Atlanta seeks answers on the future of Beltline rail
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A rendering of what rail transit could look like along the Atlanta Beltline Eastside Trail. Rendering: Courtesy of Atlanta Beltline Inc.
An effort to get Atlanta on track to building Beltline rail is moving forward.
Why it matters: A resolution by Atlanta City Council Member Kelsea Bond asks Mayor Andre Dickens, MARTA and Atlanta Beltline leaders to create a road map for bringing a $3.5 billion vision of rail around the 22-mile loop to life.
State of play: Bond told Axios the future of Beltline transit has languished in limbo ever since Mayor Andre Dickens pulled his support for starting light rail on the Eastside Trail and a committee of city, MARTA and Beltline officials voted to halt work on the project.
- In addition, a bitter (now resolved) dispute between City Hall and MARTA over More MARTA sales tax dollars added more uncertainty over what would get built and when.
Zoom in: Bond's resolution, which has 11 co-signers and cleared two Council committees this week, calls for the city, MARTA and Beltline leaders to develop an implementation and funding strategy for the entire corridor.
- "If we didn't have money for Beltline rail and we just, for whatever reason, could not move forward, we need to know that, right?" Bond told Axios. "And that needs to be a decision that is publicly made, so that we can know, OK, what are we moving on to?"
Yes, but: The resolution does not say which segment should be built first.
- A substituted version negotiated with Dickens' team says affordable housing and anti-displacement measures must be key components of the road map. It also commits Council to adopting a plan that includes "recommended, realistic, and available funding pathways for the full scope of the corridor."
Reality check: Council Member Thomas Worthy, who added his name to the resolution on Wednesday, said More MARTA alone doesn't have enough funding to pay for Beltline rail.
- He said the resolution creates a framework for officials to have candid public conversations about the project's engineering and funding hurdles.
The other side: Ken Edelstein, the chair of Better Atlanta Transit, said in the Saporta Report that the anti-Beltline rail group's "concern now is that City Council will restart the cycle of spending too much civic energy on a project that will never be built (because of equity, cost and ridership problems)."
- BAT argues that funding would be better spent in other parts of the city. The group also says land reserved for a future transit line running parallel to the popular path should be repurposed as additional trail or micro-mobility space to ease congestion.
What's next: The legislation goes before the full Council for a vote at the Sept. 21 meeting.
- If approved, the mayor's office, MARTA, Beltline officials and other city departments would deliver that road map to the committee by Jan. 26, 2027 and quarterly updates thereafter.
Get involved: Beltline officials are holding a public-comment period on the proposed Beltline transit plan until Nov. 3.