As residents reviewed plans for tree removal and new tree planting with the City of Atlanta arborist and Grant Park Conservancy members, an alternative traffic flow emerged. Refered to as "Flipping the Deck," it offers the following advantages without reducing parking spaces:
- Provides pathways to all four levels of the deck for bike, wheelchair and stroller access.
- Connects bike routes through park in both east-west and north-south directions.
- Locates primary bike/handicapped crossing away from corner of Confederate to avoid traffic backups.
- Avoids a dangerous crossing where children round the corner from the restaurant.
- Preserves 11 to 22 large trees surrounding the deck without reducing parking spaces. 38 trees total.
- Eliminates the need to grade the Fort Walker side of the deck where five large trees reside.
FLIP THE DECK
COMMUNITY DESIGN INPUT - Design alternatives prepared by residents to preserve approximately 38 trees.
APRIL 2017 - Deck plans in the city press release showed a single row of large trees on Boulevard, in the position of the existing trees.
Two rows of new trees were added by the architects to meet the requirements of the Beltline Overlay.
The city has not followed through on requests to file a variance to the Beltline Overlay, despite the trees being in fair to good health.
