After years of talk and dashed expectations, exactly when paved BeltLine connectivity will swing from Atlanta’s Westside all the way to Buckhead, and vice versa, is coming into clear focus.

It appears we’ll live to see it—at least most of us—after all.

Atlanta BeltLine Inc. reports that Southside Trail Segments 2 and 3 have been released for bid for construction, a means of seeking firms qualified to construct that portion of the 22-mile loop trail.

That comes after BeltLine officials received a notice recently from the Georgia Department of Transportation to move forward with the project’s procurement.

Outlined at the bottom, the Southside Trail's Segments 2 and 3 are the last to see construction outside of the BeltLine's northern arc, leaving a 1.9-mile gap in connectivity. Atlanta BeltLine Inc.

For now, the Southside Trail segments in question are a 1.9-mile stretch of raw dirt, rocks, and old bridges located south of downtown. They stretch between Boulevard to the east and the Pittsburgh neighborhood to the west, running under and just beyond the downtown Connector.

BeltLine officials say their goal is to begin construction on Segments 2 and 3 in late spring next year, with an expected construction timeline of roughly two years.

Should that hold true, it would mean the Southside Trail would be finished in time for summer 2026 and Atlanta’s World Cup matches, providing the paved link between the BeltLine’s Westside Trail and Eastside Trail that ATL urbanists have long dreamed of.

Multifamily construction at the beginning of the Southside Trail segments in question, as seen near Boulevard in February. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta

BeltLine officials also note that most of the telecommunication fiber along Segments 2 and 3 has been relocated, as the BeltLine’s contractor continues to removing old fiber from abandoned conduits.

All Georgia Power infrastructure relocations that can be completed before construction starts are finished, officials relayed this week.

As depicted on these pages over the past year, well over 1,000 new condos, apartments, and townhomes have already materialized directly on the unbuilt Southside Trail segments in question, with hundreds of additional housing units in the pipeline in nearby blocks in neighborhoods such as Chosewood Park.

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