Key changes coming for Beltline connection, streets on eastside

Construction is kicking off this week on a major eastside chokepoint for both vehicle traffic and pathway users on foot and bikes trying to cross a busy street.

Georgia Department of Transportation officials tell Urbanize Atlanta contractor F.S. Scarbrough is moving forward with the conversion of Moreland Avenue (Ga. Highway 42) where it meets Arkwright Place, a connecting point between the Edgewood and Reynoldstown neighborhoods.

The intersection in question is currently a gap in the Eastside Trolley Trail—a popular multi-use connection between Kirkwood and blocks near the Beltline’s Eastside Trail—opened two years ago by the PATH Foundation.

It’s often clogged with traffic—or treacherous with speeding vehicles trying to beat red lights.

GDOT’s plans call for converting the intersection into what’s known as a right-in/right-out, or RIRO. That will be achieved by building a long median that prevents cars from turning left off of Moreland Avenue.

Other changes on Arkwright Place will see a grassy median installed that prohibits cars from continuing west over Moreland Avenue into Reynoldstown.

Meanwhile, for people not traveling by car, the multi-use pathway will be extended on both sides of Moreland Avenue up to a signalized crossing specifically for pedestrians, according to GDOT.

Closeup of preferred changes selected by Georgia Department of Transportation officials that include a signalized crossing for pedestrians (top), new medians, and a widened, lengthened pathway. Courtesy of GDOT

The intersection in question today, as seen heading south on Moreland Avenue. The Eastside Trolley Trail in Reynoldstown is shown at right. Courtesy of GDOT

GDOT spokesperson Melodii Peoples says a mini-roundabout was previously considered for the intersection, but those plans were scrapped.

“Due to right-of-way restrictions and proximity of historic properties, that [roundabout] option was determined to be unfeasible and was not studied further,” Peoples wrote via email.

Stakeholders have applauded GDOT’s updated layout following design-alteration suggestions pointed out at meetings in 2019, per the agency.

The work at Moreland Avenue and Arkwright Place is scheduled to be finished in fall 2026, per GDOT.

Courtesy of GDOT; alteration, UA

Needed improvements for the intersection were first identified two decades ago as part of a City of Atlanta 2005 Livable Centers Initiative analysis titled “Ponce de Leon/Moreland Avenue Corridors Study.” That recommended closing the Arkwright Place northern slip lane and adding a multi-use trail.

The intersection was also pinpointed as a sore point in 2008 and 2012 studies.

The latter was a Memorial Drive road safety report, conducted by GDOT’s Office of Traffic Operations and the City of Atlanta, that noted the intersection was a “major bike route” with “inadequate bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure as well as signal and pavement issues,” per GDOT.

Well, better late than never, eh, Atlanta?

Overview of impacted streets in question, with Reynoldstown at left and Edgewood at right. Courtesy of GDOT