Atlanta City Council members voted 13-0 at their Aug. 3 meeting to spend $2.9 million on the first phase of an effort to deal with the city's remaining unpaved streets. Phase I is not paving work — it is a comprehensive survey and evaluation of every gravel, dirt and otherwise unpaved street inside the city limits, the step that determines what gets fixed and in what order.
Council member Byron Amos cautioned that the inventory the city is starting from should be treated as a beginning rather than a finished document, calling the list a good start and not a final list. Council member Wayne Martin, who represents District 11 in southwest Atlanta and pointed to several unpaved roads in his district, described the vote as a step in the right direction. "I'm looking forward to us resolving it so we can better improve the infrastructure of our city," Martin said.
The street survey was the smallest of several infrastructure items the council cleared the same night. Members approved a $15.6 million upgrade at the Flint River pump station, intended to stop the frequent clogging that has plagued the facility and to replace obsolete equipment. The council also signed off on two contract renewals from the Department of Wastewater Management, one for $22.1 million and one for $14 million, covering major mechanical repairs and services across the system.
Separately, the council adopted a resolution establishing a formal heat safety plan, proposed in July by council member Kelsea Bond following a stretch of record heat. The plan calls for expanding cooling centers and their availability, outreach to vulnerable populations, and heat warnings distributed by text, phone call, web and social media — the kind of measure that matters to anyone working outdoors or waiting for transit downtown during a July or August afternoon.
In other action, the council approved an ordinance authorizing construction of a community center on three undeveloped parcels of city-owned land at Center Hill Park on the west side. A proposed moratorium on new alcohol licenses along Edgewood Avenue was permanently filed, meaning it cannot return to the agenda. Still ahead: at an upcoming meeting the council will take up an ordinance to refinance the publicly financed portion of Mercedes-Benz Stadium and direct a share of hotel-motel tax revenue toward the stadium's operation and maintenance.
Original reporting: Rough Draft Atlanta (2026-08-04)
