Bridge timeline:
November 2013: Cobb Commission Chairman Tim Lee announces in the Marietta newspaper the plan to build a bridge over I-285, connecting the new stadium with the county's convention and performing arts centers. The announcement comes one day after the Braves announce their intent to move to Cobb County. Lee incorrectly tells the newspaper that the bridge is part of the stadium construction budget and won't be an extra expense.
May 2014: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the bridge's future is in doubt after the cost estimate rose to $9 million, from $3.5 million. "I don't think anything about the bridge is certain at this point," Cobb transportation director Faye DiMassimo tells the newspaper.
July 2014: In front of a throng of reporters, Lee again says that bridge construction will not require any local tax dollars.
November 2014: The AJC reviews hundreds of pages of documents obtained through the state's open records law, which show county taxpayers would fund at least half of bridge construction costs, and that to save money the bridge would no longer carry a transit vehicle.
January 2015: The county issues a request for proposal for bridge design that asks for a double-deck bridge that could carry the transit vehicle on the bottom span and pedestrians on the top. The county offered a 2-percent bonus if the engineering firm finished its work in time for construction bids to be opened by October. The plan is to have the bridge ready by March 2017. County officials say the budget is still $9 million.
May 2015: The AJC reports that right-of-way costs will add an estimated $2 million to the cost of the bridge, and that the nearly $1 million for design and engineering is also not included in the county's construction estimate. Bridge engineers not associated with the project say construction alone could easily top $12 million.
July 2015: Commissioners approve a preliminary design for the bridge that is a single span and will carry both pedestrians and transit vehicles.
July 2015: The AJC is the first to report that engineers say bridge construction can not be completed until September 2017, or the last month of the Braves inaugural season in SunTrust Park. The newspaper also reports that a parking deck near the convention center will have to be reinforced for transit vehicles to access the bridge. The cost for the parking deck reinforcement is unclear.
July 2015: Some members of Cobb Galleria Authority, which oversees the county's convention and performing arts centers and must approve bridge construction, express concern at the impact of the bridge on their businesses.
September 2015: The Georgia Department of Transportation declines to provide any financing for the bridge. The document shows the parking deck reinforcement would cost an estimated $3.5 million, which also was not included in the county's $9 million cost estimate. Commission Chairman Tim Lee says the county's portion of the bridge will be funded with Federal Transit Administration money.
September 2015: Lee announces that the bridge will not be open for any part of the Braves first season in SunTrust Park, but vows that it will be built.
October 2015: The AJC obtains the first detailed budget for the bridge project. It shows the I-285 span costing $9 million and a second span, over Circle 75 Parkway to SunTrust Park for pedestrians only, costing an additional $2.2 million. There was no estimate for purchase of right-of-way.
December 2015: The first hint that the bridge project may be back on track: Derek Schiller, the Braves executive vice president of sales and marketing, tells a business group that the team is "optimistic" that the bridge will be complete in time for the Braves first pitch in the new ballpark.
January 2016: The Cumberland CID approves providing $5 million for bridge construction at a special meeting. Members say the infusion of cash could help the project be completed by April 2017. County Commissioners approve the bridge design and are told the budget is $9.8 million, without any documentation of those costs.
February 2016: County transportation officials confirm that the North End Plaza has been removed from the project budget, and say contracts will be let in April. The county hopes it will be open a year later in time for the first pitch in the new stadium.
After making the long trek across the bridge to SunTrust Park, pedestrians were going to be treated to a park-like plaza with manicured landscaping, a fountain of water cascading down steps, benches and an elevator to get back up to the bridge.
All of that is gone now, victim of the political desire to keep the bridges’ cost under $10 million.
A new $9.4 million estimate for the 1,100-foot bridge over Interstate 285 has scrapped the North End Plaza, for a savings of approximately $900,000. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution obtained the new budget under Georgia’s Open Records Act.
The project is actually two bridges — a major span over the interstate that will carry pedestrians and, eventually, a circulator bus; and a shorter, pedestrian-only bridge skipping over Circle 75 Parkway.
The bridges will connect Cobb’s business hub with the Braves $1 billion stadium and mixed-use developments, and are considered critical safety elements to keep pedestrians off busy Cobb Parkway and away from traffic moving in or out of the stadium development.
Jim Wilgus, Cobb’s interim transportation director, told the AJC last month that the plaza was “value engineered” out of the project. What will take its place?
“There is a set of stairs,” Wilgus replied through email. The stairs appear to be two flights in construction documents.
The engineering team designing the two bridges found savings in other places too, according to the new budget: $311,000 from other landscaping; $310,000 from the construction budget for the interstate bridge; and $71,000 from retaining walls.
However, a lot of those savings could be put right back in the project — a line item on the new budget shows “optional” LED architectural lighting at $700,000 that is not part of the cost estimate.
The document says the budget represents 90-percent of the construction plans.
Commissioner Bob Ott, who represents the stadium area, said he doesn’t think anyone at the county knows what the final price will be. He called it a “political bridge” because it has been controversial and Commission Chairman Tim Lee has promised that it would not cost more than $9 million.
“All I know is that as a commissioner, I have not seen a budget for the project,” Ott said. “I would hope that next week the commissioners will be shown it.”
It was difficult for the AJC to get the cost estimate.
The newspaper reported in October that a preliminary budget for the project showed two bridges and cost estimates $2.2 million more than the $9 million price tag Lee had said would not be exceeded.
The AJC made a request for all bridge-related documentation again this year, after commissioners approved the bridge's design in January. The newspaper received 950 pages of documents with only three pages dealing with cost — the same three-page preliminary budget that the newspaper reported on in October.
That led the newspaper to make another request, specifically asking for bridge cost estimates, to which the county provided a power point presentation shown to commissioners — not detailed estimates of the various costs for construction materials.
“We did not ask for or receive a detailed cost estimate before the (commission) meeting,” Wilgus said in an email, referring to the engineering consultant designing the bridge.
The newspaper then asked why the county had not requested an estimate of detailed costs, why there was no documentation of the costs outlined in the power point, and how engineers were able to come up with a credible budget if there were no detailed estimates.
Wilgus responded with the updated budget, which includes detailed line items showing the cost of materials to be used for building the roadway, drainage, signage, security, lighting, landscaping, walls and both bridges.
The Cumberland CID has agreed to provide $5 million for bridge construction; the county plans to use Federal Transit Administration funding for its share.
Those costs do not include $800,000 for the engineering firm or land purchases that will be necessary before the bridges can be built. The county is currently in negotiations with two land owners. Commissioners last week delayed a decision on a transportation department request to allow the county to force the sale of land through a court action, if the negotiations fall apart.
Wilgus said he anticipates contracts for bridge construction to be let in April. The county hopes it will be open a year later in time for the first pitch in the new stadium.
Go here to see a video of the bridge's design.
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