In recent months, there has been strong opposition to the new MARTA light rail project that will run along the BeltLine. However, the plans are still in place to move forward, despite a public pushback.
What’s happening?
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Senior Transportation Engineer Shaun Green said during a meeting on the project,”Transit has been envisioned as part of the eventual 22-mile loop since the Beltline’s inception, and no other form of transit meets the needs as well as light rail.”
Green continued by stating that the group is open to feedback about elements of the BeltLine rail and what it looks like practically, but whether or not there’s a rail at all… is not up for debate.
The AJC also reports that as construction on the trail has neared completion and the transit plans have come into greater focus, “opposition to rail has intensified.” This includes a new community group, which began last fall to question “the wisdom” of the rail on the iconic Atlanta BeltLine. The group released a poll of 600 Atlanta voters, and 53% said rail would destroy the park.
MARTA is moving forward anyway, though.
According to Green, the ultimate goal of the rail is to create “as green a corridor as we can manage.”
He explains that the project group has been studying cities in France that currently have light rails running through public parks, and says, “We know it can be done,”
The AJC reports, “While the design plan is still in the works — it’s expected to be complete by mid-2025 — Green said to expect trees and shrubs between the trail and the light rail tracks that would create both a physical and psychological barrier. They’re exploring how the trains could run on a grass track without any overhead wires, unlike the current streetcar.”