Peachtree Center station
{{Short description|MARTA rail station}}
{{more citations needed|date=September 2015}}
{{Use American English|date = February 2020}}
{{Use mdy dates|date = February 2020}}
{{Infobox station
| name = {{MARTA infobox header|gold-line=Peachtree Center|gold-station=N1}}
| style = MARTA
| type = MARTA rapid transit station
| image = Peachtree Center MARTA Station.jpg
| image_caption =
| address = 216 Peachtree Street NE
Atlanta, Georgia 30303
| line =
| other = {{bus icon}} MARTA Bus: 40
{{rint|rail|size=12}} Atlanta Streetcar
{{bus icon}} CobbLinc
{{bus icon}} Ride Gwinnett
{{bus icon}} GRTA
| platform = 1 island platform
| tracks = 2
| structure = Underground
| architect = Toombs, Amisano and Wells{{cite web |url=http://dome.mit.edu/handle/1721.3/45620 |title=Peachtree Center Station : MIT Libraries |year=1982 |access-date=June 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626021028/http://dome.mit.edu/handle/1721.3/45620 |archive-date=June 26, 2015 |last1=Toombs |first1=Amisano Wells }}
| coordinates = {{coord|33.759677|-84.387548|type:railwaystation_region:US-GA|display=inline,title}}
| parking = None
| bicycle = 5 bike racks
| passengers = 7,453 (avg. weekday){{cite web|title=2014 Transportation Fact Book|url=http://documents.atlantaregional.com/transportation/TFB_2014_v17.pdf|publisher=Atlanta Regional Commission|accessdate=9 January 2016}}
| pass_year = 2013
| pass_percent = 6
| opened = {{start date and age|1982|12|11}}
| rebuilt =
| accessible = Yes
| code = N1
| owned =
| zone =
| services = {{Adjacent stations|system1=MARTA
| line1=Red|left1=Five Points|right1=Civic Center
| line2=Gold|left2=Five Points|right2=Civic Center
| line3=Streetcar|left3=Carnegie at Spring|right3=Woodruff Park|oneway-right3=yes}}
| mapframe = yes
| mapframe-custom = {{Infobox mapframe |shape=none |line=none |marker=rail-metro |marker-color=#000 |zoom=15 }}
}}
Peachtree Center is an underground subway station on the Red and Gold lines of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) rail system. It is the deepest station in the MARTA rail system, at {{convert|120|ft}} below Peachtree Street.{{cite web |url=http://itsmarta.com/ns-pea-overview.aspx |title=MARTA SCHEDULES & MAPS |accessdate=February 3, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319050642/http://itsmarta.com/ns-pea-overview.aspx |archivedate=March 19, 2015}} It serves the Peachtree Center neighborhood of downtown Atlanta, and has access to Georgia State University via the Atlanta Streetcar. It is the first station north-northeast of the rail system hub at Five Points, and is one of the busiest stations on the Red/Gold Lines, handling over 15,000 people per weekday.
Station layout
File:Peachtree Center MARTA Turnstiles.jpg
| border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3
|style="border-top:solid 1px gray;" width=50 valign=top|G |style="border-top:solid 1px gray;" width=100 valign=top|Street Level |style="border-top:solid 1px gray;" width=400 valign=top|Entrance/Exit |
| style="border-top:solid 1px gray;" width=50 valign=top|M
|style="border-top:solid 1px gray;" width=100 valign=top|Mezzanine |style="border-top:solid 1px gray;" width=400 valign=top|Fare barriers |
| style="border-top:solid 1px gray;border-bottom:solid 1px gray;" width=50 rowspan=3 valign=top|P Platform level |style="border-top:solid 1px gray;" width=100|Southbound |style="border-top:solid 1px gray;" width=400|← Red Line (MARTA), Gold Line (MARTA) toward Airport (Five Points) |
| style="border-top:solid 2px black;border-right:solid 2px black;border-left:solid 2px black;border-bottom:solid 2px black;text-align:center;" colspan=2|{{small|Island platform, doors will open on the left}} |
| style="border-bottom:solid 1px gray;"|Northbound
|style="border-bottom:solid 1px gray;"|{{0|→}} Gold Line (MARTA) toward Doraville (Civic Center) → |
Interior design
File:MARTA Peachtree Center over tracks.jpg
The station has an island platform serving two tracks. The floor is made of gray tile, the "walls" are made of solid gneiss rock, and the ceiling panels are made of steel. Four escalator banks are used to access the station, with the Carnegie Way/Ellis Street (southwest) entrance having the longest escalators in the system, which MARTA claims are also the longest in the Southeast U.S.[http://www.itsmarta.com/newsroom/martafacts.htm MARTA facts] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927025522/http://www.itsmarta.com/newsroom/martafacts.htm |date=2007-09-27 }} The freestanding escalator at the CNN Center is longer at {{convert|205|ft}}.{{cite web |last1=Hood-Cree |first1=Cameron |title=10 Longest escalators in the US |url=https://usabynumbers.com/longest-escalators-in-the-us/ |website=usabynumbers.com |access-date=27 July 2023}} The Ellis Street entrance was closed for more than two years for renovation; it re-opened on August 24, 2012. The Harris Street (northwest) entrance has a map of the MARTA system with formerly proposed lines on it.
