UrbanizeAtlNewsBot

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MARTA trains to skip Gold Line station for six full weeks Josh Green Thu, 08/29/2024 - 08:04 For the second time this year, MARTA plans to temporarily close a transit station on its busy north-south line for upgrades the agency says will save time and money in the long run.

Between Oct. 7 and Nov. 15, MARTA trains will skip the Brookhaven station stop on the Gold Line, fully restricting access to and from the station for rail customers.

The closure will allow construction crews to replace 40-year-old pavers on Brookhaven’s rail station platform that are in such bad shape they’re on the verge of becoming a safety hazard, according to MARTA.

Courtesy of MARTA

Rail service on the rest of MARTA’s Gold Line won’t be impacted, because Brookhaven repairs will be relegated to the station platform and won’t involve track work, allowing trains to travel through.

Local bus service at Brookhaven station—Routes 8, 25, 47, and 110—will also run as scheduled. No parking lots or tunnels will be closed.

To get Brookhaven rail customers back on track during repairs, so to speak, MARTA plans to provide a bus-shuttle service between Brookhaven and Lenox stations to the south, and Brookhaven and Chamblee stations to the north. (Nonetheless, MARTA officials are advising train riders who normally park at Brookhaven to consider free daily parking at the closest alternate stations: Lenox, Chamblee, or Doraville.)

The scope of Brookhaven work during the six-week closure will include: demolishing existing flooring and installing new tiles; pressure-washing the concrete, sealing it, and applying a graffiti-resistant coating; and installing new tactile warning strips on platform edges, benches, and trash cans.

Courtesy of MARTA

Closing the station will reduce the timeline for those repairs by two years and cut the estimated cost by $9 million while boosting safety for everyone at the transit hub, according to MARTA.

Earlier this year, MARTA also closed its Airport station for six weeks and deployed a bus-shuttle system to fast-track construction for repairs and upgrades in April and May—a tactic that initially worried frequent customers but ended up going smoothly, by most accounts.

Additional work in the pipeline at Brookhaven station will rehab the concourse, install new SMART restrooms that use tech to keep spaces cleaner and safer, repair the canopy and walls, and upgrade signs, according to MARTA.

Collectively, the Brookhaven upgrades are projected to cost $13 million through fiscal year 2027 as part of MARTA’s roughly $1 billion Station Rehabilitation Program. That initiative is aiming to enhance safety and aesthetics at all 38 MARTA rail stations over the next several years.

Work that’s previously been checked off the list at Brookhaven station includes ADA improvements, parking lot repaving, and replacement of a traction power substation’s roof.

“The pavers on the platform at Brookhaven are in poor condition,” Collie Greenwood, MARTA general manager and CEO, noted in a statement this week. “We’ve repaired them as best we can over the years but it’s time to replace them before it becomes a safety hazard for our customers and creates accessibility challenges getting on and off the train.”

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