Possible sites for new multimodal station to be unveiled on July 11

By Maria Saporta

A new transportation center for downtown Atlanta is moving from the idea stage to the design stage.

On July 11, the Georgia MultiModal Passenger Terminal team will provide the “first look” at the three alternative sites under consideration for the location of the proposed multimodal station.

The team will present different design sketches for the station, including elevations and street crossings at the public meeting, which will be held at 6 p.m. at the City of Atlanta’s Department of Watershed Management at 72 Marietta St. NW (the former home of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution), which is adjacent to where the station would be located.

At the meeting, the team will discuss what makes the different options feasible. They also will talk about the process of planning the station, public participation and the next steps. The public also will be able to make comments about the various alternatives.

The speakers and the team members who will participate in the meeting are:

· Jim Richardson, senior vice president/project manager for master developer FIC – Forest City Enterprises, The Integral Group and Cousins Properties Incorporated (transit and redevelopment)

· Ed Campbell, assistant vice president, Parsons Brinckerhoff (rail systems)

· Rob Ross, project manager at Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc. (bus and transportation network)

· John Schuyler, principal/architect, Cooper Carry (architecture and urban planning) in association with FXFOWLE (station design and urban planning)

The meeting also will have other members of the master development team who will be able to answer questions about the project. The station will be “a vital hub for various forms of transportation, including high-speed rail, commuter rail, streetcar, Greyhound, MARTA, pedestrians, cyclists and other current and future forms of transit,” according to a release announcing the meeting.

The Georgia Department of Transportation has hired a master development team to develop a plan for the hub and surrounding commercial development on nearly 120 acres of undeveloped land near the Georgia Dome, CNN Center, and Five Points MARTA Station.

The master development team is led by Forest City Enterprises, the Integral Group and Cousins Properties. Collectively, the team is called FIC (for the first letters of each of their firms’ names).

To learn more about the project, please visit the Georgia Department of Transportation’s MMPT website.