News
AMTRAK'S NEW HOME?
May 5, 2011
| Deteriorating foundation piers. An unsafe parking deck. Falling rocks endangering passengers. The plot of the next Bond movie? Nope, just a few reasons state officials are asking the federal government to help fund the development of a new Amtrak station next to IKEA off of 17th Street and Northside Drive. | |||
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| Here's where officials have applied for more than $22M to cover the costs of a new $38M Amtrak passenger station; it would be part of a limited-stop rail line with three stops—NY, Atlanta, and New Orleans, according to an application submitted by the Georgia Department of Transportation. | |||
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| We snapped the current Brookhaven Station (in lower Buckhead off of Peachtree Street), which is in significant need of repairs. It's seen ridership increase nearly 20% since 2009, according to official docs. Those problems include the parking deck, which state officials have closed due to unsafe conditions. And the docs say state officials are concerned that the ?foundation piers? holding up the actual structure are deteriorating and could risk causing rocks to slide down the hill and onto the passenger platform. The project would also seek to relieve bottlenecks between Amtrak passenger and Norfolk Southern cargo on the shared Crescent line rail, which can delay cargo rail deliveries up to two hours a day. |
