Atlanta is getting its own department of transportation

When Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms was a city councilwoman, she sometimes found herself wondering which departments to approach to get help with certain issues.

For example, where does one go to if they need to build or repair a road?

The Department of Public Works is tasked with fixing roads, the Department of City Planning designs roads, and the Renew Atlanta and TSPLOST office is orchestrating investments for the future of the city’s transportation infrastructure.

What Atlanta needs is a “one-stop shop to better deliver for our city’s mobility future,” said Bottoms during today’s State of the City address.

So Bottoms is creating the Atlanta Department of Transportation, which will consolidate the construction responsibilities of those three departments.

“All of these departments do a good job, but to do a great job they need to operate from the same playbook,” said Bottoms, according to a city press release.

Legislation to make the new agency official is expected to be introduced to the city council early next week.

Once effected, the ADOT would put Atlanta bureaucratically on par with major cities like New York and Chicago, according to Atlanta magazine.

• Atlanta’s potholes are out of control. Could a new city department of transportation finally fix them? [Atlanta magazine]