Mayor Dickens wants to halt MARTA Five Point's renovation amid financial concerns

ATLANTA - Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and MARTA officials are at odds over the planned renovation of the city's busiest MARTA station.

Thousands of people rely on the Five Points MARTA Station to get to and from work.

Mayor Andre Dickens sent MARTA a letter asking officials to halt a major renovation to the station due to questions about possible financial mismanagement of the MORE MARTA sales tax program.

The city council passed a resolution Monday, backing the mayor.

"It feels a bit unprecedented, right? Our concerns are valid. The proposal for Five Points has four years of blocked pedestrian access. The proposal is largely aesthetic. It doesn't change the functionality of the station and there's an audit that we are waiting to hear from," District 2 Councilman Amir Farokhi explained.

The city believes the results of the audit should be disclosed before the multi-million-dollar renovation takes place, which would close street and bus access until 2028. However, the trains would keep rolling.

Just three weeks ago, MARTA's General Manager updated the council.

"The station transformation is another story, and that is a $230 million investment. We have been working since to get under contract with Skanska. Everything is aligned now, and they will begin work this summer deconstructing the canopy," MARTA GM Collie Greenwood told the Atlanta Finance committee on May 29.

MARTA plans to reopen briefly when the World Cup comes to Atlanta in 2026.

The GM said in his letter, the renovations were already approved by the City of Atlanta and the MARTA Board of Directors.

But, some transportation officials also appear lukewarm.

"We are spending $230 million to build a transparent canopy. MARTA is closing pedestrian and bus access to its busiest station until 2028 and for those that rely on the elevator to transfer between lines, they will have to use a bus bridge to travel," Director of Central Atlanta Progress Shayna Pollack commented.

Both the renovations and the audit are expected to occur in July.