Nearly the entire left side of the Atlanta Beltline’s fabled 22-mile oval is now poured, paved, and ready to roll. 

In news that could make longtime Beltline proponents well up with happy tears, project officials on Tuesday announced the 1.3-mile missing piece—Westside Trail Segment 4—is officially open for runners, cyclists, walkers, and anyone else not traveling by motorized vehicle. [CLARIFICATION: 1:29 p.m., June 18: Beltline officials send this note, following an earlier announcement the trail is now fully open: "This segment of the trail will officially be open to the public on Monday after the (2 p.m.) ribbon cutting."]

That means 6.8 miles of contiguous, uninterrupted, mainline Beltline pathway has now been pieced together—the longest stretch to date—connecting neighborhoods around the loop from Huff Road in Blandtown down to Pittsburgh Yards, directly south of downtown. 

The Westside Trail’s newest section is also now linked with the 1.7-mile connector trail that shoots out of downtown, providing a route to the city's commercial core. 

Latest construction progress map for the Beltline's 22-mile loop, with the 1.3-mile Westside Trail's Segment 4 (now complete) at left.Atlanta Beltline Inc.

For months, Beltline heads have been predicting Segment 4 would debut sometime in the second quarter of this year. An official ribbon-cutting ceremony led by Andre Dickens, Beltline president and CEO Clyde Higgs, and other community and elected local leaders is scheduled for Monday afternoon.

Beltline leadership is calling the Segment 4 opening “a major milestone” for the overall project. 

The 1.3-mile connecting piece “transforms a fragmented pathway into a seamless corridor that runs along Washington Park,” notes the announcement, “weaving through neighborhoods where streets honor civil rights leaders Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Joseph E. Boone, and Joseph Lowery.” 

Looking south at a Westside Trail Segment 4 access ramp and mainline section of the Beltline, where it now intersects with Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway. Photo by ABI staff

Part of Segment 4 was opened last fall, but a gap of nearly a mile remained, restricting off-street travel across a multitude of Westside and Southwest Atlanta neighborhoods. 

Beltline officials have called the section in question complex, with its new bridges and other elevated structures. It includes a fiber duct bank, vertical connections to neighborhood streets, security cameras, and lighting, alongside storm drainage and management systems with green infrastructure.

Segment 4 broke ground in March 2023. At that time, project leaders predicted it would open this summer. 

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