Atlanta Beltline, Inc. Soliciting Bids for Construction of Southside Trail – Segments 2 + 3

Southside Trail looking west with D. H. Stanton Park to the right. Photo by LoKnows Drones.

ATLANTA (December 11, 2023) – Atlanta Beltline, Inc. (ABI) is seeking a construction firm to construct the Southside Trail – Segments 2 and 3. An Invitation to Bid is now open for the project, which totals 1.9-miles. This will be the last major section of the Southside Trail to go into construction and will connect from the current end of the completed trail at Pittsburgh Yards on University Avenue to Boulevard, just south of Grant Park.

The Southside Trail is 4 miles in total length. When complete, Segments 2 and 3 will provide safe passage under 16 lanes of Interstates 75/85 and under an active vehicle and freight rail intersection, while connecting to several Atlanta Public Schools, parks, and 12 adjacent neighborhoods. The schools include Slater Elementary School, Carver Early College High School, Carver High School, and Barack and Michelle Obama Elementary School. Neighborhoods include Pittsburgh, Capitol View Manor, High Point, Villages at Carver, Joyland, South Atlanta, Peoplestown, Chosewood Park, Summerhill, Boulevard Heights, Benteen, and Grant Park.

Southside Trail – Segments 4 and 5 are currently under construction between Boulevard and Glenwood Avenue with anticipated completion in spring of 2025. Segment 1, alongside Pittsburgh Yards, was completed in 2021.

“We look forward to receiving bids from diverse, local companies to partner with to build these next segments of the Beltline,” said Kimberley Wilson, Vice President of Design and Construction for Atlanta Beltline, Inc. “To us, equity is a business imperative that extends across all areas of our work as we bring people together to build more Beltline for Atlanta.”

Southside Trail – Segments 2 and 3 are targeted to go into construction in the second quarter of 2024. Construction will include a 14-foot-wide concrete multi-use trail, landscaping, fiber duct bank, retaining walls, connections to adjoining streets, the reuse and rehabilitation of several bridges, stainless-steel handrails and guardrails, storm drainage and storm water management (with a focus on green infrastructure), brownfield remediation, lighting, and security cameras. Each trail project considers the plan and space needed for future transit.

The Beltline continues to partner with City of Atlanta departments, GDOT, Verizon, and Georgia Power. Trail design was completed by Kimley-Horn. eX2 is building out a fiber network in the duct banks under the multi-use trails.

The majority of funding for the Atlanta Beltline comes from Beltline TAD partners: City of Atlanta, Fulton County, and Atlanta Public Schools. Lead philanthropic support to complete the full Beltline corridor comes from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, Inc. and The James M. Cox Foundation. Additional funding comes from the Special Service District (SSD) and federal and state grants.

Atlanta Beltline, Inc. appreciates the support of Senator Ossoff, Senator Warnock, Congresswoman Williams, USDOT Secretary Buttigieg, and other federal leaders for their support of the Atlanta Beltline. The federal government has awarded the maximum amount of possible funding for construction of Southside Trail – Segments 2 and 3 at 80 percent of the total project costs as allowed by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT). Funding includes investments from the Biden Administration Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – FY 2021 RAISE Grant ($16.46M) and Carbon Reduction Formula Funds through the Atlanta Regional Commission Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) ($10M). The FY 2022 Consolidated Appropriations Act included Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) funding for the project ($5M). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) supported pre-construction remediation activities with a Brownfield Cleanup Grant ($500,000).

Once a construction contract is executed, the Beltline will host a public meeting to introduce the selected contractor to the community and outline work timelines. Construction is expected to take approximately two years and to be complete in 2026.

To view this solicitation, interested parties can register on the Beltline’s procurement management website. Once registered, the invitation can be found here: Invitation to Bid, Southside Trail – Segment 2 and 3 Construction.

As of November 2023, the Atlanta Beltline consists of 10.4 miles of open, completed mainline trail, 4.3 miles of mainline trail in design, and 3.4 miles of mainline trail under construction with an additional 2.7 shovel ready miles. There are also more than 10.3 completed miles of connector trails. For up-to-date information about each project in design or construction, please visit www.beltline.org/projects.

High resolution images and the map can be downloaded here: https://beltline.mediavalet.com/portals/southsidetrail2-3