Urbanist: Maybe you should run for public office. You speak about these developments like you such the expert… and all of your opinions are just going to waste on these blogs
Yes, Urbanist is again totally wrong. GA DOT deliberately did not add additional lanes to the 14th Street bridge renovation as part of a “traffic diet” to discourage additional automobile traffic, and encourage pedestrian activity (same thing that is happening downtown). Isn’t that exactly what Urbanist wants in his metropolitan utopia? Urbanist may think that beautification projects are “useless” and don’t make a “difference,” but numerous studies show that increased vegetation and plants in urban centers improve mood. Personally, I’d rather walk/drive through tree lined streets instead on stark concrete.
@ CMQ – That’s a friggin’ amazing idea…especially if it involves demo’ing the light parade bridge.
@ Chris – No interest in politics. I don’t see my opinions going to waste either. Lively and intelligent discussion (with the few here that are capable of it) is not wasteful.
@ James – Apologies for getting the parties mixed up. I think you missed the point though. I wasn’t talking about the sidewalks. I was talking about the little islands in the middle of the street that were added at the expense of more lanes, and better traffic signals. When you have a street, like this strip of 14th, that is geographically important and a very important thoroughfare, decreasing mobility for 3 new trees is a bad idea. Period.
As much as I’d love Atlanta to be a pedestrian friendly place, it’s not. If Atlanta were to ever become pedestrian friendly, that would mean there are enough pedestrians/residents in the city to create that environment. If the population of the city increased by enough to make that a reality, that would mean increased traffic – whether through cabs, personal cars, etc. Increased traffic means a need for better/wider roads, and better traffic signals, not 3 trees on a median at the expense of additional lanes.
I don’t think beautification projects are useless. On the contrary, I think they’re great. However, they have to make sense. Putting lipstick on a model adds value. Putting it on a pig is wasteful.
The park idea was floated a few years ago, but deemed too expensive. And Urbanist – I’m truly surprised that you didn’t know this, but GDOT wanted the bridge to be wider, it was the Midtown Alliance that fought it – and clearly won. GDOT should not have given in, but they did. And now we have a bridge that isn’t as efficient as it could be. As for the lights, if that really bothers you, you need to focus on more important things.
I wish the Connector were a river. Then Atlanta would be Budapest.
Personally I like the 14th Street Bridge. What’s a better model – 17th Street? That bridge sure does move the traffic but boy is it a barren hell hole.
As for the study, here’s to hoping the ideas get off the drawing board and into reality. Unfortunately, I have little faith. We’re talking GDOT here. The same agency that rejected the Calatrava 17th St Bridge partly on the grounds that its design would posed a threat as it could distract motorists. SMH
Well, here’s a first. I actually agree with Urbanist: cmq’s idea really is a terrific one!
Are they ever going to finish the part of the connector around 14th street? After that bridge and widening project was finished, the land between the north and southbound lanes is just old roadway. Looks pretty ugly. At least put some dirt and grass in it.
Places to walk and jog on the connector? Cough — gasp. Brilliant. Cough — cough.
I LOVE the 14th Street bridge and Im glad that they did not make it 3 lanes. I use the bridge frequently, and LOVE the rainbow lights. Its adds a nice contrast to the boring lights of Atlanta’s skyline. I cant imagine 14th street being 3 lanes on each side. That would be a disaster to cross as a pedestrian.