Atlanta Beltline Design and Construction Updates: March 2025

Below you will find recent updates and photos of each of our Atlanta Beltline projects in design or construction along with links to get more general information about each project. Additionally, you can explore current design and construction projects here. These projects play a pivotal role in furthering the Atlanta Beltline vision to be the catalyst for making Atlanta a global beacon for equitable, inclusive, and sustainable city life.

Northeast Trail

• Northeast Trail - Segment 1: The trail officially opened with a groundbreaking on November 12th. The plaza work at 10th and Midtown as well as the bike lane are complete. Renew Atlanta engineers have requested the relocation of a single vehicle stop bar, which will be relocated in mid-March. Railing work continues, both correcting issues with the installed railing and the final installation of the railing along the Carriage Trail. Landscape installation and final completion, or punch list items, are ongoing. Tree installation will continue through the end of March, followed by grasses in April. All final work is expected to be wrapped up by May.

  

• Northeast Trail - Segment 3 and Connector Trails: This federally funded portion of trail includes the mainline trail of the Atlanta Beltline 22-mile loop, called Northeast Trail – Segment 3, as well as connector trails to the MARTA Lindberg station, PATH 400, and to the Armour-Ottley business district. All real estate has been purchased, and the design is 100% complete. This is a huge milestone which ensures that the trail can be built. GDOT has certified all review packages such as environmental, right of way (real estate) and utility relocation work. We are on schedule to open construction bids in summer 2025, to align with the fiscal year. This project has more than $42M in federal funding allocated to the project. We are expecting the project to be bid for construction in mid-2025 and will likely be mobilized for construction by late 2025 or early 2025. This is a long and complex project, one of the Beltline’s largest, and the expected construction duration is expected to be 42 months.

  

Southside Trail

• Southside Trail Segments 2+3: This project, which extends 1.9 miles from west of I-75/85 to Boulevard, was released for construction with a construction mobilization date of May 20th and an early 2026 completion timeline. Mass grading was delayed for a period of time above D.H. Stanton Park (Segment 3) due to the discovery of a brownfield. Work has resumed on the storm detention pond in this area as plans for clean-up of the hazardous materials progress. Brownfield soil haul off has allowed for the installation of large storm piping adjacent to D.H. Stanton Park and east of Pryor Road. Rehabilitation of the bridge over Pryor Road has begun and the concrete deck is complete. Concrete is in progress on the h-pile retaining wall installed near Pittsburgh Yards. Pouring the majority of the trail concrete is tracking to be poured by March ’26, with the section of trail on Segment 3 from D.H. Stanton Park to Milton Avenue poured by the end of April ’26. This is due to the brownfield work required in this location. The Beltline is working to have this trail open to the public prior to June 2026, when FIFA will be held in Atlanta.

  

• Southside Trail Segments 4+5: This trail segment runs from Boulevard to Glenwood and is 1.2 miles long. All columns for the ramp at United are complete and the contractor is currently working on the MSE retaining walls as well as grading for the stormwater pond. The ramp system at Delmar has been completed. Work at the Ormewood Avenue bridge has resumed and will continue for several weeks. The contractor is also working on grading the drainage swales and preparing for the first concrete pour of trail between Boulevard and United Ave, expected at the beginning of May. Underground utility challenges at United Ave have pushed out the expected completion date, with construction expected to continue through fall 2025.

  

  

• Southside Trail - Segments 6 (Bill Kennedy Way at I-20): This project includes a new pedestrian bridge over I-20, running parallel to the existing vehicular bridge at Bill Kennedy Way. The trail section running through Glenwood Park will also be improved to meet Beltline trail standards. The drawings for the project are 30% complete, with 60% plans forthcoming by Spring 2025. The engineering team is completing a traffic analysis that contemplates changes to adjacent streets and intersections, with the intent to minimize trail and car traffic conflicts. The project will be completed in two sections: Section A will include work in the ATLDOT right-of-way south of I-20 and Section B is the GDOT right of way from I-20 north to Memorial Drive. Consideration of how to phase this work around FIFA events in June of 2026 is needed. Expected construction duration for each phase of work is expected to be between 16-18 months.

Westside Trail

• Westside Trail – Segment 4: This 1.3-mile segment begins at the current Westside Trail terminus near Lena Street and Washington Park and extends north to Law Street where the trail ties into the Westside Beltline Connector and the completed Westside Trail - Segment 3. The southern portion of the Westside Trail Segment 4 has now been opened to the public. This section runs from Lena Street to Mayson Turner. It accounts for approximately 40% of the total length of this segment. Landscaping on this section of the trail is ongoing. All six bridges on the Westside Segment 4 trail have now been poured and we have started on the handrails. Wall retaining walls have been constructed and faced including the smooth granite on the retaining wall by Donald Lee Hollowell. Trail has been poured on the majority of the length of the trail, with trail poured from Lena to Donald Lee Hollowell. There are 10 more concrete pours left to complete the concrete trail. The project is on track to be completed in Q2 of 2025.

