Durrett, Massell Offer Buckhead Visions

Speaking of the future of Buckhead, Buckhead CID's own  Jim Durrett gave a little insight into the future of that submarket's infrastructure and a little bit about MARTA (he sits on its board). The goal of all the streetscape work, Jim says, is to make Buckhead "much more walkable and bikeable than it is today." (And skateboardable if you're a cool dude who doesn't play by the rules.) A big project to that end, he says, is the planned  pedestrian bridge that will cross over GA 400 behind Tower Place leading to Stratford Road. The other big plan is Path 400—a five-mile long biking/walking path that will eventually connect to the Atlanta Beltline. "One of these days you will even be able to get to Alabama on the Silver Comet Trail."Jim also says to expect MARTA to begin negotiating a contract this year for the King Memorial Station with a private developer. And he trumpeted MARTA's "Ride With Respect" campaign that enforces a new code of conduct for passengers on the train. "We are  earning the trust of others, and we're partnering with the private sector," he says, adding that MARTA will go to the State Legislature for funding with these changes under its credibility belt.Buckhead's "Mayor" himself, Buckhead Coalition's Sam Massell, sat down for a quick Q&A with Trowbridge Partners' David Smith about transportation and Buckhead's future. And in his usual humor, when the topic of traffic came up, Sam responded, "We got wonderful traffic. This building wouldn't be here if we didn't have traffic." Sam says the health of Buckhead dictates the economic health of metro Atlanta, which in turn, dictates the health of the state. "So Buckhead is really that  tail that's wagging the dog." He also predicts in 25 years, Buckhead will be more of the same, but it will be running maybe a little more smoothly. (Also there will be a lot more robots.)