Eastside Trail Construction Update

It has been extremely gratifying seeing so many people enjoying the Eastside Trail. If you’ve already been there, you may have noticed that our work is not quite done yet. Tree plantings continue, and we’ve received  a lot of questions about the two ends of the trail, at Irwin Street to the south, Monroe Drive to the north, and other street connections in between:

Improvements Planned for Irwin Street: The Eastside Trail currently ends at Irwin Street. ABI will install an “intersection warning” sign to alert trail users of the at-grade crossing with Irwin Street. A stop sign will be installed at the end of the trail so that users can observe traffic before either crossing the street onto the hiking trail, or re-enter the vehicle lanes. Trail users will need to be cautious when re-entering into the vehicle lanes or when crossing onto the interim hiking trail. This continuation of the Atlanta BeltLine interim hiking trail (from Irwin Street to Dekalb Ave) will be closed as the corridor is used for construction ingress/egress during the replacement of the Edgewood Bridge. Construction is currently scheduled to start in early 2013.

Improvements Planned for 10th and Monroe Intersection: The improved section of Eastside Trail ends at Monroe Dr. adjacent to Park Tavern and Piedmont Park. The City of Atlanta Public Works Dept. approved the design for traffic signal and pavement striping improvements for the intersection. Eastside trail users will be able to cross Monroe Dr. to Piedmont Park more easily with new pedestrian signals and a 28’ wide striped pedestrian crossing with new curbramps built into the sidewalks on either side of Monroe Dr. The traffic signals for the Virginia and 10thStreet intersections with Monroe will be re-timed and coordinated in anticipation of heavier pedestrian and bicyclist activity through the area. Construction on the improvement is slated to begin in early November and be completed by mid-December (weather permitting). While improvements will occur on all four “corners” of the intersection, we have requested that the contractor prioritize the interface between the Park Tavern corner and the Eastside Trail.

sketch of Atlanta BeltLine construction at 10th and Monroe
Sketch of the future pedestrian crossing on Atlanta BeltLine across Monroe Drive at 10th Street.

Asphalt Patching: Where the construction of the new trail interfaces with a dead-end street (ie.; Greenwood Ave.) or with a rear building parking lot (ie.; Urban Body Studios), the contractor will be patching the asphalt from the sawcut to granite curb or pavement slab as they finish their work.

Thank you for your continued support, enthusiasm and patience!

 

 

7 thoughts on this article. Join the discussion below

    1. Hi Jared, the diagram in the blog post should help explain the crossing. It will be for pedestrians and bicyclists.

      1. Hi Jenny,

        I’d like to second Jared’s question. The diagram is actually very vague. It shows a crosswalk that leads to the adjacent sidewalk, but bicycles are not legally allowed on the sidewalk.

        So, how are bicycles expected to proceed after exiting the beltline (without riding on the sidewalk)? How do you suggest that cyclists approach the beltline?

        1. Hi Robert,
          The best thing to do would be to dismount when you approach the intersection, whether you’re on the Eastside Trail or coming from a surface street. If exiting the Eastside Trail, dismount, and wait for traffic to safely clear in order to continue riding on the surface street. If approaching on the surface street, you may need to be prepared to stop and dismount upon entering the trail in order to assess the situation and see where people / cyclists are located. If traffic is particularly heavy, you may want to pull off, dismount, and walk across the intersection with the signal before riding on. Please always use caution!
          Thanks,
          Jenny

          1. Hi Jenny,

            As a cyclist who now uses the Beltline for commuting on a daily basis, I consider this answer unacceptable – not only does it limit the huge potential of the Beltline for cyclists, but it is highly likely to result in a great degree of illegal, unsafe activity by cyclists exiting the Beltline. Already there are cyclists going every which way at this intersection due to the poor design. Even if they take your advice and cross Monroe as pedestrians, there is no safe way for cyclists to reenter traffic on Monroe or 10th. A simple solution would be to add a light for cyclists and time it with the traffic lights to allow cyclists a safe opportunity to exit the Beltline into traffic.

            Please let me know how I can help achieve this improved solution.

            Thanks,

            Jared

          2. Jenny,

            Thanks for the answer, but I must admit that I find your response disappointing. Suggesting that cyclists ‘dismount’ makes it pretty clear that you’re not taking the Beltline seriously as transportation infrastructure.

            It’s also unbelievable to me that we’re approaching two months since the trail officially opened and you’re still doing work on the main access point. Why was this not done before the trail was complete? Given that you were a year behind schedule anyway, there should have been plenty of time.

            Why aren’t safety and functionality of the trail being placed as the top priorities?

  1. I live in the apartments where the trail meets Irwin St. Will they be improving the unfinished section of that path that leads behind Stove Works and connects to the paved portion of the trial?

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