$230 million Five Points redevelopment plans halted

Downtown transit riders won’t encounter as many changes as MARTA initially anticipated this month — at least not yet — as the summer of controversy and ups and downs over the Five Points redevelopment continues.

MARTA officials say discussions are continuing with Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens about what is officially called the Five Point Transformation project, a costly renovation that the mayor has asked be halted until a MARTA audit is completed.

Meanwhile, MARTA announced that eight downtown bus routes that were scheduled to be relocated starting Saturday will remain stationed at Five Points. Other changes affecting customers that were scheduled to begin July 29, including all street-level entrances and exits, will also be suspended for the time being.

“We are suspending the immediate implementation of service impact measures,” the transit agency wrote in a statement.

MARTA believes the best solution would be to remove the concrete canopy at Five Points and replace it with a modernized, brighter canopy, with customer safety as the top priority. The current canopy has been subjected to decades of water infiltration that has caused damage around the station, including to critical train control equipment, according to MARTA.

MARTA officials provided a short, 1-minute, 47-second YouTube clip with commentary from Five Points’ original architect for more information on the station’s design flaws, water intrusion and current damage.

The transit agency “remains confident that removing and replacing the canopy is the best option, and has been endorsed by our partners at the City of Atlanta,” MARTA said in a press release issued this week. “We are committed to continuing to work with the Mayor and other stakeholders to make these critical infrastructure and safety improvements, enhance the customer experience, and ensure Atlanta continues to grow as a world-class destination.”

In recent weeks, MARTA’s Five Points redevelopment plans — and the timeline for their execution — have been a source of friction between the transit agency and city leaders, mobility advocates and powerful downtown developers who have expressed concerns about the designs and the lingering impacts on people who rely on access to downtown transit.

Last month, opponents held a rally in hopes of persuading MARTA to reconsider its $250 million renovation and closure of street-level access.

Critics, including several City Council members, have publicly spoken out against the MARTA overhaul plan, arguing that it would detract from the town square’s atmosphere and limit pedestrian and bicyclist access in favor of providing infrastructure for 10 bus lines that connect to it.

MARTA officials acknowledged that changes to the Five Points redevelopment strategy are underway. That could include installing a temporary elevator at Five Points to accommodate disabled passengers during the work who would otherwise have to exit trains and take a shuttle between Georgia State and Peachtree Center stations to avoid closures at the central transit hub.

MARTA officials have stressed that the full renovation of Five Points is expected to take four years, but that street-level access would not be affected for that long. MARTA engineers are currently exploring ways to open at least one entrance to the Five Points station to allow street-level access to the facility during construction, but that is not expected to happen until the canopy is completely removed in 18 months.

Once the renovation is complete, MARTA hopes the bunker-like 1970s transit center will become a more vibrant, centralized downtown with smoother access to trains and buses.

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