Fifth Street Bridge

The Fifth Street Bridge connects Georgia Tech to Technology Square in Midtown. When Tech Square opened in 2003, the bridge was in dire need of renovation. About $ 10 million and 4 years later, the Fifth Street Bridge re-​opened and is now one of the best-​looking and most functional bridges in Atlanta.
The bridge spans over 16 lanes of interstate (Downtown Connector), but you would never know it if you were walking on the bridge. It’s not as big as its brothers (17^th St, 14^th St, and 10^th St.) and it doesn’t have direct interstate access. There are two lanes for vehicular traffic, one turning lane, two bike lanes, and two sidewalks on either side. Each of the sidewalks is about 25 spacious feet wide and is made of brick and concrete. These wide sidewalks match the ones found at Tech Square and make Fifth Street Bridge very pedestrian-​friendly.
The best thing about the bridge is the enormous amount of green space — about ¾ of an acre’s worth. There is plenty of grassy lawn which stretches down either side of the bridge and, combined with the lamp posts, it feels very much like a park. The south side of the bridge has modern-​looking trellises which are covered in lush green vines. They look great and provide a measure of shade.
Another cool aesthetic to the bridge are the multiple planters installed with a variety of trees, bushes, shrubbery, and flowers. The planters are multi-​tiered and come in an assortment of sizes. The plants and tall planters not only make the space beautiful and inviting, but also serve to dampen out the highway noise below. The landscaping design looks clean and the grass is typically well-​groomed and maintained.
During football season, the Fifth Street Bridge is naturally a popular place for Tech fans to tailgate. Events have also been held on the bridge, such as the annual Taste of Atlanta outdoor food festival. During Taste of Atlanta, the bridge is shut down. Cooking classes are held on the north lawn. Restaurants set up multiple tents up and down the bridge, cooking food and offering tastings.

Back in my days at Tech (at least the early ones), Fifth Street Bridge was a little nothing of a bridge with two lanes of traffic, sidewalks, and chain link fence on either side to keep you from jumping off or throwing garbage into the traffic below. It led to a desperate landscape of parking lots scattered with prostitutes and their discards amongst which Tech used to have an off-​campus parking lot… I unfortunately clear memories of driving across the bridge early in the morning to head north on the interstate and being horrified at how readily the goods were advertised.
And then came Tech Square. Sure, the bridge looked a little awkward with bare metal structures and fresh plantings. But at least sod and organized plantings weren’t trash, and every little bit helped. Now the bridge led to so many student dining choices and scattered the shadiness a few blocks over.
As I sat on the bridge on a home game Saturday, shaded by the vegetation that has finally matured, it was nearly impossible to know that there were 12 lanes of traffic below. I was reminded that Atlanta might not be perfect, but it’s improving as the jasmine grows in.