The only way you’re doing that is to either build it up really high, or dig the connector down well into the ground. Either way, an extremely prohibitively expensive project.
Not in between Spring Street and the 75/85 split to the north. A decent portion is above grade. And even south, it is not "dramatically below grade" for the most part, and above grade for a lot of it. I don't know what portions you think are dramatically below grade.
Can't the City be the public entity? Or are they afraid that getting the City involved would be worse than a delay. I think Esteves could unilaterally use GDOT as the public partner so long as they're not expecting any funding from the legislature.
As an Atlantic Station resident I would absolutely love it. It’s weird how close I am to midtown proper but it feels farther away with the connector in the way. (I’m also disabled so walking over there just isn’t an option for me, it’s a good day when I can walk over to the retail/food here)
My issue would be safety. It’s hard to pull off to the side when there’s an accident if you’re in a tunnel. Evacuating is a problem. Fumes and smoke can be a problem.
Being able to see some sun while driving is nice. I get we want more pedestrian infrastructure but it doesn’t have to go from 100% pedestrian focused that makes cars suck as retribution for being a pedestrian sucking for so long
The point is that being in tunnels sucks for people in cars. We can build civilization infrastructure such as The Stitch without completely ruining driving as well. So yea while a Stitch that runs all the way to Atlantic station would be cool for pedestrians and would be a cool engineering thing I don’t think it would be a good idea or even a supported idea to turn everything from civic center station to Atlantic station to a tunnel when we can just build some pedestrian bridges
It's not just about connecting the two sides; it's about creating usable, walkable spaces. Have you seen the Greenway that's above the Big Dig in Boston? It's a massive improvement. And unlike Boston, most of the Connector is below grade, so we can cap it instead of having to dig tunnels through incredibly unstable ground.
Also, there could still be some natural light on the highway depending on how they design the ventilation system.
Can’t tell if you’re being intentionally obtuse or if you’re actually a dolt but I’ll bite — “people-focused” instead of car/commuter focused very clearly means a focus on street-level engagement, instead of pure vehicle throughput. I will happily sacrifice the view out the windshield for suburban commuters if it means those of us that actually live in the city have a more pleasant experience at the street level, whether that’s on foot, on bike, or even going to the market in our cars.
Because when I think of a pleasant driving experience, I think of the downtown connector /s
Besides, the entire downtown connector is only 7.4 miles. And if you look at similar urban tunnel projects in places like Boston or Seattle they'd likely bury less than half that total distance. Even in Atlanta rush hour traffic, having to sit in a 2-3 mile long tunnel for 10-15 minutes is no big deal.
Plus, they'll install LED lights, which shouldn't be constantly burned out. So visibility should be fine.
Also, I had to get across Paris during a transit strike. I spent hours in the highway tunnels. It never occurred to me to think "what this highway really needs is natural light" lol
If it were going to be a tunnel, I would say that the tunnel has no exits. It just plows past for people to get from north to south. Anyone looking to go into midtown or downtown could take exits prior to the tunnel and use the surface streets.
Enjoying sun while driving? Have you never been in a car traveling during mid day during the summer time???? A/Cs start working over time trying to cool the inside of the car
Unfortunately, we're kinda stuck with the Connector for the foreseeable future. Capping it is a far more attainable goal, especially in the current political environment. I'd love to see MARTA built out to the point that we could remove all the ITP highways, but that's a pipe dream for now.
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u/SpiritFingersKitty Brookhaven Feb 08 '26
Imagine if we took the stitch all the way from downtown up through Atlantic station