A look at Atlanta's TSPLOST and bond project lists
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In May 2022, voters will decide whether the city should take on debt and continue charging a sales tax to pay for $750 million in protected bike lanes, updated recreation centers and the arts.
- This week, the Atlanta City Council gave the OK to the two project lists that will receive the funding.
Why it matters: Atlanta’s infrastructure takes a beating daily, and the city’s playing a never-ending game trying to find cash to pay for $3 billion of needed repairs over the next 20 years.
Details: Under the TSPLOST project list totaling $350 million approved Monday:
- More than $90 million to build safer streets that include bike lanes protected from automobile traffic.
- $18 million to replace, repair and maintain bridges.
- More than $110 million to fix sidewalks and build new ones along Lenox Road, Northside Drive, Marietta Boulevard and major state roads like Moreland Avenue and Memorial Drive.
Projects earmarked in the roughly $400 million bond package are broken down between “horizontal” (streets, sidewalks and other transportation fixes) and vertical (public buildings):
- Roughly $40 million in upgrades to recreation centers in Grove Park, Peachtree Hills, Kirkwood and other neighborhoods
- $15 million to build the second phase of the new and (we hope) improved DeKalb Avenue
- $3 million for each council member to spend on projects in their district
City officials opted to remove funding from the bond package for the proposed public safety training facility, which is called “Cop City” by some opponents, potentially fending off a public fight during the early months of Mayor-elect Andre Dickens’ first term.
Weigh in: Don’t like the lists? There’s a chance the eight new council members, one new council president and one new mayor coming to City Hall don’t either.
- And if history is any guide, project lists aren’t set in stone. Just look at the Northside Drive bridge.