After years of anticipation, design plans and a firm timeline are coming into clearer focus for eliminating the cluster-you-know-what where the BeltLine’s popular Eastside Trail meets Monroe Drive and Piedmont Park.

According to Atlanta BeltLine Inc., pedestrian and bicyclist safety upgrades at the intersection of 10th Street and Monroe Drive are expected to begin construction the evening of Sunday, June 9 with paving.

The busy intersection serves at the BeltLine’s entry into Piedmont Park and Midtown by way of 10th Street bike lanes. Its people-friendly makeover is considered phase three of the Northeast Trail’s construction through Piedmont Park.

Changes will include a raised intersection, improved pedestrian crossing signals, upgraded bike access onto 10th Street bike lanes, along with new traffic signals at Monroe Drive and nearby Kanuga Street.

The goal is to better align the BeltLine’s Eastside/Northeast Trail corridor on both sides of Monroe Drive, with a new bike lane entrance onto 10th Street.

An existing plaza where the BeltLine dead-ends at Monroe Drive will be moved to the center of the trail and bike entrances, per BeltLine officials.

Overview of planned changes, with Piedmont Park and Park Tavern shown at right. Atlanta BeltLine Inc.

Bike lanes, plaza, and BeltLine street crossing plans in the works for where the Eastside Trail meets Monroe Drive. Atlanta BeltLine Inc.

The BeltLine’s closure schedule calls for detour routes for trail users and drivers to get around construction in the roadway and near it. The intersection is expected to be fully closed for just five days, from June 9 to the evening of June 14, as utility and asphalt work unfolds and concrete ramps are installed.  

Meanwhile, along Segment 1’s second phase from Park Tavern to near Piedmont Park’s dog parks, work on grading, wall installation, and stormwater continues, but trail installation has yet to begin.

The first new section of the Northeast Trail in Piedmont Park opened last month.

View over the new crossing from near Park Tavern to the current Eastside Trail. Atlanta BeltLine Inc.

How the Northeast Trail will travel through Piedmont Park to Monroe Drive, with Park Tavern shown at left. Atlanta BeltLine Inc.

All three pieces of Segment 1 through Piedmont Park are scheduled to be completed late this fall, the BeltLine now reports. 

Construction at Monroe Drive is tentatively scheduled to wrap up in September.

Below is a heads-up on forthcoming detours. Find more context and renderings in the gallery above.

Atlanta BeltLine Inc.

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