MARTA has been awarded a $25 million federal grant to help transform the exterior of Five Points rail station. The funding will go toward an estimated $200 million project to upgrade the Downtown Atlanta station that opened more than 40 years ago.
The $25 million comes from the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) discretionary grant program. Other funding for the $200 million project is coming from the More MARTA Atlanta sales tax, with an additional commitment from the state through the Georgia Transit Trust Fund.
Five Points is MARTA’s largest and busiest rail station and is the main transfer point between the system’s North/South and East/West rail lines and a hub for 10 bus routes.
The RAISE grant description of the Five Points project says: “This project will rehabilitate the above-ground portions of the Five Points MARTA station by removing the aged station canopy, improving the bus bays, and revitalizing the station plaza/public space. The project will complement other investments, including Phase 1 to make below-ground station improvements and Phase 3 to make transit-oriented improvements.
“The project will improve the experience of travelers at the station and make transfers easier. By rebuilding an aging and confusing station, the project eliminates long walks to bus transfers in areas that are not adequately monitored, and users will not need to cross streets, improving safety by eliminating modal conflicts. Five Points station provides direct transit service from downtown Atlanta to the world’s busiest airport (Hartsfield- Jackson Atlanta International) in under 20 minutes, providing employment opportunities for an underserved and disadvantaged community. According to the applicant, within a half-mile of the station, more than 50% of individuals are living in poverty and 73% are minorities.”
MARTA Interim General Manager and CEO Collie Greenwood said in a news release the bipartisan support for the Five Points transformation project “underscores its importance and the long-term economic impacts that go beyond the renovation of a rail station and reveals the true transformative nature of transit.”
Mayor Andre Dickens gave special thanks to U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, U.S. Senators Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, and Gov. Brian Kemp for their help in securing funding for the Five Points transformation project.
“The award of this $25 million RAISE Grant is a big win for Atlanta and will enhance connectivity beyond our city limits — just as connectivity reached beyond partisan lines so our federal, state and local leaders could deliver a significant infrastructure investment for our communities,” Dickens said in the news release.
Gov. Brian Kemp said he looked forward to seeing the impacts the federal grant as well as state and city funding would make “on transforming this MARTA station into a hub for travel, commerce and culture.”
Georgia House Speaker David Ralston said in the release that the Five Points MARTA station “is a not just a transit hub – but also an economic engine – for our capital city and the surrounding region.”
“This significant federal grant demonstrates the importance of this investment in our transit infrastructure. Our state government will continue to partner with MARTA on initiatives like this to spur job creation and expand economic opportunity for all Georgians,” Ralston said.
MARTA is working with the City of Atlanta on final design concepts with a shared goal of deconstructing and removing the canopy in the center of the station, establishing a centralized bus hub, and including a public or green space.
MARTA has selected Skidmore, Owings & Merrill to lead the design of the canopy deconstruction and removal and Skanska Building USA as the Construction Management at Risk (CMAR) contractor to oversee the project.
Deconstruction will begin in 2024 with a project completion goal of 2028. All bus and rail service will continue to operate out of Five Points during the work and construction of the city’s first bus rapid transit (BRT) line along nearby Summerhill Avenue with a connection to Five Points, will also progress with service scheduled to begin in 2025. The MARTA Police Five Points Precinct will be temporarily relocated across the street at Underground Atlanta.
A separate train platform rehabilitation project at Five Points that is part of MARTA’s multi-year Station Rehabilitation Program is progressing as scheduled with construction beginning in September.