ATLANTA — The federal government has approved $25 million in funding to go toward improvements at the Five Points MARTA station.
The funding will go toward MARTA's plan to renovate the plaza around the station and install a new canopy over the station's entrance.
The funding was announced by the U.S. Department of Transportation on Thursday, and comes through the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program.
A DOT release said: "The project will improve the experience of travelers at the station and make transfers easier. By rebuilding an aging and confusing station, the project eliminates long walks to bus transfers in areas that are not adequately monitored, and users will not need to cross streets, improving safety by eliminating modal conflicts."
MARTA tweeted its thanks to a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers who have supported the project, including Democratic Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, Democratic Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and Republican Georgia House Speaker David Ralston.
A second, roughly equal batch of funding - $24.9 million - was also approved to improve North Avenue in Downtown Athens.
A release said Athens-Clarke County will be using that money to:
...make Complete Street improvements along North Avenue from Downtown Athens, at the intersection of North Avenue and Willow Street, to just north of SR-10 at the intersection of Freeman Drive/Collins Industrial Boulevard. Ten bus stops along the corridor will be upgraded to accommodate sidewalks and transit stops. Throughout the corridor, traffic signals will be upgraded with pedestrian signals, and lighting and wayfinding will be installed. The road will be resurfaced with drainage improvements, and a shared use path will be constructed.