From the AJC: Fulton and DeKalb counties may get new sidewalk and pedestrian upgrades or park-and-ride lots as MARTA attempts to pay back the Atlanta Regional Commission for helping MARTA ease a funding gap.

The ARC hopes to use $25 million in stimulus project money to plug a MARTA funding gap for operations, and avoid severe service cuts.

In return, ARC and MARTA officials said, MARTA hopes to pay for projects useful to the ARC counties with money the state says can be used only for projects, not operations. MARTA has accumulated $65 million in capital reserves.

MARTA’s money would have to fund projects that complement transit service somehow. The exact projects haven’t been decided.

If the plan works, Fulton and DeKalb counties would wind up with more sidewalk and transit-related projects, and the other ARC counties would get the same stimulus projects they were counting on before.

The plans still have to go through more approvals, and legal review.