"The Stitch" - Plan to Cap the Connector Moves Forward (Atlanta: moving, transportation)

[HH82]

"Hey look, a thread about The Stitch!"

(reads latest)

"The Stitch goes all the way out to Avondale?"

[tikigod311]

What did everyone have for lunch today? I'm thinking either Willys or the salad smorgasbord at WF. What do you guys think I should get?

[primaltech]

Alright, I'll talk about The Stitch and directly related topics.

So, obviously, Peachtree-Pine shelter must close. That's one pre-requisite to the development of this area.

Capping the Connector between Spring St and Piedmont Ave, would be great. You could put a park on there, water features, ampitheatre for concerts and festivals, restaurants and shops, outdoor market/plaza, whatever. All kinds of possibilities. And it would all be integrated directly with MARTA station which already exists there.

And of course there would be a lot of TOD development projects along with it, including some towers, and building rehabs and whatever. And mid-rises. And also Alexander St would be connected to Peachtree St to the north, improving the grid. And Currier St would also extend to Peachtree. Whole thing would really stitch together Downtown/SoNo/Midtown.

Now, here's my suggestion, tie in Old Fourth Ward to the project. Redevelop the Civic Center property (which is in O4W) into something awesome. Fix/straighten the Peachtree St/Pine St intersection, and convert Pine St to a 2-way. Then give Pine St/Angier Ave protected and green colored bike lanes, all the way between the MARTA station and Historic 4W park and the east Beltline. Then develop/redevlop/gentrify along that whole corridor, at least as much as possible.

Then perhaps rename the Civic Center MARTA station to Old Fourth Ward (doubtful, but just a suggestion.)

And then convert this existing Emory deck into shared public (paid) MARTA parking:
https://www.google.com/maps/@33.7672...7i13312!8i6656

Just a thought, that would give in-towners a park&ride option to get to the airport or other destinations.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by primaltech

Alright, I'll talk about The Stitch and directly related topics.

So, obviously, Peachtree-Pine shelter must close. That's one pre-requisite to the development of this area.

Capping the Connector between Spring St and Piedmont Ave, would be great. You could put a park on there, water features, ampitheatre for concerts and festivals, restaurants and shops, outdoor market/plaza, whatever. All kinds of possibilities. And it would all be integrated directly with MARTA station which already exists there.

And of course there would be a lot of TOD development projects along with it, including some towers, and building rehabs and whatever. And mid-rises. And also Alexander St would be connected to Peachtree St to the north, improving the grid. And Currier St would also extend to Peachtree. Whole thing would really stitch together Downtown/SoNo/Midtown.

Now, here's my suggestion, tie in Old Fourth Ward to the project. Redevelop the Civic Center property (which is in O4W) into something awesome. Fix/straighten the Peachtree St/Pine St intersection, and convert Pine St to a 2-way. Then give Pine St/Angier Ave protected and green colored bike lanes, all the way between the MARTA station and Historic 4W park and the east Beltline. Then develop/redevlop/gentrify along that whole corridor, at least as much as possible.

Then perhaps rename the Civic Center MARTA station to Old Fourth Ward (doubtful, but just a suggestion.)

And then convert this existing Emory deck into shared public (paid) MARTA parking:
https://www.google.com/maps/@33.7672...7i13312!8i6656

Just a thought, that would give in-towners a park&ride option to get to the airport or other destinations.

Why would that station need parking? It's a very walkable area.
Honestly the ramp from NB Downtown Connector needs to be closed. There is no reason why speeding cars should be dumped onto Peachtree.

[primaltech]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Why would that station need parking? It's a very walkable area.
Honestly the ramp from NB Downtown Connector needs to be closed. There is no reason why speeding cars should be dumped onto Peachtree.

I dunno, was just thinking there's not really any official park&rides for Midtown or surrounding neighborhoods.

Sometimes it's bad weather, or people just don't feel like walking or biking that day. Or maybe they physically can't walk or bike.

But I guess there is paid public parking decks around all of Midtown's and Downtown's MARTA stations (such as Colony Square, etc). So maybe that's good enough.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by MattCW

How many more stations do you want to infill? The point of HRT is that it's fast, but every station stop costs time, especially when the stations are close enough that the trains can never get up to speed. <3/4 mile between platforms is what streetcar/dense LRT is designed for. What's the ROI here anyways? You're building on top of a rail yard and railroad line, on a very elevated structure so figure big bucks. How many people work in Avondale? Live in Avondale that could use the station? I live nearby, the answer to both is "not many," now how many of them could use transit? The answer is "even less." You're also only saving people about 1/2 mile of walking or riding a bus. Anyone who lives nearby is more prone to use the existing Avondale station and its park and ride facilities

I actually agree with you--we cannot have too many stations since it will hinder speed on the transit system. However, in the urban core+inside the perimeter I do think a few more infill stations are needed. And I think a new station at Avondale Estates's town center (and converting the current Avondale station to the Sycamore Station) would be just right.

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by primaltech

I dunno, was just thinking there's not really any official park&rides for Midtown or surrounding neighborhoods.

Sometimes it's bad weather, or people just don't feel like walking or biking that day. Or maybe they physically can't walk or bike.

But I guess there is paid public parking decks around all of Midtown's and Downtown's MARTA stations (such as Colony Square, etc). So maybe that's good enough.

Last-mile connectivity via local buses, bus rapid transit, light rail transit, and streetcars should handle any need for this kind of thing, in addition to the local decks / lots that you mentioned.

I agree with Matt on this in general. We should be keeping heavy rail spacing pretty well as is inside the BeltLine, with a few exceptions for new interchange stations at the BeltLine. For everything else, we can use effective last-mile connections.

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by HH82

"Hey look, a thread about The Stitch!"

(reads latest)

"The Stitch goes all the way out to Avondale?"

Well, it's just that we merged the Stitch, capping the connector, capping I-20, and some other greenways into the same project now!

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by aries4118

I actually agree with you--we cannot have too many stations since it will hinder speed on the transit system. However, in the urban core+inside the perimeter I do think a few more infill stations are needed. And I think a new station at Avondale Estates's town center (and converting the current Avondale station to the Sycamore Station) would be just right.

If Avondale was serious about conecting it's business distrivt to MARTA, it could contract out to run a trolley-like bus.

[jsvh]

I like this, hopefully even if Amazon doesn't end up there these sort of conversations will help make bring the Stitch closer to reality. And of course even better if it does end up there. It is well placed right next to MARTA, future streetcar lines, Ga Tech, GSU, Midtown, Downtown.

One big idea being considered [for Amazon's HQ2] is the Civic Center combined with “the Stitch” — a concept proposed last year by Central Atlanta Progress that would bridge the Downtown Connector and create a unique site directly connected to the Civic Center MARTA Station. Apparently efforts are being made to get commitments from state and local governments as well as companies and foundations to help pay for that big idea.

Business leaders go all out to help win Amazon’s HQ2 | Atlanta Business Chronicle (Paywall)