UPDATE: City officials say the bridge's closure is due to security concerns.
“This event has been categorized by the federal government as a Special Event Assessment Rating (SEAR) Level 1,” according to an Atlanta spokesperson. “The FBI and NFL in consultation with other security partners made the determination to close the bridge to the public ahead of the event. However, the bridge will be open for attendees to exit at the conclusion of the game.”
Credit: HANDOUT
Credit: HANDOUT
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Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ administration will not confirm a report that a $27 million pedestrian bridge over Northside Drive will be closed to the public for the Super Bowl.
A media report published Monday quoted statements from a spokesperson for the Atlanta Falcons’ parent company and from the Twitter account for MARTA that indicated the bridge would be closed.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution asked a city spokesman to confirm the report on Tuesday afternoon. Bottoms’ administration still had no answers as of 11 a.m. Wednesday.
The construction of the bridge began in 2016 under former Mayor Kasim Reed, whose administration promised that was being built for the Vine City community. However, the AJC that year published a story that showed city records indicating the bridge was built to benefit the new Mercedes Benz Stadium.
Last year, the Bottoms administration requested that the City Council authorize additional $10 million for the bridge, arguing that the money was needed to get the bridge ready for Super Bowl 53.
More on this story later on ajc.com
ORIGINAL DOCUMENT: See the Nov. 2015 bridge study -- “A Path to Connectivity”
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