GDOT is moving ahead with plans to expand the GRTA park and ride lot on Sigman Road by about 200 spaces but shelved plans to build a new GRTA park and ride lot on Salem Road to replace the current stop at the Church in the Now parking lot.

GRTA spokesperson William Mecke said the agency had a good lease agreement with Church in the Now and was watching market demand.

"It's in the plans, but it's not the first one we're going to build," he said, of the proposed Salem GRTA stop. "We're looking closely at the market demand before we move ahead,"

The routes that stop at the Sigman Road lot and the Church in the Now have some of the highest ridership out of the GRTA routes, said Mecke. In May, the average daily ridership for the routes from Sigman Road to downtown and midtown Atlanta were 306 and 197 boardings a day respectively. The routes from the Church in the Now to downtown and midtown Atlanta saw 383 and 258 boardings a day, respectively.

The Sigman Road lot expansion, which is estimated to cost about $1.5 million, will be funded by $1.3 million in stimulus funds, with the rest to be made up in GRTA state funds. Mecke said the agency expects the bids to come in close to $1.3 million since recent bids have been running below estimate.

An exit from the lot onto Sigman Road will be added as well as a traffic signal. The bids will be let in August and construction is slated to be complete around late 2009 or early 2010.