Images: People-friendly extension of Midtown street plows ahead

Josh Green

Mon, 08/04/2025 – 08:12

Slowly but surely, two formerly empty lots in Midtown are becoming a connective new street with space for more than cars.

Sidewalk pouring, utility relocation, granite curb installation, and other work continues for the 15th Street extension that’s taking shape around two busy north-south traffic corridors, with hopes of opening soon.

The 15th Street extension will create a multimodal, people-friendly, two-block link from the Arts Center MARTA station to Williams Street, near the downtown Connector. After breaking ground early last year, work on site has included rock blasting and removal.

Previously, 15th Street dead-ended at West Peachtree Street, next to the AMLI Arts Center and Hanover Midtown apartment towers.

Recent sidewalk installation between Spring and Williams streets, looking west toward Atlantic Station. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

Courtesy of Midtown Alliance

That walled off access to the transit hub for sections of Spring Street, where hundreds of new residences have recently taken shape in buildings such as Mira at Midtown Union.

Atlanta Department of Transportation and Midtown Alliance project pages indicate the 15th Street extension is on pace to be mostly finished in September. (We’ve asked officials today if that timeline is still accurate and will update this story if not.)

The extended street will slip between the apartment high-rises, the building that houses Whole World Improv Theatre, and Spectrum on Spring apartments, consuming what most recently functioned as a gravel parking lot and construction staging zone.

In the works are three new lanes of public roadway between West Peachtree and Spring streets, including two left-turn lanes at both of those one-way streets. West of that, expect a single through-lane in each direction, connecting to Williams Street.

Other features will include five-foot-wide bicycle lanes at sidewalk level in each direction, another five-foot zone dedicated to trees and street furniture, and 10-foot sidewalks on both sides of the street.

The bike lanes are designed to directly connect with the Arts Center MARTA station, recent residential and hotel developments, and other bike routes in the district, per Midtown Alliance. No bike lanes on Spring or West Peachtree streets currently exist near 15th Street, though.

Construction progress between Spring and West Peachtree streets, next to the AMLI Arts Center tower (left). Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

The proposed look of two new blocks of 15th Street, looking west toward Atlantic Station from West Peachtree Street. Courtesy of Midtown Alliance

The full two-block extension has consumed Georgia Department of Transportation right-of-way. That eliminated the costs of acquiring real estate, project officials have said.

After receiving a grant from the Atlanta Regional Commission, city and GDOT officials began work to design the 15th Street project back in summer 2017.

In addition to fundraising, engineering, traffic, and environmental studies took place over the next few years. A hiccup involving the bidding process knocked the construction timeline back in fall 2022.

According to Midtown Alliance, the project was awarded to low bidder Reeves Young in December 2023, and construction began in earnest about three months later.

More than $6 million was secured to build the project, with about half of that coming from GDOT and federal coffers. Midtown Improvement District funds and City of Atlanta impact fees have covered the bulk of remaining costs.

Find more project context and construction photos in the gallery above.

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