Have you heard? MARTA plans to shut down street access to the Five Points MARTA station to pedestrians and bus riders, and add inequitable delays for people with disabilities for potentially 4 years! That’s why members of our Safe Streets & Transit Coalition decided to take action. We’ve been advocating hard to keep Five Points open and our efforts seem to be gaining traction. Find out what's happening and how you can get involved.
Here’s what’s happening
On June 3rd, 14 members of the Coalition sent this letter to CEO Greenwood and MARTA leadership detailing our concerns and calling for MARTA to
- prioritize safe access for people of all ages and abilities within the Five Points station, without adding a bus bridge or additional delay to transfers for people with mobility challenges
- keep at least one point of entry to the station open for pedestrians throughout construction
- not re-route bus riders to other stations.
The Coalition has met with MARTA three times since but is still waiting on a formal reply.
Mayor Andre Dickens called on MARTA to put the $230 million Five Points overhaul on hold until after the audit of the More MARTA program, which is the primary funding source for the project, is complete. And Atlanta City Council passed a resolution calling on MARTA to hit pause on the project.
The media is covering the impacts MARTA’s planned station closure would have on the 17,000 people who rely on access to the station every day.
- June 20: MARTA reworking plan to close street access to Five Points Station | 11alive.com
- June 17: Opposition grows over MARTA’s plan to close Five Points station for years | SaportaReport
- June 13: Five Points station closure will hurt those who rely on it the most, riders warn | Fox 5 Atlanta
- June 11: MARTA sticking to Five Points Station plan despite protests | 11Alive
Right now, MARTA seems to be listening to advocates and the riders whose lives would be most affected (though we shouldn’t have had to press this hard for a simple message – keep Five Points open – to be heard in the first place).
But we need to keep the pressure on to ensure Five Points remains open throughout construction.
What can you do?
- Attend the Rally to Keep Five Points Open! Tuesday, June 25 at 12:30 PM on Peachtree Street entrance to Five Points station
- Write to the MARTA board: [email protected]
- Sign or share the petition to Keep Five Points Open
Context
When CEO Collie Greenwood shared MARTA’s plans to close Five Points to pedestrians and bus riders and add significant delays for people with disabilities trying to transfer rail lines at the Five Points station during “Transformation” project on May 29th, we were surprised by the new timeline.
Atlanta City Councilmembers pushed back strongly on the proposal to cut off street access for 4 years (MARTA statements on the duration of the closure have varied from 18 months to 4 years. The reality is that construction project timelines can be unpredictable. Projects are rarely completed ahead of schedule. More often, they take much longer than expected.)
Members of our Safe Streets & Transit Coalition decided we could not stand by and watch the hub of the MARTA system be so drastically cut off from people who rely on it every day. Since then, we’ve been advocating hard to keep MARTA’s Five Points station open to pedestrians, bus riders, and people with disabilities throughout construction.