Beltline releases $3.5 billion light rail plan to connect Atlanta
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The $3.5 billion plan envisions linking up with proposed MARTA stations. Rendering: Courtesy of Atlanta Beltline Inc.
Atlanta Beltline officials unveiled a $3.5 billion plan to build a light rail that would connect dozens of neighborhoods around the popular trail and parks loop.
Why it matters: From the beginning, the Beltline was envisioned as a way to move large numbers of people around a dense and growing city, not just as a paved path lined with parks and coffee shops.
- The light rail plan provides the clearest picture yet of how the Beltline can deliver that vision and how much it might cost taxpayers.
Zoom in: Shaun Green, the Beltline's principal engineer, presented a plan Tuesday evening for three loops — a full loop, plus northern and southern routes — to run in both directions.
- Extending the Atlanta Streetcar east and west through Downtown would connect people across the city.
The latest: The northwest segment — the most complex stretch because it lacks an abandoned rail corridor like the others — would run 5.5 miles from Grove Park to Armour Yards.
- At $800 million, it would be the most expensive segment of the three studied and would connect to Piedmont Hospital, the largest employment center on the Beltline.
The southwest and southeast segments would stretch from Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway to Glenwood Park on an abandoned rail corridor the Beltline owns.
- The southern stretch includes 13 stops in places such as West End, Murphy Crossing and Boulevard.
- The route would also connect with the MARTA's bus rapid transit project under construction near Summerhill and new heavy rail stations.
By the numbers: The total cost breaks down to an average of $125 million per mile and includes the purchase of 42 light rail vehicles, which would pick up and drop off passengers roughly every 10 minutes.
What they're saying: "Transit is not inexpensive," Green said. "It is one of those things that is absolutely critical to the lifeblood of the system and the city."
Caveat: The cost estimates are "high level," Green said, and could change when officials finalize the recommendations.
State of play: Mayor Andre Dickens has punted the decision to extend the Downtown Streetcar along the Eastside Trail — considered the most shovel-ready segment of the Beltline — to a future administration.
- Dickens favors first building transit along the Beltline's south side, saying the route could give people living on lower incomes better transit access.
The other side: In a statement, Beltline Rail Now urged Dickens to revisit that call and build the extension. "Let's stop pretending we need another study. We need steel in the ground. We need tracks. We want to ride."
Reality check: The plan is just that — a plan. Whether it actually gets built comes down to political leadership, community buy-in and funding.