At long last, one of Atlanta’s most iconic selfie meccas is changing in a way that’s meant to keep pedestrians, bicyclists, and so many tourists safer from vehicle traffic.

Implementation of a project officially titled Jackson Street Safety Improvements is now well underway following a ceremonial groundbreaking in July—and more than a decade of planning, design changes, and funding searches (but no construction) before that. 

The Atlanta Department of Transportation and Atlanta Downtown Improvement District project is implementing Complete Streets infrastructure on the bridge and blocks that bookend it to the north and south. The bridge has long served as one of Atlanta’s most popular destinations for wedding photos, Insta posts, The Walking Dead tourism, and anything else involving skyline photography.

ATLDOT lists the project as still being under active construction, following recent repaving work and traffic lane reconfigurations. 

Ongoing work to better link the PATH trail with Complete Streets infrastructure. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

The bridge's celebrated western views to downtown, as featured in The Walking Dead and more recently the movie Bugonia. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

Based on site diagrams, work remains to be done on a pedestrian parklet, or miniature park area, atop the bridge itself. 

Plans in that section—situated between the cycle track and the western edge of the bridge overlooking downtown—call for seating, raised planters, and ADA curb ramps to an existing sidewalk, according to the latest renderings and ATLDOT descriptions. 

The new protected cycle track will extend from the PATH Foundation’s Freedom Park Trail to the Baker-Highland Trail, better linking Old Fourth Ward with downtown.

The idea for redoing the bridge—initially floated back in 2014—has been refined with neighborhood input over the years. In 2019, Colorado-based advocacy group PeopleForBikes awarded Atlanta a $10,000 grant to help make the parklet happen on the bridge, dotted with shrubs, trees, and interesting, functional seating.

The project completed the permitting process in 2021 with both Atlanta’s and Georgia’s departments of transportation. Renew Atlanta funds are expected to foot most of the bill, officials said at that time.

How on-street parking has been slotted next to protected bike lanes. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

The revised Jackson Street placemaking plan that was once expected to move forward in 2021, per city officials.Department of City Planning; Atlanta City Studio

Liliana Bakhtiari, Atlanta City Council member (District 5), told Urbanize Atlanta in March last year her office had allocated $300,000 toward the Jackson Street Bridge project to fully finance it. The Atlanta Downtown Improvement District then stepped in to help with the bidding process for construction companies to implement changes on the bridge and nearby streets. 

The project was voted by Urbanize Atlanta readers as the top “wish list” item of 2022, back when it appeared on the cusp of happening. False alarm. 

Find more context and a quick tour of Jackson Street progress to date, as seen on Saturday evening, beginning just south of the bridge near Cain Street and the popular PATH Foundation trail. 

...

Follow us on social media: 

Twitter / Facebook/and now: Instagram  

• Old Fourth Ward news, discussion (Urbanize Atlanta)