Courtland–Piedmont safety deal returns with $847,000 more—and an unexecuted predecessor

Atlanta’s proposed agreement for safety improvements on Courtland Street and Piedmont Avenue is back at a higher price: $6,842,518.50, an increase of $846,901 over the authorization approved in 2025. But the new legislation contains a consequential caveat: the earlier project-management agreement was never executed.⁠[1]

The Transportation Committee is scheduled to consider the new proposal, Resolution 26-R-4413, at its November 9 meeting beginning at 10 a.m. It would authorize an agreement between the city’s transportation department and the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District—not establish that a construction contract has already been executed.⁠[1]

The downtown project traces to the 2022 transportation sales-tax project list, which called for dedicated bus lanes on Courtland, protected bike lanes on Courtland and Piedmont near Georgia State University, and safety improvements. The new resolution describes the construction broadly as multimodal safety improvements; it does not establish a construction start date or final lane configuration.⁠[1]

The increase exactly matches an $846,901 development impact-fee contribution in the new funding package. The resolution says the city’s capital-improvement plan identified $2 million in impact fees for the Piedmont Safer Street Corridor Project, but only $846,901 is currently available. The largest proposed contribution remains $5 million from the 2022 transportation sales-tax fund.⁠[1]

City Council authorized the earlier $5,995,617.50 agreement in March 2025. The new resolution says it was not executed but does not explain why. That leaves an important distinction for residents watching the project: a funding authorization is not the same as a completed agreement or a construction-start announcement.⁠[1]

Even under the new proposal, the agreement would not bind the city until the mayor or a designee signs it, the municipal clerk attests to it and it is delivered to the improvement district.⁠[1]