The Georgia Department of Transportation’s deadline for the city of Atlanta to ‘straighten out’ its downtown streetcar was this Tuesday, which by now has obviously come and gone. The city, according to a statement from a spokesperson, sent the GDOT over 2,500 pages worth of documents outlining its plans to increase safety and security.
Those 2,500 pages, (along with another smaller set of proposals that were granted an extension) are expected to take about 10 days to review, according to GDOT spokeswoman Annalysce Baker.
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, in statement Monday, sounded confident that those plans would be approved. “We’re working really hard with our GDOT partners to comply and make them comfortable. They have oversight for the city. And I’m confident that we’re going to satisfy them.” He continued, in his classic self-assured style, “The streetcar is not only going to be OK, but we’re taking it to the Atlanta Beltline. I think when it’s connected to the Atlanta Beltline, people will have no idea what’s going to happen.
That Beltline plan referenced by the Mayor is expected to be a key part of the City of Atlanta’s plan this summer, which they will pitch ahead of a November vote to secure taxpayer funding. Should the GDOT shut down the streetcar before then, it would throw quite a wrench into the city’s grand designs for expanding public transportation.
