The nation’s top federal transportation official will come to metro Atlanta on Friday as U.S. senators continue to hammer out the details of the $1.2 trillion infrastructure deal.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will make a stop in DeKalb and Gwinnett counties to support the bill’s proposed investments in transportation safety and electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
Buttigieg will hold a press conference with state and local officials at noon in front of Peachtree Corners City Hall to discuss suburban transportation needs. Among the officials will be U.S. Carolyn Bourdeaux, who has voiced support for expanding public transit and greenway systems in suburban areas.
Before the conference, Buttigieg will tour The Curiosity Lab, the Gwinnett city’s publicly funded innovation lab. Peachtree Corners brands itself as a “smart city” and has boasted solar-powered EV charging stations, self-driving shuttles and autonomous vehicle testing.
Buttigieg will tour the Buford Highway corridor at 1 p.m. in Doraville with U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath and local officials to view planned improvements to New Peachtree Road. A press conference will be held at the Doraville MARTA station after the tour.
The infrastructure bill is poised to award Georgia billions of dollars over the next five years to repair and build highways, improve public transportation, expand the EV charging network, build or improve broadband networks and provide benefits to help low-income families afford Internet.
Buttigieg visited Georgia to tout Biden’s infrastructure plan in May. He’ll be the third Cabinet official to visit metro Atlanta this week, following U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra on Monday and U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Wednesday.
