MARTA pausing service disruptions at Five Points Station
Five Points MARTA Station
ATLANTA - MARTA has announced they are pausing the immediate implementation of service impacts at their Five Points Station.
According to an email from their senior direction of communications, the eight downtown bus routes that were scheduled to relocate on July 6 will remain stationed out of Five Points and customer impacts scheduled for July 29 will be paused.
MARTA also said that the design issues and decades of water intrusion have led to damage throughout the station, including to critical electric train control equipment, and the safety of our customers will continue to be our top priority.
Additionally, MARTA says they remain steadfast in their belief that the removal and replacement of the canopy is the best option, and one that was approved by our partners at the City of Atlanta and they pledge to continue working with the mayor and other stakeholders to make the necessary repairs and improvements to the station.
MARTA had planned to re-route the buses and cut off street-level access to the station so that they could begin work to replace the station's canopy. MARTA estimated that the work would take approximately 18 months to complete.
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MARTA has been under pressure from the mayor, Atlanta City Council and members of the community in the last few months to postpone or rethink their plans for the station. Many residents who rely on MARTA said it would make using the system difficult, especially for those who use wheelchairs and scooters.
Mayor Dickens asked for a delay because of the upcoming World Cup even though the City of Atlanta reportedly approved the plans approximately 11 months ago. He also said that MARTA needed to wait for an audit of the More MARTA sales tax that is partially funding the $230 million renovation to be completed.
In mid-June, MARTA officials said they had no intention of stopping moving forward with their plans. And on June 21, MARTA said again that it was better to do the work now than to wait and be forced to close the station at short notice due to safety reasons. At that time, MARTA said the work was "non-negotiable."