*********************************
There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
*********************************
The Atlanta City Council's Utilities Committee temporarily tapped the brakes on a fast-moving proposal to make room for VIP parking at the new Falcons stadiums by rerouting Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive and abandoning several adjacent streets. Some believe the city’s control over the six parcels of land south of the proposed stadium is the last bit of leverage Atlanta has over the stadium project. Michael Dobbins, a professor of practice at Georgia Tech's School of City & Regional Planning, recently led a planning studio that researched the impact of the stadium, and he believes rerouting MLK Drive to build surface parking would further disconnect the surrounding neighborhoods from downtown and the rest of the city. Traffic plans drawn by Tech students actually call for more streets and paths to be created between downtown and the stadium neighborhoods of Vine City, English Avenue, and Castleberry Hill. Such connections would improve the quality of life on both sides of the massive convention and entertainment complex, the students’ reports show.
