Preservation group urges council to keep sky-bridge item on table, cites streetscape concerns

David Mitchell, executive director of the Atlanta Preservation Center, urged members of the Atlanta City Council Committee on Council during public comment to keep an upcoming item about a proposed sky-bridge on the table for more public study and discussion.

"I beseech you to have the same courage you did last week and keeping this thing on the table," Mitchell said, referring to the committee’s earlier action. He told the committee the proposal, listed in the meeting materials as item 20-25-0-1340 (a Sky Bridge proposal), had not been fully studied or publicly reviewed.

Mitchell said an easement for a permanent sky bridge over Martin Luther King Jr. Drive would be "obtrusive and unnecessary," and cautioned that an elevated crossing would further reduce the attractiveness of a corridor he said has already been compromised by parking and other obstructions. He urged the council to prioritize street-level engagement and walking over constructing an above-street crossing.

Mitchell also argued the underground tunnel option and any above-street bridge would involve millions of dollars, and he framed his appeal in terms of taxpayer concern and the civic value of street life: "As a concerned taxpayer ... not spending any money at all and helping people to exercise, utilize the phenomenal streets ... seems to me rather counterproductive to allow [a] sky bridge to be passed and supported."

His remarks came during the public comment portion of the Committee on Council meeting; the committee then proceeded to its legislative agenda, which included separate nomination items. The committee did not take an immediate vote on the sky-bridge concept during this meeting.