CITYWIDE—For Beltline rail supporters feeling down-and-out following the city’s recent pivot away from light-rail transit on the Eastside Trail, there could be light at the end of that long, proverbial tunnel. 

Mayor Andre Dickens told a gathering of reporters at the Atlanta Press Club on Thursday the Beltline Tax Allocation District—that wellspring of redevelopment funding for building trails and amenities—could be extended beyond its mythical, current sunset date in 2030. Doing so could provide a funding source for transit and affordable housing, per the mayor, as the AJC relays in an in-depth report. 

Light-rail operations and potential look of a stop shown near Pittsburgh Yards on the Southside Trail. Atlanta BeltLine Inc.

Skeptics don’t seem convinced that measure alone would pay for a project with costs expected to climb into the billions. But on a positive note, in the shorter term, Dickens said funding from the half-penny transit sales tax approved in 2016, More MARTA, would be used to build light-rail on the Southside Trail portion of the Beltline, per the newspaper. Dickens said the city wants to accomplish that without federal assistance, and that adequate funding is already in place to get moving. 

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BUCKHEAD—Living in Atlanta means construction noise is a fact of life. But residents of one Buckhead apartment community have been experiencing Atlanta Beltline growing pains to the umpteenth degree, as some residents tell WSB-TV. 

Since construction on the Beltline’s Northside Trail Segment 1 kicked off last fall, renters at Peachtree Park Apartment Homes near Peachtree Road have been enduring loud noise disturbances in their backyards, construction equipment blocking parking spots, and even water outages and in-home flooding, the news station reports. Some are asking apartment ownership for financial compensation.

Planned look of a suspension bridge over Peachtree Creek as part of Northwest Trail Segment 1. PATH Foundation/Atlanta Beltline Inc.

Beltline officials responded that all measures are being taken to minimize impacts (workers could start noisy construction at 7 a.m. but hold off until an hour later, and wrap up at 6 p.m., for example), and they've worked with apartment management to send text-based alerts and other notifications. Work on that segment is scheduled to finish in summer 2026. 

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STONE MOUNTAIN—Heads up, MARTA riders: The transit agency sends word the bus loop at Indian Creek station will be temporarily closed for six weeks, starting Wednesday, as part of ongoing station improvement work at the Stone Mountain facility. All buses in the meantime will be relocated to the Kiss & Ride area, but beyond that, bus and rail service will operate as scheduled. Find updates on the Indian Creek Station Rehabilitation Project here. 

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