Addendum to the Phase I Archaeological Survey for the Central Avenue Bridge Replacement over the CSX Railroad, Fulton County, Georgia

GDOT Project 0015295 (formerly BHMBL‐9164(1), P.I. No. 752082), proposed the reconstruction of the portion of the Central Avenue Bridge (or Viaduct) spanning over the CSX Railroad from the pier north of the MARTA tracks to the bridge abutment at Wall Street. The proposed project would replace eight intermediate spans and eight bents of the Central Avenue Bridge (approximately 240‐ft.). The replacement spans would provide the horizontal and vertical clearances needed for the added tracks associated with the proposed multi‐modal terminal running underneath the bridge; in addition, portions of the north abutment and sidewalk would be replaced towards Decatur and Marietta Streets. The existing and proposed Central Avenue Bridge is, and would remain, a four‐lane one‐way (northbound) roadway with curb and gutter and sidewalks on both sides on an existing 59.7‐ft. of right‐of‐way (ROW). This would not change with the replacement of eight intermediate spans and eight bents. The existing bridge railing is proposed to be replaced with Texas rail since it is crash tested and is consistent with the City of Atlanta projects in the area. The base year traffic (1996) is 12,800 VPD and the design year traffic (2016) is 17,900 VPD. The posted speed and design speed is 30 mph. A portion of Central Avenue would be closed during construction. A detour using Mitchell Street to Capitol Avenue/Piedmont Avenue to Decatur Street to Central Avenue would be required. This project would consist of the reconstruction of the roadway approaches to the Central Avenue Bridge between Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Decatur Street, and the replacement of the Central Avenue Bridge, except for the portion over the MARTA tracks, in the city of Atlanta. The typical section would consist of four one‐way lanes, two 10‐ft. wide lanes and two 11‐ft. wide lanes, with 6‐in. header curb urban shoulders. The project would also include minimum 4‐ft. sidewalks for pedestrians on both sides of the roadway. No new ROW is required for the project; however, there are temporary construction easements scattered throughout the project area and together consist of approximately .68 acre. GDOT P.I. No. 0015295 (formerly 752082) was part of the widening or reconstruction of six bridges in downtown Atlanta, each with their own project number. Essentially, as the proposed bridge projects aged, they were all separated so that documentation for each proposed project would be separate as well. The original six bridge projects were surveyed for archaeological resources in 2000 (Pluckhahn 2000), and due to the age of the previous archaeological survey, it is being updated.