ATLANTA, GA — Atlanta’s long-running vision of bringing rail transit to the BeltLine is taking another step forward, with officials presenting recommendations for a proposed $3.5 billion light rail network designed to connect neighborhoods around the city.
The recommendations are the result of a roughly three-and-a-half-year BeltLine Transit Study funded by the Federal Transit Administration. The study brought together previous planning efforts while examining potential routes, station locations, ridership and costs for transit along the BeltLine corridor.
Three Routes Could Serve Atlanta
The proposed system includes three major routes: a full BeltLine Loop, along with Northern and Southern loops that would provide connections toward Downtown Atlanta.
Under the current recommendations, trains would operate in both directions for approximately 18.5 hours each day, from 6 a.m. until 12:30 a.m.
Planners are projecting approximately 4.2 million passenger trips annually. That estimate is considered conservative and does not fully account for future population growth and development that could occur around the BeltLine.
13 Stations Proposed
Recommendations for the southwest and southeast portions of the system include 13 potential station locations near major streets and destinations, including Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway, Joseph E. Boone Boulevard, Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard, Murphy Avenue, Metropolitan Parkway/Pittsburgh Yards, Pryor Road, Hank Aaron Drive, Boulevard and Glenwood Avenue.
For the northwest section, planners studied multiple alternatives before recommending an alignment that would largely follow the existing CSX rail corridor.
Officials say that option could provide faster travel times, lower construction costs compared with the other alternatives, strong projected ridership and direct service to Piedmont Hospital.
A $3.5 Billion Investment
The estimated capital cost for the proposed three-route system is approximately $3.5 billion. The estimate is based on the project’s preliminary level of design, meaning costs could change substantially as engineering and planning advance.
The proposal does not mean construction of the entire system has been approved or is about to begin. Major questions involving funding, implementation, timelines and coordination among Atlanta BeltLine, MARTA and the City of Atlanta would still have to be addressed.
Transit has been part of the BeltLine’s original vision for decades. The broader concept calls for a 22-mile transportation corridor where trails and rail transit work together to connect Atlanta neighborhoods with jobs, businesses, services and the region’s larger transit network.
For Atlanta residents, the latest recommendations provide one of the clearest pictures yet of what a future BeltLine rail network could eventually look like.
Public feedback on the latest recommendations is being accepted through November 3.
(Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images)
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