Already, 2023 is shaping up to be a pivotal year for Atlanta BeltLine construction.
Within a few weeks, new trail segments are expected to be in active building phases across Atlanta, from the brink of Buckhead to the fringes of Westside Park and around to an already-popular—if rugged—section a few blocks from Zoo Atlanta.
Atlanta BeltLine Inc. announced today that ceremonial groundbreakings led by Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens are scheduled this month on both the Southside Trail and Westside Trail corridors.
Those new BeltLine projects will join the Northeast Trail section currently under construction between Piedmont Park and the Lindbergh area. That 1.2-mile northeastern piece of the loop is expected to finish construction and open this fall, with finishing touches such as landscaping to continue into early 2024.
This month’s first public groundbreaking is scheduled March 13, in the shadow of a longstanding sculpture on the Southside Trail just south of Glenwood Avenue.
The ceremonial event will signal that long-awaited construction on the Southside Trail’s Segments 4 and 5 is imminent, though exactly when the trail will be made off-limits as a construction site isn’t yet clear, as officials confirmed today to Urbanize Atlanta.
The Westside and Southside sections in question are now listed as "under construction" on the BeltLine's progress map. Atlanta BeltLine Inc.
BeltLine officials report the contractor they selected, Reeves Young Construction, is wrapping up fiber relocation work with the expectations of finishing in late March or early April. That’s when the contractors will mobilize and begin building the trail.
The scope of the 1.2-mile project includes rebuilding the United Avenue bridge—a gap in the corridor that’s hassled patrons, especially bicyclists, for nearly three years.
Atlanta BeltLine Inc.
Once Segments 4 and 5 open, BeltLine users will be able to travel from Piedmont Park down to Boulevard, south of Zoo Atlanta, on a contiguously paved and protected multi-use trail. The project will also serve to stitch back together Grant Park, Ormewood Park, and Boulevard Heights neighborhoods.
BeltLine officials have said construction of the next Southside Trail section should take roughly two years.
Meanwhile, on the flipside of downtown, efforts to finish the full Westside Trail have already begun.
How the Westside Trail's Segment 4 appears today in Washington Park. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta
The official groundbreaking for Westside Trail’s Segment 4 is planned March 22. That 1.3-mile section will fill the last gap between existing Westside Trail pieces and the connector trail that shoots out of downtown, linking neighborhoods from Capitol View to Blandtown with Atlanta’s commercial core.
Construction of that segment was awarded to Astra Group. BeltLine officials report that construction mobilization and trail-clearing work has started next to Washington Park, near the new segment’s southernmost point. But again, fresh pavement and off-street access to so many neighborhoods won't happen tomorrow.
“This project is a complicated design that includes elevated structures and bridges,” reads the latest BeltLine update, “and we expect it to be complete in summer of 2025.”
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