At her second State of the City address, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced that the City of Atlanta will create a Department of Transportation to consolidate work being done across several departments, in an effort to streamline efficiency and better serve residents and businesses.
“I am proud to announce plans to create Atlanta’s first dedicated Department of Transportation, a one-stop shop to better deliver for our city’s mobility future,” said Mayor Bottoms.
Currently, transportation work is performed by the Department of Public Works, which fixes roads; The Department of City Planning, which envisions ways roads can better accommodate communities; and Renew Atlanta/TSPLOST, which is making long-term investments in Atlanta’s transportation future.
“All of these departments do a good job, but to do a great job they need to operate from the same playbook,” said Mayor Bottoms.
The new Department of Transportation—to be established in the coming months—will eliminate organizational silos and lend focus to the essential job of creating mobility options for the 21st Century.
Mayor Bottoms also announced a new goal of producing and preserving 20,000 units of affordable housing by 2026.
“In our first year in office, we have already invested $100 million in public funds to create thousands of units of affordable housing,” said Mayor Bottoms, who appointed Terri Lee as the city’s first Chief Housing Officer last year. “This new goal will motivate us to accelerate our efforts to build One Atlanta by truly and tangibly creating an affordable, resilient and equitable city.”
In other news made at the State of the City, Mayor Bottoms announced the formation of the Atlanta Children’s Memorial Commission, a group that will be charged with exploring ways to create a lasting and appropriate way to remember the victims of the Atlanta Child Murders. At least 28 people, mostly children and adolescents, were killed over a two-year period, starting in 1979.
“The pain from these crimes never goes away, but by acknowledging their lives in a permanent setting, we pay tribute to them now, and for generations to come,” said Mayor Bottoms.
You can watch Mayor Bottoms’ State of the City Address, read the full remarks, learn about the Atlanta Department of Transportation and more at this link.