Cobb DOT Prepares for Braves' Relocation

Monday's surprise announcement that the Atlanta Braves would be relocating to Cobb County in 2017 took a lot of people by surprise, but the Cobb County Department of Transportation (DOT) is already thinking of ways to handle the traffic that will arise as part of the new stadium.

Faye DiMassimo, Director of Cobb DOT says that the location the Braves have selected, 60 acres of land in the vicinity of Cumberland Mall, already has a good base of transportation infrastructure.

"The Cumberland area is a good location with multiple access and exit options that can be used to minimize the impact on the freeway network including Cobb Parkway, Windy Hill, Circle 75, Windy Ridge Parkway, I-75, and I-285.," DiMassimo told Patch.

Despite the robust network of roads and highways in the immediate vicinity of the new stadium, DiMassimo obviously anticipates that there will be an increase in traffic in the area during game days.

Fortunately, Cobb DOT is already looking at ways to mitigate the potential gridlock a new stadium will bring.

Already approved and expected to open to traffic in 2018 are managed lanes for Interstate 75 between 285 and 575. The nearly $1 billion "public-private partnership" will add two toll lanes between 285 and Hickory Grove on I-75 and to Sixes Road along I-575.

Other traffic improvements hinted at by Cobb DOT include a potential arterial rapid transit route through northwest Cobb County that would link Kennesaw State University and Town Center Mall to Midtown and Downtown Atlanta through the Cumberland Mall area, which includes the new Braves stadium. The Environmental Assessment for this project will be completed by the Spring of 2014.

For those of you who want to walk to the game, there may be a pedestrian bridge spanning Interstate 285 from the Cobb Galleria area to the new stadium, and there will be sidewalks constructed to help foot traffic circulate to the new retail areas the Braves are expecting to build.

David Pendered at SaportaReport writes that Cobb County will be able to include the new stadium in its next Cobb County Comprehensive Transportation Plan update, which should be completed by September, 2014.

Pendered also writes that the new stadium site will offer more entrance and exit points for vehicles than the existing Turner Field site; potential access points include exiting at New Northside Drive on 285 from the east and exiting at Cobb Parkway on 285 from the south.

To get involved with the discussions on transportation around the new stadium, contact Cobb DOT at (770) 528-1600 or cobbdot@cobbcounty.org.