Midtown Alliance and city transportation officials plan to cut the proverbial ribbon this week on a Complete Streets overhaul that first started percolating 15 years ago.
Solomon Caviness, Atlanta Department of Transportation Commissioner, and Kevin Green, Midtown Alliance president and CEO, are scheduled to announce “substantial completion” of the Juniper Complete Street Project during a Wednesday morning ceremony in Midtown, according to ATLDOT officials.
The people-friendly Juniper Street remake extends for 12 blocks across Midtown, stretching from 14th Street down to Ponce de Leon Avenue.
“This vital… corridor enhances multimodal connectivity between the city’s residential [properties], businesses, and key destinations,” wrote ATLDOT leaders in an announcement today.
Juniper Complete Street Project construction progress earlier this year near the northern terminus at 14th Street. via Midtown Alliance
Depiction of the southbound, barrier-separated Juniper Street bike lanes, wider sidewalks, and more. Courtesy of TSW
According to a Midtown Alliance construction update, some work on Juniper Street will be ongoing through early December to install landscape planter boxes and to complete “corrective work” along the new Complete Streets route.
The Juniper Street overhaul kicked off in summer 2023 as a means of upgrading mobility across a wide swath of Midtown, while creating a more inviting, safer corridor. At the outset, it was considered a 20-month job. But last fall, progress had slowed as construction crews grappled with numerous delays related to everything from utilities to filming permits that had taken priority, requiring work to pause for blocks at a time, Midtown Alliance officials previously told Urbanize Atlanta.
The changes have implemented a one-way, southbound cycletrack that starts at 14th Street near Colony Square and travels down to Ponce. Vehicle lanes have been reduced to two, and dedicated parallel parking has been installed within a new buffer lane in places.
Other additions include bioswales, LED lighting, and street furniture.
The Juniper Complete Street Project idea was initially hatched back in 2010, when a TSW design team was hired. Midtown Alliance officials were once optimistic the project would be fully under construction by 2016.
Behind the scenes, however, delays, dysfunction, and other messes involving the city’s procurement system under previous mayoral administrations were a hurdle.
Courtesy of TSW
Scope of the one-way, southbound cycle track. Midtown Alliance
In 2022, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens appointed new procurement leadership, and Green, the Midtown Alliance chief, has applauded the city’s revised procurement process as being more streamlined and sensible.
The Juniper Street section in question will see non-drivers flowing south alongside car traffic in six to seven-foot bike lanes, protected by a system of raised planters and barriers at intersections. Trees and landscaping will be implemented as seasons and cooler weather allow, officials have said.
Early phases of construction removed and preserved historic Juniper Street trolley tracks that had been submerged through the area.
Project officials told Urbanize Atlanta in late 2024 the Juniper Street work remained on budget—estimated cost: $8.7 million—though the construction timeline had been extended. The project was funded with a mix of city transportation impact fees, federal and state grants, and Midtown Improvement District funds.
One block east, a 1.1-mile system of northbound bike lanes will similarly update Piedmont Avenue, stretching from Ponce de Leon Avenue up to 15th Street at Piedmont Park.
As Midtown Alliance documents, that project is now clearly under construction, too.
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