COMMUNITY
Beltline presents draft of $3.5 billion transit plan
By Collin Kelley
The Atlanta Beltline hosted a virtual
meeting on Aug. 12 to present draft
recommendations for a light rail corridor
in the northwest corner of the city, as well
as station locations in the Southwest and
Southeast portions of the 22-mile loop.
The current cost estimate to bring
transit to the Beltline is more than $3.5
billion in 2025 dollars. The cost includes
$270 million for transit vehicles and $210
million for support facilities. The funding
mechanism and operations budget — and
where it would come from — are still
unknown.
During the meeting, Beltline Project
Engineer Shaun Green presented
various alignment plans for the
Northwest Quadrant, which would
connect Bankhead to Armour Yards.
One plan Green presented
had an elevated rail line running
down the center of Peachtree Road
(think Chicago’s E or portions of
the New York subway in Queens
or Brooklyn), but the “preferred”
corridor parallels the CSX freight
line.
The “CSX Alignment” plan
ticks many of the boxes requested
by residents and potential riders,
including serving the quadrant’s
Concept Level Capital Cost Estimates (2025)
Northeast
1Sto
Northwest
Study Area
Southeast
Study Area
Atlanta
Beltline
Southwest
Study Area
Proposed
Murphy Crossing
1 Station
NW Quadrant
5.5 Miles
$800M
SW Quadrant
3.7 Miles
$375M
SE Quadrant
4.3 Miles
$435M
Crosstown West
4 Miles
$500M
Krog St/
Station
Station
Support Facilities
$210M
NE Quadrant
4.7 Miles
$520M
42 Transit Vehicles
$270M
Crosstown East
2 Miles
$400M
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Green said the 5.5-mile CSX
Alignment was the lowest cost (currently
$800 million), would offer the fastest
travel time, and offer direct access at the
rear of the Piedmont Hospital campus.
There are still numerous challenges to
the CSX Alignment, including working
out a deal to have light rail in close
proximity to freight trains along the CSX
corridor.
The Northwest Quadrant would
have eight stations, including Donald
Eee Hollowell in Bankhead, Marietta
Boulevard South, Marietta Boulevard
North, Howell Mill Road at CSX Howell
Yard, Northside Drive, Collier Road/
Piedmont Hospital, Peachtree Street
North, and Armour Yards. The exact
locations of the stations are approximate,
Green said.
Green also unveiled alignments and
stations for the Southwest and Southeast
Quadrants of the Beltline.
The Southwest stations would include
Murphy Avenue, which is where Mayor
Andre Dickens has said he wants a new
infill MARTA rail station to serve the
planned Murphy Crossing mixed-use
development. Other stations would be
located at Tawton Street, Ralph David
Abernathy Boulevard, Eanghorn/Enota,
Martin Euther King Jr. Drive, and Joseph
E. Boone Boulevard before connecting at
Hollowell Parkway.
Southeast stations include
Metropolitan Parkway, Pryor Road,
Milton Avenue (which would be aligned
to connect with MARTA’s under-
construction Summerhill Bus Rapid
Transit line), Hill Street, Boulevard, and
Glenwood Avenue.
Although attendees at the virtual
meeting were allowed to ask questions,
it was notable that questions about the
extension of the Atlanta Streetcar from
Downtown up the Beltline’s busy Eastside
Trail to Ponce City Market were passed
over. Staff said they would respond to
other questions at a later date.
Beltline officials said another meeting
would take place this fall after staff had
time to digest the draft plans and consider
public comment.
In March, Mayor Dickens said he was
“reprioritizing” Beltline transit to begin
on the Southwest side of the city, putting
the nearly shovel-ready extension of the
streetcar to the Eastside Trail in limbo.
In April, Dickens released a list of
four infill MARTA stations he wanted
to see built to link heavy rail with the
Beltline’s light rail. Those stations include
the aforementioned Murphy Crossing,
Krog Street/Hulsey Yard, Joseph E.
Boone between Ashby and Bankhead, and
Armour Yards.
Transit advocacy group Beltline Rail
Now released a statement the day after
the meeting, blasting the plan as just
another “dreamy” slide deck after Dickens
stymied plans for the Eastside Trail.
“We want to believe these latest
plans are real. We want to believe they’ll
become more than a PowerPoint fantasy.
But how are we supposed to get swept
up in the vision when Mayor Dickens
just announced his intention to scuttle
the first phase of Beltline rail, the part
that’s shovel-ready, fully funded, and
could be in service by 2028? The design is
nearly complete. We’ve already spent $13
million on engineering. The money exists
right now. And yet, we’re told to wait.”
Beltline Rail Now said the plan
presented was “ambitious” and “exactly
what this city needs.”
“We’re calling on Mayor Dickens
and his administration to step back up.
Recommit to building the part of this
system we can build now. Use the Beltline
TAD [Tax Allocation District] and every
available resource to fund the full design
and engineering of this plan. Eet’s stop
pretending we need another study. We
need steel in the ground. We need tracks.
We want to ride.”
6 | SEPTEMBER 2025
ROUGHDRAFT.NEWS
