Morning, y’all! Life is always under construction, isn’t it? We are perpetually learning, building our lives day by day, improving and adapting. It’s a helpful mindset when we live in a city that is constantly, constantly under construction. Nothing is ever done, and the sooner we make peace with that, the sooner we’ll reclaim moments spent in a white-hot rage on 285 or amid the particle board labyrinths of the airport. Maybe we can even feel a Sisyphean kinship with these projects: Always striving. Always going uphill. Pardon our dust, we’re trying to be better.
The difference is, you are already enough just as you are. Our highways and airports? Unfortunately not. Let’s get into it.
WHY THINGS ARE STILL CONSTRUCTION-Y AT HARTSFIELD-JACKSON
Credit: Courtesy Hartsfield-Jackson
Credit: Courtesy Hartsfield-Jackson
It’s weird how attached one gets to their local airport, especially when said airport is the busiest in the world. It is like its own living thing. Who in the Atlanta area, nay, the South (we see you, Charlotte Douglas layovers) doesn’t want to know what’s happening in Concourse D at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport? That’s our creature; our very large pet. We have an update on some of the latest construction, and while it’s not pretty, it’s pretty necessary:
- Concourse D is in the middle of a huge $1.4 billion expansion project. It started in 2022 and is scheduled to finish in 2029.
- It’s the narrowest concourse in the airport, so it’s getting widened.
- The thing is, closing it all down at the same time would make construction take even longer than the current seven year scope. Widening an existing space is also trickier than just adding a new one, because there’s all kinds of stuff (people, pathways, businesses, walls) already there.
- Engineers and construction professionals chose a “hybrid,” “modular” process that involves building new parts on the edge of the airport and rolling them into place overnight. Now that the north side of Concourse D is done, crews will move to more traditional construction processes while the south side pieces are built.
Bottom line: That means more gate closures, more narrow halls and more construction chaos for the foreseeable future as crews work behind walled-off areas. However, that’s all according to plan. Pete Pemantell with Holder Construction Co. told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution this timeline keeps the airport from losing too much revenue due to closed gates and concessions.
🔎 Emma Hurt, the AJC’s travel and logistics reporter, has everything you could ever want to know about the ongoing project so you can bother the people in front of you at the checkpoint line.
Also, if you’re a Hartsfield-Jackson regular, you’ll want to sign up for our monthly airport newsletter on LinkedIn. The Concourse is for frequent fliers and local aviation nerds alike who are looking to stay on top of the scoop at the world’s busiest airport. Emma’s coverage will range from the newest restaurants to how the latest construction project fits into the airport’s strategy — and other exclusive tidbits she picks up along the way. Sign up here.
Not signed up yet? What’re you waiting for? Get A.M. ATL in your inbox each weekday morning. And keep scrolling for more news.
FULTON COUNTY WANTS IN ON ATLANTA JAIL
Credit: Stephen Deere/AJC
Credit: Stephen Deere/AJC
To say Fulton County Jail has a lot of problems is an understatement. It’s seen shocking amounts of death, violence and overcrowding, and a U.S. Department of Justice investigation excoriated county officials for the facility’s “abhorrent, unconstitutional” conditions.
Everyone knows it’s a crisis that needs a solution. But the city of Atlanta isn’t too fond of one currently on the table:
- Republican state lawmakers are considering a bill that would essentially force the city of Atlanta to let Fulton County take over parts of the Atlanta City Detention Center — for a minimal cost.
- The Atlanta facility has already offered to potentially house hundreds of Fulton County inmates through the summer of 2026.
- Fulton County Sheriff Patrick Labat said more space could help alleviate overcrowding (even though others argue the Fulton County facility isn’t using all available beds) and could help them address issues like mental health among inmates.
- Atlanta leaders are balking at the prospect, saying they don’t want to be told what to do with city property.
“I completely agree that the Fulton County Jail … is in crisis and I believe it’s the responsibility of the county to fix it,” council member Matt Westmoreland told the AJC. “If leaders of the state want to help them, there are a lot of other, more appropriate, ways that they could do that.”
🔎 More headlines from Atlanta City Hall
REMEMBERING JEREMY LABONTE
Credit: Roswell Police Department
Credit: Roswell Police Department
The Roswell community and beyond is mourning Roswell police officer Jeremy Labonte, who was shot to death Friday night after responding to a suspicious person call at a shopping complex. The 24-year-old is remembered as “universally beloved” by the Roswell Police Department and was a role model for kids at King’s Way Christian School, where he was once a student. His funeral is scheduled for Wednesday at Roswell United Methodist Church, preceded by a procession from Lebanon Baptist Church.
MUST-KNOW POLITICS AND BUSINESS
🚛 Georgia Fortune 500 companies like AGCO and Mohawk Industries are trying to strategize for a possible tariff war. The problem is, they don’t know what the Trump Administration’s next moves are going to be. Industry experts said game plans vary depending on what countries may be taxed, and could include shifting supply chains and making short-term gambles to avoid long-term financial pain.
💵 Lt. Gov. Burt Jones wants Georgia’s own version of DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency). Yes, he’s calling it that. He introduced a cost-cutting bill last year, but has rebranded it as a “state-level DOGE.” A lot of state legislatures have been echoing moves from the Trump Administration to cut government spending.
NEWS BITES:
Hawks guard Trey Young named to fourth NBA All-Star Game
“It’s my fourth time, and it really should be six, to be honest with you.” Dang, OK Trey!
Atlanta Beltline nonprofit names new chair, board members
Top priorities: Expanding the Legacy Resident Retention Program and raising funds for the Bike Park at Westside Park.
Atlanta is one of the best cities to get married in, according to WalletHub
In fact, four out of the top five cities were in the South. We just love to love here. ❤️
What the Falcons can learn from the Eagles’ Super Bowl win
Frankly, I don’t know if Falcons fans are healed enough to read this. But we’ll try.
ON THIS DATE
Feb. 11, 1950
Credit: AJC
Credit: AJC
From the front page of the Atlanta Constitution: ‘Blind’ Youth Nabbed in Auto Case. A handsome 18-year-old California youth has admitted posing as a “blind man” on downtown Atlanta streets and obtaining “anywhere from $7.50 to $100 a day” from pitying passersby. The youth ... said he hired attractive girls through an employment agency here to “lead him around,” giving them a percentage of his “take.”
Don’t do crime! But if you’re going to, might as well make it something interesting for the papers.
ONE MORE THING
If we’re talking airport concourses, then I must bring up the very best thing in all of Hartsfield-Jackson: The corn plane! Or, rather, the “Corncorde.” The sculpture of flying corn that greets weary travelers in Concourse E is, well, it’s everything it needs to be. It was created by artist Craig Nutt, installed in 1996, and has been occasionally puttering through my dreams ever since.
Credit: AJ Willingham/AJC
Credit: AJ Willingham/AJC
Corn plane!
Thanks for reading to the very bottom of A.M. ATL. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact me at tellus@ajc.com.
Until next time.
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
