Photos: Atlanta Beltline's 'Mario Kart' component has arrived

Double Beltline barriers have never felt so right. 

One of the final punch-list items for the Beltline’s Southeast Trail—railings for the sweeping, towering United Avenue access point—has delivered, and the entry/exit has already earned a colloquial nickname: the “Mario Kart entrance,” per online forums. [Let’s be clear that racing on this dramatic piece of urban infrastructure, whether with a bike or souped-up princess mobile, is beyond ill-advised. Obviously.] 

In any case, the ADA-accessible United Avenue ramp fluidly addresses a serious case of elevation change where a dirt hill and rough stairs existed before. 

The Southeast Trail links together four neighborhoods (Glenwood Park, Grant Park, Ormewood Park, and Boulevard Heights). The two and ½-mile mainline Beltline section fully opened in April, stretching from Krog Street Tunnel to Boulevard Southeast. 

Beyond neighborhood connectivity, the project—designed by Kimley-Horn engineers and constructed by Reeves Young—creates safer routes to school for students at Parkside Elementary and Maynard Jackson High School, which is now just the second Atlanta public high school to be situated directly on the Beltline, per officials. 

Find a quick tour of this unique Beltline component, beginning at street level, in the gallery above. 

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