Atlanta’s neighborhoods wait years for voter-approved projects

“We’re standing in a right of way that could have a sidewalk,” she said. “There are children behind me, people walking up and down and the cars are zipping by.”

Credit: Riley Bunch/riley.bunch@ajc.com

Credit: Riley Bunch/riley.bunch@ajc.com

The renewal of Atlanta’s transportation sales tax, known as T-SPLOST, was approved by voters in 2022 and set aside more than $10 million to install sidewalks along Browns Mill Road. Construction is scheduled to start in summer 2026.

The tax was backed by voters along with the massive Moving Atlanta Forward bond package — touted by officials as one of the largest infrastructure investments in city history.

But a startling audit found only about $47 million of the $660 million program had been spent as of August 2024 — about 7% of planned project funds.

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens touted his administration’s infrastructure successes Tuesday while on stage at his annual “State of the City” address to a packed auditorium. The speech highlighted massive development projects in the works, particularly in downtown neighborhoods ahead of the FIFA World Cup in 2026.

But residents across a variety of neighborhoods worry that the city is overlooking projects already promised to voters — some that have been in the works for a decade or more in the most underserved areas.

According to the project list, none of the more than 100 safe street upgrades and sidewalk installations is under construction yet, including Browns Mill Road. But transportation infrastructure promises aren’t the only areas that have failed to get a start. A number of community center upgrades, park improvements and trail expansions are waiting to break ground.

Only one public safety project has been completed — Atlanta’s new diversion center. And while the city has started construction of new fire stations 26 and 30, two more fire hubs, an emergency services station, a police precinct and a highly anticipated 911 center haven’t broken ground yet.

Credit: Riley Bunch/riley.bunch@ajc.com

Credit: Riley Bunch/riley.bunch@ajc.com

The Moving Atlanta Forward report also warned that if the slow progress continues, later projects may be at risk of being scrapped entirely as earlier projects increase in costs — especially in low income areas of the city.

“If you say you’re going to do it for Browns Mill — do it,” Dent said. “Our cry over here is pavement on the ground, now.”

The audit findings that the city’s capital projects are lagging years behind wasn’t surprising to Atlanta council members. During committee meetings, Atlanta’s legislative leaders had harsh words about the lack of progress.

“It reflects the anxiety that I feel on a day-to-day basis with the projects in my district,” said Council member Amir Farokhi, who represents District 2 where less than 1% of allocated funds have been spent. “The most deflating thing about being on council: how hard it is to get things done. It’s the most demoralizing aspect of this job because we will allocate funds, we’ll go through community work, there’ll be months if not years of preparation.

“And then there’s just radio silence.”

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com

Kyle Kessler, director of policy and research at the Center for Civic Innovation, said the city digs itself a deeper hole with the lack of dollars allocated to routine infrastructure maintenance and departments failing to advocate for day-to-day repair funds or additional staffing during budget discussions.

“When there’s stuff that just sort of lingers and lingers or projects go way over budget, it’s a real damper in spirit because what voters were sold — this much larger list of projects that (the city) could accomplish in a definite period of time with the limited funding — suddenly vaporizes.”

“And it’s a much smaller list over an even longer period of time,” Kessler said.

In a recent interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s editorial board, Dickens said he anticipates the number of completed projects will grow substantially within the next two years. But, he said he understands residents’ frustration.

“I’m frustrated too — I live on these roads — it’s reasonable for everybody to be frustrated,” he said. “We’re trying to deal with it and resolve all the challenges of getting these big projects done.”

The audit revealed another disturbing reality: slow project progress had led to inequities across the city. Council districts with higher poverty rates recorded far less spending than more affluent districts.

That’s true in District 1, on the southeast side of the city, which has a 22% poverty rate. Less than 1% of the district’s allocated project funds have been spent. Also in Council District 12 on the south side of the city, which has a 28% poverty rate but only 2% of its funds have been spent.

