The community-led nonprofit Midtown Alliance announced a plan earlier this month to revamp nine blocks of Peachtree Street to better accommodate cyclists and pedestrians in the neighborhood’s steadily densifying, car-centric environment.
The proposed revisioning will stretch from North Avenue to 10th Street, which encompasses the Fox Theatre and various hotels, eateries and small businesses.
“Given Midtown’s density, our streets are called upon to do a lot of things,” said Dan Hourigan, director of transportation and sustainability at Midtown Alliance, in the announcement. “And Peachtree Street in particular carries a lot of potential as both a transportation conduit and a public space asset. It’s where people want to be.”
As one of Atlanta’s most popular thoroughfares, Peachtree Street often serves as the backdrop for major city gatherings, including the Atlanta Pride Parade, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Atlanta Streets Alive, a pedestrian-oriented event expected to make a comeback this fall.
The organization has recruited the firms Kimley-Horn and Snøhetta to help draft a new design for the street, the latter of which is responsible for helping redesign Times Square in New York City in 2017.
The plan is still in predevelopment, but Midtown Alliance says community input will be taken into consideration before official designs are finalized and further action is taken to revitalize the space.
“The Visioning Plan for Peachtree Street from North Avenue to 10th Street will create a new design language for the corridor by questioning what is currently underused asphalt and sidewalks and exploring the future of a livable street that supports a vibrant community,” the statement says. “Reallocating and reprioritizing — to balance vehicular spaces with active, human-centered places — is at the heart of this initiative.”
| . |