• Westside Trail – Segment 6: This trail will be 0.6 miles in length and connects the Westside trail at Lawton Street SW to the Westside Trail at Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard. This section of trail is open but is a sidewalk connection, diverted off the rail corridor with ramp connections to an adjacent sidewalk. This project will construct a trail connection on the rail corridor. Solicitation of a design firm is complete, with contracting in progress. Design is expected to run through early 2026 and construction to be complete by 2027. Landscaping work will extend into 2028.

Northwest Trail

• Northwest Trail – Segment 1: This section of trail is 0.8 miles in length, beginning at the western edge of Peachtree Parks Apartments and running south along Peachtree Creek. The trail on the north and south sides of Peachtree Creek is now under construction and the entire segment is now under construction. We have completed the tree clearing and utility relocations on both sides of the creek and have started retaining walls as well as underground stormwater infrastructure. Parking lot reconfigurations on the apartment side of the creek is also complete. The bridge foundations are complete, and the towers of the bridge have been erected. We anticipate the superstructure of the bridge will be complete May 1st, 2025. The project is targeting completion in June of 2026.

  

• Northwest Trail – Segment 2: This segment begins at the southwest corner of Bobby Jones Golf Course and travels east along Colonial Hills Circle for 0.7 miles. The design drawings are complete. Real estate purchases and easement work is in progress.

• Northwest Trail – Segment 3: This section of trail begins at Trabert Avenue near Monday Night Brewing’s parking lot and ends after crossing under I-75 at Tanyard Creek, for a total length of 1.2 miles. Design work is substantially complete and permitting is in progress. A construction manager has been hired to provide early assistance with construction logistics, scheduling, and budgeting. The section of the trail between Trabert and Northside is nearing completion and expected to be completed next month, April 2025.

• Northwest Trail – Segment 4: This 0.9-mile-long trail begins at English and Culpepper and ends at the parking lot of Monday Night Brewery at Trabert. The 90% drawings are complete, and we are submitting the drawings to various agencies for permitting pre-approvals. Coordination with the Department of Watershed Management and other property owners has been very productive and the alignment for this segment has been confirmed.  We have split Segment 4 into two parts called Section A and Section B.  We have finalized the selection of a construction manager for Section A from English Street to Howell Mill.  A Construction Manager at Risk, F. H. Paschen, has been hired for Section 4A. We recently released all steel for bridge fabrication and also released the contractor for demolition work on Section 4A.

• Northwest Trail – Segment 5:  This trail section begins at the intersection of Marietta Blvd and Huff Rd, traveling to Ellsworth Industrial and English Street for a total of 0.7 miles. Construction started in May of 2024. Walls and bridge between Elaine and Fairmont are ongoing. Discussions around the Elaine and Ellsworth intersection have started with ATLDOT for full closure this summer. Elaine storm work and grading is nearing completion. Duct bank installation is nearing completion. Marietta Blvd wall construction has started with minimal traffic impacts. Bridge steel arrived and was installed for a 70’ bridge which will provide crossing over a creek. This project is expected to be complete by Fall of 2025.

Beltline Connector Trails + Access Points

• Oakland City MARTA Station + Murphy Connector Trail: This connector trail is expected to be 1.31 miles in length in total, beginning at the existing Southside Trail access point at Allene Avenue SW and splitting into two segments. The first segment of the trail is .45 miles in length and starts at Allene Avenue SW, crosses over Sylvan Road SW and terminates at Murphy Avenue. The second segment of the trail is .86 miles in length and starts at Allene Ave SW, runs adjacent to Avon Ave, crosses over Sylvan Road SW, crosses over Dill Ave and terminates at Murphy Oakland City MARTA station. Solicitation of a design firm is complete, and contract execution is underway. Design is expected to run through early 2026 and construction to be complete in mid-2028. Landscaping work will extend into the winter months of 2028. This project is funded through design in the most recent Beltline Strategic Implementation Plan; construction funding has not yet been identified.

  

All Trails Initiatives

•  Signage, Wayfinding & Crosswalks: Pond has been hired to update all signage across the entire Beltline suite of trails.  This will include regulatory signage, wayfinding, and crosswalk updates.  The new signage package will be consistent across the entire corridor and in alignment with Beltline branding.   A construction manager at risk bid package is currently under solicitation. We are working with GDOT and ATLDOT to get their preliminary approval prior to submitting for permit.  Construction will start on signage packages in mid-2025 with all work on completed trails targeted to wrap up prior to FIFA in June 2026.