While city officials celebrated breaking ground on Fire Station 30 in September, Council member Antonio Lewis said residents are still waiting on sidewalk safety improvements along busy roadways like Browns Mill Road and University Avenue.

“We’d like to see shovels in the ground,” Lewis said. “People in my district are OK with construction because they know construction means progress. My only hope is that we don’t run out of money before they get to us.”

Credit: Riley Bunch/riley.bunch@ajc.com

Credit: Riley Bunch/riley.bunch@ajc.com

Projects on the chopping block

District 12 resident Joyce Smith said their neighborhoods have been waiting on infrastructure improvements long before major bond packages were approved by voters.

“It’s time for (the city) to come over to the south side and give us some sidewalks,” she said. “I don’t think it’s fair that we don’t have sidewalks for our community and our children.”

Atlanta has such an extensive history of slow project rollouts that the backlog of voter-approved infrastructure upgrades might cause some to be slashed from to-do lists altogether.

Approved by voters in 2015, the Renew Atlanta program promised $250 million in bonds to address a $1 billion backlog of transportation infrastructure enhancements and maintenance. And in 2016, Atlantans OK’d the first round of Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, or T-SPLOST, which generated $260 million more for transportation projects.

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com

In Midtown, residents have been eagerly awaiting a Monroe Drive complete street makeover that was first promised as part of the Renew Atlanta program. The project was extended through the Moving Atlanta Forward package but is still in the design phase.

When the audit results came out, Courtney Smith wasn’t surprised. Smith is a member of Neighborhood Planning Unit E, which represents the Midtown area.

“It reinforced with data the frustrations we were seeing in lack of project movement,” Smith said. “We can tell when projects aren’t moving along.”

Smith said the roadway upgrades that have stretched over nearly a decade are also racing against population increases and development that might require project design changes.

“That corridor is in a rapidly changing area of the city,” she said. “When you have a project that’s delayed eight to 10 years, that entire project is different by the time it goes under construction. What people aren’t acknowledging is what might have been a painted sidewalk eight years ago needs to now be a far more expensive crossing signal.”

Council members requested yearly audits of the Moving Atlanta Forward package after the previous bond programs turned out to be significantly over budget with long construction delays.

“This is not a new problem — this is not a Dickens administration problem, a Bottoms administration problem, a Reed administration problem,” said councilman Dustin Hillis, who was elected in 2017. “It has been an issue since before I was a council member.”

He pointed out that delivery of transportation upgrades fall far behind the other two departments with Moving Atlanta Forward projects — Parks and Recreation and Enterprise Management.

“The frustration continues with ATLDOT,” Hillis said.

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com

All three departments in charge of infrastructure projects face staffing challenges, particularly for project managers, which has greatly impacted work progress. The Atlanta Department of Transportation struggles the most with open positions.

Atlanta’s Chief Operating Officer LaChandra Burks told council members that the city is working to fill those roles. Atlanta City Council members also recently approved a $5 million contract with a project management consulting firm to help speed the infrastructure projects along.

“The transportation projects are very detailed, much larger projects than some of the others,” she said. “Some of these complete street projects are major.”

Advocates have asked council members to freeze requests for new projects until communities are given upgrades they were already promised.

Moving Atlanta Forward and T-SPLOST renewal allocated $196 million for sidewalks and trails, $108 million for safe street projects like protected bike lanes and $32 million in street repairs.

Rebecca Serna, director of PropelATL, said that no sidewalk or safe street projects included as part of the program have been completed.

“It just feels like ‘Moving Atlanta Forward’ is more of a catchphrase than an infrastructure program,” she said.

Cascade Complete Street is one of a number of major roadway projects that have stretched across both the Renew Atlanta and Moving Atlanta Forward bond programs. Council member Marci Collier Overstreet said residents should have had new sidewalks along the corridor “years ago.”

“The longer it takes us to complete these projects, the more the cost will be and the scopes will change, the projects will fall off, and we just don’t want that anymore,” she said. “We can’t forget Renew. We have to be able to deliver what we’ve promised across the board.”