The City of Atlanta, in partnership with the Midtown Alliance, have broken ground on Commercial Row Commons, a “mini-park” in Midtown that aims to create “places for people” in the predominately asphalt environment. The park will transform six on-street parking spaces into seating areas, surrounded by landscaping and a wider sidewalk.
As previously reported by What Now Atlanta, the project was originally conceived as a “quick build” pilot project to test the viability of small urban design enhancements dispersed throughout Midtown. The City and the Midtown Alliance hope these small enhancements can add up to significant improvements to active transportation and civic life in Midtown.
The corridor was chosen due to the high pedestrian traffic headed to the Midtown MARTA station competing for sidewalk space with local restaurants who have moved dining outdoors. A main design goal is to create a clear zone for pedestrians while maintaining outdoor dining space. During and after the pilot phase, the Midtown Alliance and City of Atlanta Planning Department held a series of public meetings to solicit community input. The final design was a result of the input from those meetings and designs by Sylvatica Studio.
The Midtown Improvement District (MID), a self-taxing district created by Midtown commercial property owners, funded $1,265,000 for the design and construction of project. MID was formed to generate additional public resources that can be deployed to catalyze economic growth in Midtown.
The specific improvements for the plaza include landscaping, realignment of the Peachtree Street and Peachtree Place intersection, widened sidewalks, buried and relocated utilities, improved pedestrian lighting, art installations, and repaved local streets.
Construction began earlier this week, during which time Peachtree Place may be closed between Crescent Avenue and Peachtree Street for up to 90 days. There have not been any indications how long exactly construction is expected to last, but The Midtown Alliance is providing updates to the project on their website.
