Fresh Loaf

RAIL RALLY Beltline supporters say Amtrak, GDOT's plans jeopardize Beltline

When it comes to the future of public transit in Atlanta, there’s good news and there’s bad news.

The good news: After decades of bowing at the throne of roadbuilders, the Georgia Department of Transportation says it’s finally taking off the kneepads and getting serious about train service that would connect Atlanta to other cities in the Southeast.

The bad news: Thanks to an unexpected tiff between GDOT and city of Atlanta officials, the Beltline — the transformative 22-mile loop of parks, trails and transit that would one day circle the city — might be in jeopardy. That’s because the train service that GDOT is suddenly embracing would have to run on or near the proposed Beltline tracks. What’s more, Piedmont Park, the city’s most iconic greenspace, might have to be severed by a heavy-rail route in order to accommodate GDOT’s vision.

Last week, CL first reported that GDOT — working in tandem with Amtrak — threw a wrench in Beltline officials’ plans for light-rail, trails and additional green space near Piedmont Park. Just as Norfolk Southern, the current owner of the tracks in question, was about to surrender them to the city, GDOT and Amtrak stepped in and halted the proceedings. Those two agencies now say the tracks in dispute are vital to their own vision for commuter rail.

“Simply put, because of GDOT’s boorish behavior and AMTRAK’s willingness to play along, the future of the city of Atlanta is at stake,” Mayor Shirley Franklin wrote in an urgent letter to U.S. Congressman John Lewis to seek his assistance.

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…but it would be problematic for them to do so on the Beltline property in Northeast Atlanta that’s become a bone of contention for the city, the Georgia Department of Transportation and AMTRAK.

In 2005, Beltline visionary Ryan Gravel and Friends of the Beltline Inc. issued a study that examined how the 22-mile loop of parks, trails and transit may be affected by the various rail lines circling Atlanta. (Download the study PDF here.)

In regards to the “Decatur Belt,” the 3.5-mile segment that runs from DeKalb Avenue to Ansley Mall, the study says:

use of this line for the commuter rail network is problematic for the following reasons:

• The original alignment of the Decatur Street Belt with the main line into downtown Atlanta was broken by the reconfiguration of Hulsey Yard and the construction of the elevated East MARTA line and King Memorial Station.
• Use of the Decatur Street Belt puts Amtrak trains through residential areas and Piedmont Park, crossing surface streets at Monroe Drive, Irwin Street and DeKalb Avenue.
• The Decatur Street Belt is too narrow south of Freedom Parkway for the Belt Line and Amtrak to share right-of-way with separate tracks.
• Shared use of the tracks themselves in this corridor would be difficult due to topographic and physical constraints.
• Any shared arrangement would make the Belt Line much less desirable by eliminating greenspace and permeability and by increasing safety concerns, particularly for pedestrians and cyclists.

The group proposed several recommendations, including tinkering with the Brookwood station where AMTRAK currently stops. One of the biggest challenges the Beltline will face is actually connecting the rail segments that will create its spine and shape.

If you’re a transit lover and want to know more about the current dispute, as well as the project’s other connectivity challenges, this study is well worth a read.

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Perhaps realizing that working in the world of urban design is much sexier than dealing with talk of deficits and Supreme Court rulings, Ryan Gravel, the visionary behind the Beltline, has accepted a position with Perkins+Will, a commercial architect design firm whose work includes the Centennial YMCA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 106 Building. Gravel had previously been consulting and teaching design studios at Georgia Tech.

Let it be known that I’m jealous of Gravel. Not just because he’s an architect, but also because he works for a firm that has a “+” in its name.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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SHOVELS AND SMILES: Do these look like the faces of people who just lost $860 million?

It’s a cold Saturday morning in Southwest Atlanta, and more than 100 people gather to witness the ceremonial beginning of the Beltline. It’s here in West End at Rose Circle Park where the first two miles of the project — a bike trail built in cooperation with PATH — will hug White Street and run north. Crews removed a lane of the road to build the trail.

As civic and business leaders, cyclists and neighborhood residents looked on, Beltline advocates, including Mayor Shirley Franklin, City Councilmembers Cleta Winslow and Caesar Mitchell, project visionary Ryan Gravel and others grabbed shovels and pierced the ground to mark the first phase of the public works project.

“This is exciting,” Franklin said after the ceremony. “The Beltline’s been a long time coming. And it starts with a little trail in West End. It’s a lot of hard work based on the vision of a young person. I mean, look at this crowd.” She gestures toward the mix of faces in attendance and the children playing basketball on the courts adjacent to the site. “This is what makes cities great. People from all backgrounds, coming together.”

But with all the excitement, one couldn’t help but to feel a little chagrined. It’s a really big project starting small. And it’s just two weeks after the state Supreme Court ruled that a hefty chunk of change would be off-limits to Beltline advocates. Planners and proponents of the massive endeavor have said they will push forward, with or without the school tax funds from the tax allocation district.

(Photo by Thomas Wheatley)

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Critics of the Beltline have argued that it is a nice idea, but would in the end serve no job centers and ultimately little purpose — it’d be a costly tourist loop and an amenity for residents who were fortunate enough to live close to the project. Civil leaders, academics and the visionary behind the concept will gather Saturday, Jan. 19, 12:30-2 p.m. at the King Center on Auburn Avenue to discuss one of the less tangible aspects of what the Beltline may bring Atlanta: a sense of connection in what is a now a city of urbanized villages. They’ll also look into the flip side of that vision — mainly, in the project’s slow realization, will many residents who hoped to share in that future be shuffled out because of it?

From the release:

Equitable Development – The BeltLine: Can it connect Atlanta’s people, places and opportunities?

The BeltLine has the potential to connect the people of Atlanta to one another and to the places they go. Envisioned by some as an opportunity to knit together the social fabric of diverse communities into one, the BeltLine has raised concern that the rail system could further separate the City along racial and socio-economic lines. A panel of experts will examine the BeltLine in light of the need for access to good jobs, quality education, affordable housing, a clean environment and a healthy quality of life. This workshop is presented in partnership with the BeltLine Network, Sierra Club, Georgia Stand-Up, Georgia Conservancy, BeltLine Partnership, Park Pride, Citizens for Progressive Transit, and Emory’s Office of University-Community Partnerships.

Full info from the release about speakers and the discussion panelists after the jump…

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