Infrastructure

World Class Infrastructure

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To remain competitive and support anticipated growth, the Atlanta region must develop and maintain a comprehensive transportation network that incorporates regional transit, and secures a sustainable, long-term supply of clean water.

The Atlanta Regional Commission forecasts the 21-county Atlanta region will add 2.9 million people by 2050, bringing the region’s total population to 8.6 million. Careful planning and robust investment are needed to ensure metro Atlanta has the infrastructure needed for a successful future. Now, with the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), significant funding opportunities are available to communities around the country as they work towards expanding climate-resilient infrastructure.

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Improving Mobility in the Atlanta Region

Mobility is critical to the Atlanta region’s economy and quality of life. The challenge of maintaining and expanding our region’s transportation system is greater than ever, as metro
Atlanta’s population is expected to reach 8.6 million by the year 2050.

Our region is home to four interstate highways, the nation’s 8th-largest public transit system and a growing network of bicycle and pedestrian trails. It’s also one of the nation’s most important freight hubs.

As the federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), ARC works with state and local transportation agencies and local governments to develop and manage a long range transportation plan, known as the Regional Transportation Plan (RTP).

The plan, developed with robust public input, includes $172.6 billion of investments to maintain and expand the region’s network of roads, transit and pedestrian facilities through 2050.

Major elements of the plan include:

Transit: Mass transit services in the Atlanta region, including bus, rail, and streetcar, play a major role in alleviating congestion and improving air quality, while promoting regional land use and development goals.
Bicycle & Pedestrian: The Atlanta Regional Bicycle & Pedestrian Plan envisions the completion of a regional scale trail network along with community-scale walking and bicycling networks.
Roads & Highways: Metro Atlanta sits at the intersection of three major interstate highways and serves as major logistics hub. ARC and its partner agencies are working on a number of fronts to address expected growth in order to reduce congestion and increase transportation options, while improving safety and air quality.
Alternative Commuting Options: The Georgia Commute Options program works with employers, commuters and schools to reduce the number of single-occupant vehicles on metro Atlanta’s roads — particularly during peak times. We provide free services to motivate more people to choose clean commute alternatives and get rewarded in the process.
Air Quality: Clean air is vital to our health and our quality of life. ARC works with state and federal agencies to ensure that the region is on the path to meeting federal standards.
Freight: Metro Atlanta was born a transportation hub and continues to be critical for the movement of goods in the Southeast and the nation. ARC works with the public and private sector to help keep freight moving through and around the region.
Maintenance & Safety: New technologies and designs make transportation more reliable and safer than ever. The Atlanta Region’s Plan calls for intersection improvements, signal upgrades and other features that keep us safe while we travel.

Ensuring Our Water Resources for Generations to Come

The Challenge

Because the Atlanta region is located mostly on bedrock, 99% of the region’s water supply comes from surface water sources — reservoirs and rivers. In addition, our region is subject to cycles of flooding and drought, which are occurring with greater frequency and severity.

Our six river basins transect political and water system boundaries, adding to the challenge of regional and local water management. And a climate change continues to impact our region, finding ways to become even more climate resilient is critical.

Conservation and Stewardship

The Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District, staffed by ARC, was created by the Georgia General Assembly in 2001 to establish policy, create plans, and promote intergovernmental coordination of all water issues in the District from a regional perspective. The Metro Water District includes 15 counties and 96 cities within the Atlanta region.

The Metro Water District develops the region’s holistic long-range water resources management plan, which brings together water supply and conservation, wastewater management, and watershed management into a single, integrated document.

Under the Metro Water District policies and programs, conservation has improved dramatically. Residents have traded old, inefficient toilets for new models that use only a fraction of the water. And tiered pricing, with rates that increase as the volume of water use rises, provides an incentive for consumers to conserve.

These steps are making a dramatic difference. Per capita water use has been reduced by over 30 percent since 2000.

Innovation and Investments

The region is also investing in innovative, state-of-the-art facilities. For example, Clayton County’s engineered wetlands treat wastewater naturally and then return it to sustainably augment the county’s water supply. And Gwinnett County has built a wastewater treatment facility that’s considered one of the most technologically advanced in the world, returning clean water to Lake Lanier.

But our water infrastructure requires replacement as it reaches the end of its expected lifespan. The region must reinvest in those systems that were built decades ago and develop infrastructure that is resilient to help us weather our cycles of floods and droughts. And we need to do so equitably, so that costs aren’t passed on to future generations and water remains affordable for all of us.

Managing Flood Risks

Land use and watershed planning will be essential as metro Atlanta faces increased flood risks from climate change. Climate change is changing rainfall volume, intensity, and duration. Specifically, by 2040, rainfall events are estimated to increase between 11 and 16 percent. Increasing rainfall will impact metro Atlanta, which by 2050 will likely see 10-20% increases in flooding. Flooding disproportionately affects low income and Black communities and has significant economic impacts for the region at large.

Efforts to mitigate community flood risks and build climate resilience will be instrumental in protecting communities. The IIJA includes $47 Billion in climate resiliency funding to upgrading the nation’s infrastructure to better withstand the effects of climate change such as intensifying wildfires, hurricanes and flooding.

Reimagining the Chattahoochee

An ambitious effort is underway to re-imagine the Chattahoochee River’s place in metro Atlanta. The Chattahoochee RiverLands project aims to reunite the river with the Atlanta region and link suburban, urban, and rural communities into a continuous public realm that provides new places to walk and bike — and much greater access to this vital natural resource through a network of greenways, parks, and opportunities to recreate on the water.

The Chattahoochee RiverLands report was developed by SCAPE, an award-winning landscape architecture firm. The two-yearlong effort was commissioned by ARC, The Trust for Public Land, Cobb County, and City of Atlanta, and guided by input from residents and other stakeholders.

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