Atlantic Station - Transportation

Transportation

The primary roadway access to and through Atlantic Station is an extension of 17th Street constructed by the developers. As part of the project, the Georgia Department of Transportation erected the yellow 17th Street bridge over the I-75/85 Downtown Connector expressway that separated Atlantic Station and the Home Park residential neighborhood from the rest of Midtown.

Controversy developed at the time of construction not only because of the bridge's unusual yellow color, but also for GDOT's insistence that the bridge and street meet suburban highway standards. Indeed, the bridge is eight lanes wide, and the enormous right-of-way afforded to 17th Street east of the bridge lacks street parking and utilizes an unusual arrangement of placing street trees and lamps at the edge of the adjacent buildings' property lines instead of against the street. Motorcycles are not allowed. The section of the Street west of the bridge consists of four through-lanes of traffic, in addition to a bus lane, bike lane, and turning lanes in each direction, also lacking street parking.

Access to public transportation is provided via a free shuttle that runs every 5 – 15 minutes to the Arts Center MARTA rail station and MARTA bus route (110 Peachtree St./"The Peach" ), which also serves the Arts Center Station. A railroad line runs along the northern border, but passenger service on the Crescent (Amtrak) is available only at the Peachtree Station in Brookwood, one walking mile away. In April, 2011, the city of Atlanta submitted a grant application seeking $22.5 million to relocate that station to the Atlantic Station community. Shuttle service is also provided by Lanier Parking Solutions, for Georgia Tech students in the student apartments, the Flats.

Despite the pedestrian-friendly arrangement of much of the eastern section of the project, parking is inexpensive and easily available in underground parking decks; indeed most visitors arrive by car.