City Council signs over air rights for state Capitol skybridge

The controversial skybridge proposal was initially met with harsh words from city leaders, especially those who represent downtown neighborhoods.

Opponents argued that it would reduce foot traffic downtown, hindering efforts to revitalize the area, and would also create an eyesore at the 136-year-old state Capitol.

Atlanta City Council members — who are usually at the mercy of state decisions — seemed poised to stand up against the plans that Gov. Brian Kemp signed into the budget last year.

But the body backed down on Monday and ultimately approved the structure despite concerns.

Dozier, who represents downtown, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, that he was disappointed by the final vote.

“The work that we are doing to make downtown a destination, a lot of that has been done in partnership with the state,” he said. “And so their decision to push forward with this skybridge, I think, runs counter to that vision.”

“But I’m hopeful that the fact that the city of Atlanta pushed back and stood our ground — even if only for a brief moment — sends a message that municipalities across the state deserve to have a stronger say in our destinies,” he added.

Credit: Houser Walker Architecture

Credit: Houser Walker Architecture

The elevated walkway is part of a massive $400 million makeover to Capitol Hill. The state needed Atlanta’s permission to build the bridge since it crosses a right-of-way owned by the city. The council also needed to hand over air rights for the project to move forward.

“This project will improve not only safety and security to the Capitol but it will dramatically improve its accessibility for the public,” Gerald Pilgrim, chief of staff for the Georgia Building Authority, said in a statement.

During the City Council transportation committee meeting last week, the legislation was unanimously held after being described as “bad public policy” and “antagonistic” toward the community where it would sit.

Credit: Alyssa Pointer / Alyssa.Pointer@ajc.com

Credit: Alyssa Pointer / Alyssa.Pointer@ajc.com

Lawmakers from across the state flock to Atlanta for 40 legislative days — or around three to four months of work — before returning to their Georgia communities. In recent years, the state has made a variety of changes to the area around the Gold Dome, shutting off streets and even installing a $5 million, 8-foot-tall steel fence around the building.

John Fischer, president of the Atlanta Downtown Neighborhood Association, slammed the state’s skybridge proposal on Monday, saying that previous projects of its kind constructed downtown “have contributed to the stagnation of growth in the center of the city.”

“The state of Georgia Building Authority claims that with the skybridge, legislators won’t even have to leave the building, and there’s nothing else in the area,” he said. “Well, obviously, the director has never left the Capitol building, because less than two blocks away is Underground Atlanta.”

The city’s preservationists also decried the project, saying it would significantly take away from the historic facade of the Capitol building.

“The transportation committee last week did something noble and courageous, and it put this thing on the table … but now here we are,” David Mitchell, executive director of the Atlanta Preservation Center, told the council ahead of the vote on the legislation.

“We’ll be the only state in the entire country that has a skybridge on our Capitol — we will have something that makes us look like a shopping mall on our Capitol for eternity,” he said.