ATLANTA — On Tuesday all voters in the city of Atlanta approved three referendums totaling $750,000,000 in infrastructure projects.
Now the city will get to work.
In total there are 153 projects that the city has planned and has now received approval to spend taxpayer money on.
Recently the Atlanta City Council adopted an ordinance to make sure the projects and spending stay on target. The city auditor will be tasked with reviewing the progress and financials for the projects on a yearly basis.
Quarterly, a 15-person committee appointed by the mayor, council president, and council members will meet to review the projects and advise the mayor, city council, and public as needed.
The projects are broken into three main categories. Transportation, public safety, and parks and recreation.
Transportation
Transportation is the largest part of the package with $460,000,000 in planned expenses.
The budgeted items include streets, sidewalks, and bridges. There is $196.5 million to repair and install new sidewalks in specific neighborhoods and along major streets. $108 million is to be spent to improve safety along certain streets and install protected bike lanes.
One smaller but important item is $7,000,000 for the Chesire Bridge emergency repair.
Parks and recreation
Parks and recreation take up $161,400,000 of the funds voters approved.
The city's plan shows that $72,800,000 is to be spent on recreation centers and pools, both for new facilities and renovations of existing structures.
Another $64.6 million is earmarked for improvements across dozens of city parks both large and smaller neighborhood parks.
Public safety
Public safety spending adds up to $92,400,000.
Nearly $70 million is being set aside to replace four of the city's dated fire stations and the Zone 4 Atlanta Police precinct.
The city is earmarking $15,000,000 to be used to improve the city's 911 call center with the goal of decreasing response times.
Mayor Andre Dickens toured the facility earlier this month. During the tour, 11Alive saw multiple calls being placed on hold for up to a minute, according to a monitor in the call center. The 911 director admitted that currently only 82% of calls are answered within the first 10 seconds. Funds will be used to help address some of these concerns.
The remaining $36,000,000 will be invested in funds for each council district, allowing each council member to spend $3,000,000 on projects specific to their neighborhoods that aren't already covered by the infrastructure package.
To view the full project list and keep track of the city's plans, click here to read the Moving Atlanta Forward infrastructure package.