Transit group calls for accelerating Atlanta Beltline project

[Editor's note: This story has been updated with a response from MARTA.]

A group of transit advocates are calling for speeding up plans to build a 22-mile light-rail and trail loop as part of the Atlanta BeltLine.

BeltLine Rail Now yesterday unveiled a white paper outlining a strategy for funding construction of the Atlanta Beltline, and called for the transit portion of the project to be completed by 2035 — ahead of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority's (MARTA) completion target date of 2050.

The group estimates it will take $2.5 billion to build the BeltLine Rail project on the 22 miles of the Beltline. It criticizes the 2050 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) for allocating less than $900 million in combined local and federal funds spread out over the next 30 years.

"This is a significant failure to accomplish the unifying mission of BeltLine Rail," a group paper states.

The current RTP anticipates only $257 million in Federal Transit Administration funding for the Beltline, but BeltLine Rail recommends tripling that goal. It also presents funding ideas that include flexible federal highway funds and creation of special assessment districts.

BeltLine Rail Now was created in 2018 after MARTA's release of a long-term construction plan that transit advocates say left two-thirds of the Beltline loop without rail. Not a single mile of track on the 22-mile rail and trail loop connecting MARTA rail has been laid since the project was proposed 20 years ago, according to the group. MARTA anticipates it will be 2027 before the first segment of rail — 1.4 miles — is operational.

BeltLine Rail Now is calling on Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and the City Council make the rail project a priority.

The group's paper can be read here.

MARTA officials said that, while they agree with the BeltLine Rail's stance that additional funding sources are necessary to expand the MARTA system, the group's white paper is "less a blueprint for funding and more a wish list."

The group's proposal glosses over legislative and policy hurdles at local, regional and state levels; would eliminate transit projects along the Clifton Corridor and Campbellton Road to redirect money to the Beltline; and conflates financing and funding, they said.

Also, contrary to the group's assertion, no portion of Beltline transit is shovel ready, MARTA officials said. The agency will be seeking board authorization in the coming months to conduct an engineering analysis risk assessment.

"Information from this deeper dive into the technical engineering is critical before we make a decision to change the phasing plan as [BeltLine Rail] requests or to apply for federal funding," MARTA officials said.

"MARTA appreciates [BeltLine Rail's] passion and stands ready to work with them to advocate for additional funding sources," agency officials said. "We also stand behind the decisions that were made with the mayor and Atlanta City Council that prioritize high capacity transit connecting MARTA heavy rail with the second largest jobs center at Emory University along the Clifton Corridor, connecting Campbellton Road to Oakland City station and expanding Bankhead station to unlock the potential of the city's northwest quadrant."