Cobb Pushes Pedestrian Bridge Near Battery Forward

MARIETTA — This week, a pedestrian bridge that will give people safer access to the Battery was advanced by the Cobb Board of Commissioners.

The board voted 5-0 to approve four agenda items related to the project, all of which allow for the preliminary engineering design of the bridge to begin.

The project is expected to cost over $11 million, according to Adam Ross, director of public and government affairs for the Cumberland Community Improvement District.

Congress has allocated $2 million, with $1 million coming from the U.S. Department of Transportation and $1 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The Cumberland Community Improvement District has agreed to provide the required local match for the project, which is $250,000.

That $2.25 million will fund the entirety of the preliminary engineering stage, Ross said.

The Smyrna City Council approved an $830,000 contribution to the project in 2019, and the city allocated $4 million of its 2022 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) funding for the project, as the MDJ previously reported.

According to the commission agenda item, written by Drew Raessler, director Cobb's Department of Transportation, the county has not contributed any funding for the project.

The county and the CID will work together to identify sources for the remaining funding needed for the project. Ross said another $1 million in congressional earmarks is pending, and if approved, would go toward construction.

Ross said no firm timeline has been set for the project, but the hope is construction will begin by 2028.

"The caveat is everything is dependent on funding ... But we'd like to be under construction by 2028," Ross said.

The bridge will be built over Cobb Parkway, between Spring Road and Cumberland Boulevard, and allow pedestrians to travel over seven lanes of traffic to and from the Battery and the city of Smyrna.

"It'll go in between the Starbucks and the Steak 'n Shake," Ross said.

Before the board voted to approve the final agenda item, Commissioner JoAnn Birrell expressed excitement for the highly anticipated project, noting it will improve safety near one of the county's busiest roads.

"This has been talked about for a long time, since the Braves came to Cobb," Birrell said. "I think crossing 41 on a bridge ... would be a lot safer than trying to cross six, seven lanes of traffic on a very, very busy intersection for pedestrians."