ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Atlanta’s streets are set to see a major resurfacing initiative.
In an Atlanta News First interview, Atlanta’s Department of Transportation Commissioner Solomon Caviness said the city will soon invest $24 million into resurfacing Atlanta’s roads.
“$24 million will be invested and rolled out over the next three quarters,” said Caviness.
Caviness said that $24 million investment includes $12 million approved in 2023 by the Atlanta City Council that is earmarked for resurfacing.
The investment includes resurfacing, enhancing sidewalks and making safety and equity improvements, according to Caviness.
“I want Atlanta to be a place where people can drive their cars without having accidents and tearing them up, and having to come to (the city) and ask for claims and cash back,” said Marci Collier Overstreet, an Atlanta City council member.
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In the last year, the city paid $71,813 to 47 individuals who allegedly suffered damage to their car or bodily injury from a pothole or metal plate.
Atlanta News First reviewed the claims filed and deferred from July 2023 to July 2024.
“My reaction is we are working hard to address the insufficiencies,” said Caviness when asked about these settlements.
If you experience damage to your car after hitting a pothole or metal plate, you can file a claim with the city here.
“It was messed up pretty bad because there was air coming out of the tire,” said Curtis Jackson, who hit a metal plate along Campbellton Road in December 2022.
Overstreet said Campbellton Road has not been fully resurfaced since the 1990s.
“That’s 30 years. That’s a long time. And that’s not right. And it is unsafe. There’s no way we should have any major arteries like that slipping through the cracks for decades. There’s no reason for it,” said Overstreet, who has appealed to the Department of Transportation to prioritize the southside for resurfacing projects.
Jackson said it took more than a year before his claim was settled with the city for $983.38.
There were 2,692 potholes reported in the first six months of 2024 on the city’s 311 line, according to officials.
In 2022, Mayor Andre Dickens re-launched the “Pothole Posse,” a task force focused on refilling potholes.
Caviness said the city has filled roughly 22,000 potholes since Dickens took office.
Dickens helped shepherd in the city’s Department of Transportation while he was a city council member.
Caviness said among the department’s challenges include the complex network of roads in the city, many falling under state jurisdiction.
Caviness gave Atlanta’s roads a C+ rating.
“We’re going into another rating of our street network and we’ll truth that C-plus,” said Caviness. “Be an advocate, when you see us working. We could use a pat on the back. If we’re going to get where we’d like to be for my kids, and my kids’ kids, it’s important that we work together as a beloved community, to bring this to bare,” said Caviness.
Among Caviness’ other priorities is to improve safety across the city.
He highlighted progress in the city’s “Vision Zero” effort to bring traffic fatalities and serious injuries from major incidents to zero.
“The administration has made ‘One Safe City’ one of its key pillars to make sure quality of life is improved throughout the city,” said Caviness.
Caviness said year-over-year fatalities and serious injuries dropped 23 percent from 2023 to 2024.
In 2024, the city is seeing a 60% reduction in fatalities on Atlanta’s roads.
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