In April of last year when city officials gathered on Cheshire Bridge Road to celebrate the long-awaited reopening of the roadway, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens warned of the threat that homeless encampment fires could pose to the construction progress.
The first-term mayor said the city was looking to get ahead of any potential blazes caused by unhoused Atlantans trying to stay warm.
“The first lesson is to get as many people housed as possible and to go through our bridges and underpasses,” he said back then. “I’m trying to work with Georgia Department of Transportation to clean those areas up so that we prevent fires from happening.”
Eight months later, the mayor’s prediction unfortunately came to fruition. After a fire in 2021 already shuttered the bridge once, another fire that broke out under a railway overpass has closed it once again. Although authorities have not identified the cause of the blaze, city officials and advocates suspect unhoused Atlantans trying to stay warm may have unintentionally caused the damage.
Officials with GDOT could not immediately be reached for comment Friday on the issue.
Atlanta residents who frequently travel across the Cheshire Bridge shouldn’t expect good news about its repair anytime soon. The passageway will be closed for at least 10 weeks.
City Council member Alex Wan, who represents the area, said that, luckily, the bridge will be able to be repaired by shoring up existing supports and replacing one portion instead of having to demolish and rebuild the entire structure.
“While the initial approach was to get one or two lanes re-opened as soon as possible and continue working on the remainder of the bridge to open it to traffic,” Wan said in his monthly newsletter to residents, “it has been determined that it is better long term to complete the entire rehab work at once.”
The council member said that the city’s transportation department will be “monitoring” traffic in the surrounding neighborhoods and will take steps to mitigate jams when needed. But the area is already plagued with challenges at the LaVista Road/Cheshire Bridge Road intersection from a recent apartment fire.
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Credit: Courtesy of the City of Atlanta
Credit: Courtesy of the City of Atlanta
Dickens closed out his Year of the Youth initiative by ringing in the New Year at the historic Cascade skating rink with hundreds of Atlanta youth.
The mayor dubbed youth programs the main focus of his administration during 2023, which meant increased support for young residents — particularly those in vulnerable populations like the city’s LGBTQ+ community.
The city recently released stats on the summer employment program, which Dickens’ administration has bolstered during his time in office. According to last year’s report, Atlanta helped more than 5,400 youth land summer jobs at more than 150 different companies.
The young interns earned an average wage of $17.27 per hour.
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Credit: Courtesy of the City of Atlanta
Credit: Courtesy of the City of Atlanta
The AJC would like to extend a welcome to Allison J. Fouché, who has recently been appointed as the mayor’s new chief of communications. The position had been vacant since July.
Fouché previously served as the chief communications officer for the city of Memphis and worked in communications positions for Memphis Light Gas and Water, the National Civil Rights Museum and Chicago Public Schools.
A graduate of Middle Tennessee State University and West Virginia University, Fouché officially begins work in Atlanta this week.
Welcome to City Hall!
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Got tips, tricks or just want to say hello? Email me at riley.bunch@ajc.com.
Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
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