• Lighting and Camera Installations: Proceeding forward with design for cameras and lighting on the gravel Rail Trail that runs through Piedmont Park, and the interim gravel trail located at WST 6 that connects the Westside trail at Lawton Street SW to the Westside Trail at Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard. The design contracts for these will likely be issued in the coming months.

  Camera upgrades along the existing Westside Trail corridor are in progress, with 75% Plans have been completed and sent to the City of Atlanta for Review.

Parks

• Enota Park: Enota Park is an eight-acre park that will be built on the west side of Atlanta. A contract was executed for a CMR for Enota Park, and the award went to Reeves Young. Final permits are expected to be in hand this month, and a Notice to Proceed has been issued to the construction team. Reeves Young will be fencing off the entirety of the limits of disturbance for site security. The current Lucille access point will have detour signage pointing people to use the new RDA access point for the duration of construction. Construction is anticipated to start in early April with survey layout, followed by erosion control and fencing. The project construction schedule is expected to be approximately 23 months, with an anticipated completion date in early 2026.

  

• Shirley C. Franklin Park (formerly Westside Park) – Mountain Bike Trail and Pump Track: This project consists of a 2.25-mile mountain bike trail for various skill levels as well as a pump track facility for teaching the sport of mountain biking.  The current program for the mountain bike trails includes 0.37 miles of beginner trails, 0.67 miles of intermediate / expert gravity trails, and 1.19 miles of intermediate bidirectional trails. The project design will also include 0.75 miles of hiking trails. ABP has recently confirmed an $8M donation, bringing the total funding raided for the project to $8.8M.  This funding will cover a first phase of work but fundraising will be required to complete the entire project and all desired elements and phases of work.  We are currently focused on a Construction Manager at Risk procurement solicitation for construction and working on Design Development and 60% cost estimates with Sherwood Engineering. Developing pricing, a cost estimate and schedule for the first phase of work will be the focus of the design team over the next few months.  Construction for the first phase or work may start in fall of this year.

  

• Boulevard Crossing Park: Design work is complete for an expansion of the existing park from 5 acres to 25 acres including a direct access path to the Southside Trail. Construction funding will need to be identified to progress the project.  

Streetscapes

• Ponce de Leon Ave: This project involves 0.68 miles of streetscape work along Ponce de Leon, as well as a new ramp providing access to the Eastside Trail from Ponce de Leon. Sidewalk construction, light pole installation, mast arm and traffic signal installation, bike lane resurfacing and extension, striping, and landscaping have been completed. Wall construction for the ramp is ongoing and granite veneering is almost complete. Construction of columns for the elevated ramp structure, along with handrail installation, will begin in early February and are expected to be complete by May.  Estimated completion date of the project is April 2025.

  

  

Beltline Transit Feasibility Study

• This planning project, primarily focused on determining a preferred transit alignment in the NW Beltline quadrant, where there is no abandoned railroad corridor, also intends to identify stop locations and generalized cross-sections in the SW and SE quadrants of the Beltline corridor. The overall study area is looking at 13-14 miles of future light-rail/streetcar transit corridor, tying into the NE Beltline quadrant planning work previously performed by MARTA in 2021. The effort is guided by principles of equity and the goal of developing a world-class network of high-capacity transit in a green guideway wherever possible.

• The consultant team has been coordinating outreach with the community through multiple forums, including Equity Stakeholder Committee meetings, small-group roundtables, multiple Pop-Up engagements on weekends, etc. Multiple public meetings have been hosted with the community in September, October, and November of 2024 and more engagement is forthcoming.

• This project is anticipated to be completed in June 2025.

Eastside Streetcar Extension – More MARTA

• This project includes the extension of the existing Atlanta Downtown Streetcar east to the Atlanta Beltline corridor, then extending north in the Beltline corridor to Ponce De Leon. 

• An intergovernmental agreement between MARTA and the City of Atlanta has been executed, with MARTA on point for contracting and funding the transit design and construction work. MARTA is targeting to have operational transit in place by 2028.

• The Beltline has received Phase 1 - 30% drawings for review of the Eastside Streetcar Extension and provided comments on the 2^nd revision to the Phase 1 deliverables.

  • ABI supports a non-embedded, top of rail, grass track solution.

  • ABI supports the premise of the project running completely off-wire.

  • ABI looks forward to MARTA beginning a community engagement plan ASAP.

  • ABI supports improvements to existing Atlanta Streetcar A-Line service.

• The MARTA board has authorized a contract with HDR for final engineering services. However, MARTA has not yet released HDR to begin Phase 2 deliverables, including 60% design development and community engagement.

You can view February's Design and Construction updates here. Our first Quarterly Briefing of 2025 was held virtually on February 13, 2025. To view the first Quarterly Briefing of 2025, click here.