One destination, two routes: Atlanta residents debate the future of Beltline transit

Caption

A transit proposal from the Atlanta Beltline would add 22 miles of light rail on to the trail loop.

Credit: MARTA

The Atlanta Beltline has become a popular destination for people jogging, skating or cycling. The original vision for the 22-mile trail looping around the city included plans for a train connecting Atlanta’s neighborhoods, too. 

But now plans for mass transit on the Beltline are stalled and opinions about how to move forward are split. 

From the Krog Street Market on a gray, rainy afternoon, there’s still a clear view of people moving along Eastside Beltline. People on foot and on wheels are all navigating the wet pavement.

For Atlanta residents like Ken Edelstein, that kind of movement is what makes the Beltline a success. 

"It is a green way," he said. "It allows for micro-mobility and engagement with nature, which people absolutely are starving for in this city."

Edelstein is a board member for Better Atlanta Transit. The group wants to preserve this vision of the Eastside Beltline.

“We believe in transit that serves communities that need transit, and transit to the Beltline rather than on the Beltline,” Edelstein said. “Use the Beltline for what it works the best, which is on short run, last-mile, first-mile kind of trips.”

But in the earliest days of the Beltline, this wasn’t the vision designers and engineers had in mind at all. 

The original proposal for the Beltline intended for it to be a transit loop with a train connecting 45 neighborhoods around the city. It would run along with the car-free trail Atlantans have come to love. 

Despite the fact that 10 years ago residents voted for and approved a special sales tax for that train, no ground has been broken, and no track has been laid. 

Atlanta resident and former reporter Alex Ip relies on MARTA as his main form of transportation. With a background in science, he has studied how MARTA functions. He said the Beltline train should have been built by now.

But the question remains where the first tracks should be laid. 

Ip said it should build on the most popular part of Beltline, near Ponce City Market. That’s the same section of the Beltline that Ken Edelstein said people should travel to, not on. 

“That's the whole point of transit,” Ip said. “Transit only works when there's dense residential areas, plenty of business opportunities and amenities that bring people together.”

On the Eastside Beltline, that means lots of restaurants and shops, but also at least three grocery stores accessible from the trail. 

Past the southern end of the Eastside Beltline, there aren’t those kinds of choices.

For Jeff Rader, another member of Better Atlanta Transit, that’s not enough reason for a train. 

“If people are going to have to come from Southwest Atlanta to the east side in order to go to a Kroger, that's a problem that should be solved by something other than having to travel that far,” he said.

Members of Better Atlanta Transit include city planners, business owners and academics. 

Arguably the largest group, still supporting Beltline rail, are Atlanta voters, said Atlanta City Council Member Kelsea Bond.

At least that’s what they heard while they were campaigning last fall.

“People wanted to see rail happen," Bond said. “It came up more than any other issue on the doors. At some point in our campaign, we actually surveyed Beltline Rail as an issue in District 2, and it was overwhelmingly popular in every single neighborhood, especially among young people.”

Bond won 60% of the vote. Now they’re planning to introduce a resolution to the City Council to affirm that the city still supports Beltline transit.