The Atlanta Beltline is officially back on board with light rail – and Atlanta District 2 City Councilmember Kelsea Bond has a plan to keep the project on track.
On Sept. 8, Bond introduced a resolution to “affirm the Atlanta City Council’s commitment to and support for Beltline rail.” If passed, it will create an accountability metric for the city’s light rail transit plan.
The resolution “requests” that the mayor’s office, MARTA, the Beltline and other city departments create an implementation plan and timeline for rail by Jan. 26. Once the plan is created, the resolution also asks the mayor’s office to provide quarterly project updates.
“It’s time to make good on our promise to voters and build Beltline rail,” Bond said.
The resolution is the latest move in a long, fraught citywide discussion on whether or not the Beltline will build light rail along the 22-mile loop. Original plans for the Beltline included a downtown streetcar extension and light rail along the path, but Mayor Andre Dickens pulled support for the extension in 2025.
In January, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution revealed MARTA leadership had quietly voted to stop work on the project just months after the mayor pulled his support. He changed his “support” to rail along the Southside trail.
It left the future of rail in flux – until Sept. 3, when the Beltline presented final recommendations for a $3.5 billion light rail system along the loop, complete with 13 stations. Conservative ridership models estimate a conservative 4.2 million annual riders across the locations.
The proposed stations are:
- Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway
- Joseph E. Boone Boulevard
- Martin Luther King Jr. Drive
- Langhorn/Enota
- Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard
- Lawton Street
- Murphy Avenue
- Metropolitan/Pittsburgh Yards
- Pryor Road
- Milton Avenue/Hank Aaron Drive
- Hill Street
- Boulevard
- Glenwood Avenue
Now Beltline rail is seemingly back on, but the presentation didn’t come with any completion timeline. Bond’s resolution aims to fix that. “Voters are growing weary of elected officials’ inability or unwillingness to keep their promises on policy,” they said. “The public already voted to pay taxes to fund More MARTA. The Beltline, MARTA and elected officials have been promoting light rail on the Beltline for years.”
Bond continued, “To abandon this project simply because of pushback from wealthy business interests on the Beltline is unconscionable. Our duty is to do what’s best for the public, not those who stand to profit from gentrification of the Beltline.
Advocacy group Beltline Rail Now “cheered” Bond in a response to the resolution. “This is the governance our city needs to combat the affordability, mobility and sustainability crisis we face,” the group said via press release. Bond is a known rail advocate, and doesn’t own a car.
But the resolution needs support through committee and council meetings. So far, it has several cosigners on council: Kelsea Bond, Jason Winston, Byron Amos, Jason Dozier, Liliana Bakhtiari, Wayne Martin, Antonio Lewis, Michael Julian Bond and Matt Westmoreland.
Councilmembers Alex Wan, Thomas Worthy, Mary Norwood, Dustin Hillis, Andrea Boone, Eshé Collins and Council President Marci Collier Overstreet have not yet expressed support for the resolution.
It will likely be heard at the Council’s Community Development and Human Services Committee on Sept. 15, then the transportation committee on Sept. 16. After the two meetings, it may move ahead to the full City Council meeting on Sept. 21.
The post Beltline is back on board with rail – will a councilmember’s plan keep it on track? appeared first on SaportaReport.
