Comments on: GDOT, Beltline strike deal on vital track segments

By: lizzie

lizzie — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 02:27:23 +0000

Way to go! ABI, Terri and staff are making it happen. Making the deal with DOT is essential to building Beltline transit and this after gaining the attention of EPA administrator Lisa Jackson last month. Way to go!!!

By: solosaur

solosaur — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 18:20:00 +0000

Kudos! I hope they make the right of way useable in the near term for something (hiking, mountain biking, community gardens) – even as the transit is being planned. Also think it demonstrates a commitment to making it happen in SW Atlanta.

By: DBS

DBS — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:21:23 +0000

The area that Lena St is in is not Vine City, it’s Washington Park. I am really excited to see what will be done there! Maybe more with the arboretum?

By: Intowner

Intowner — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 02:33:21 +0000

This is great news. Now, the BeltLine needs a decent management team and other than a completely lame Board of Directors. With Mayor Franklin soon to let go of the project, there is renewed hope that something real and substantial will happen.

By: cityzen

cityzen — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 03:10:13 +0000

Did the agreed price include a payoff to GDOT for giving up the fight over right of way on the Mason stretch of line? And yes I know it was lower per acre than the blackmail price that Mason extracted.

By: Thomas Wheatley

Thomas Wheatley — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 19:30:25 +0000

S. DeKalb,

Yep, that’s what I’ve heard as well. The rail yard in Northwest Atlanta has been described as the busiest and most active in the Southeast. I’d have to check the figures on the Savannah ports to see if there’s a large amount of rail service in that area.

During the negotiations between GDOT, Amtrak and the Beltline over the Decatur Belt (Wayne Mason’s former property near Piedmont Park), a proposed alternative to running intercity trains along the tracks near Piedmont Park was to instead to run the trains on those Northwest Atlanta tracks.

That would’ve required modifying the rail corridor, which concerned residents in that area. The Atlanta City Council amended a resolution that approved the Decatur Belt deal so their concerns would be noted.

By: S. Dekalb Voter

S. Dekalb Voter — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:40:48 +0000

As I understand it, and based on the bus tour I took with the beltline folks, the NW quadrant will be the most difficult. The path in that quadrant isn’t perfectly configured like the others and a lot of those tracks still have regular use from freight trains.

By: Thomas Wheatley

Thomas Wheatley — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:39:11 +0000

I know, it’s kind of unsettling. But the definition of “hazardous” is pretty all-encompassing. One planner — not affiliated with the Beltline — told me “hazardous” can mean anything from grocery store parking lot to an abandoned battery factory. A lot of the old buildings and properties along the proposed Beltline tracks were once serviced by the railroad, and were industrial in use. So there’s a mix.

By: BTI

BTI — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:30:53 +0000

Thanks Thomas.

In related news. THERE ARE 10-12 PROPERTIES THAT ARE CONSIDERED HAZARDOUS??!!

Jesus Christ, I thought that was a lot until I read your other story and saw this little doozy, “the Beltline and selected sites contain nearly 180 brownfields.” Is it just me or does that seem like a lot. Another story for another day I suppose…

By: Brian

Brian — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:39:06 +0000

“Why can’t neighborhood groups (such as in Reynoldstown) organize themselves and work to clean up the tracts and turn them into an unpaved hike/bike trail (like the trails bordering the Chattahoochee)?”

Believe me, if we have ABL’s blessing, I would expect us to do this. Right now, there is a menacing sign where the tracks go south from Wylie street that says “GA DOT PROPERTY. NO TRESPASSING”.