In popular culture
The station was featured in the 1985 movie The Heavenly Kid.{{cite web|title=The Heavenly Kid Trivia|website=IMDb |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089265/trivia/}}
Nearby landmarks and popular destinations
- American Cancer Society Center (formerly Inforum)
- AmericasMart
- Atlanta Central Library
- Atlanta Marriott Marquis
- Atlanta Streetcar
- Centennial Olympic Park
- Children's Museum of Atlanta{{cite web|title=Planning Your Visit|url=http://childrensmuseumatlanta.org/plan-your-visit/parking-directions/|website=Children's Museum of Atlanta|accessdate=27 June 2016}}
- CNN Center
- College Football Hall of Fame
- Georgia Aquarium
- Georgia World Congress Center
- Hard Rock Cafe
- Mall at Peachtree Center
- Mercedes-Benz Stadium
- National Center for Civil and Human Rights
- Peachtree Center
- Rialto Center for the Arts
- SAE Institute
- State Farm Arena
- Truist Plaza
- Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel
- Woodruff Park
- World of Coca-Cola
Bus routes
The station is served by the following MARTA bus routes:
- Route 40 - Downtown / Peachtree Street
Connection to other transit systems
Construction
Although the operation of the North Line began between the Garnett and North Avenue stations on December 4, 1981, the Peachtree Center station between them did not open until September 11, 1982. A poster dating to 1982 on the station platform describes how the station was built. The poster reads:
:MARTA's moving Atlanta, 120 feet below Peachtree Street.
:The Peachtree Center station was built by tunneling through solid gneiss, a granite like rock formed of layers of quartz and mica. This rock provides underground support for the station. Soft ground or mixed tunneling was used where there was insufficient rock structure for underground support. With this method, compressed air twice the normal atmospheric pressure was used to support the walls while permanent structures were being built. Like deep sea divers, workers on this section of the rapid rail transit system were required to undergo 30 minutes of compression/decompression when entering or coming out of the tunnel. This station is only one of a few tunnels in the world where the walls and the ceiling were carved from solid rock.
:Length of longest escalator serving the station entrance across from the Atlanta Public Library is 190 feet- the longest in the southeast. Cost of Station: approx. $45 million. Station depth: 120 feet. Station length: 900 feet.
An exploratory tunnel was initially driven at the crown of the tunnel to provide input into rock quality. The cavern was constructed using a heading and bench approach, first excavating the heading and following with the bench excavation. All excavation on the cavern was accomplished using drill and blast methods. Vibration monitoring stations were established in buildings along Peachtree Street to monitor the vibrations and compare to contract limits.
File:JN SMITHS BUILDING plaque.jpg's building, located near the station's entrance.]]
The location the station was built on was originally the home to "The House That Jack Built", an eccentric commercial building built by Jasper Newton "Jack" Smith in the late 1800s. As part of a lease agreement Smith made with later leaseholders of the property, two inscribed marble slabs were to be displayed prominently in any future building constructed on the site. When Peachtree Center station opened in 1982, these two marble slabs were relocated to a fenced-off area near the subway station entrance.{{Cite web|url=http://historyatlanta.com/jasper-smith/|title=Jasper "Jack" Smith - Atlanta's Quaintest Character|last=Keen|first=Raymond|date=September 28, 2016|website=History Atlanta|language=en-US|access-date=February 27, 2020}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- [http://www.itsmarta.com/Peachtree-Center.aspx MARTA Station Page]
- [http://world.nycsubway.org/us/atlanta/ nycsubway.org Atlanta page]
- [https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=33.75793,-84.387606&spn=0.004255,0.013722&z=17&layer=c&cbll=33.75777,-84.387667&panoid=PFL9Ezl4KA3Nj88UG_L--g&cbp=12,311.18,,0,0.29 Carnegie Way entrance from Google Maps Street View]
{{MARTA Nav}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peachtree Center (Marta Station)}}
Category:Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority stations
Category:Railway stations in the United States opened in 1982