Sunday, March 29, 2009
News, Atlanta

Beltline moves forward

 

By Chuck Stanley


With the battle over the 4.3-mile stretch of rail corridor known as the Decatur Belt behind them, representatives from the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) and Atlanta BeltLine Inc. look forward to a more harmonious future for Georgia’s transportation agencies.

    Meetings regarding an environmental impact study being conducted by the BeltLine group and MARTA will take place in the next few weeks (see chart).

This week, GDOT and AMTRAK notified the Federal Surface and Transportation Board that they would officially drop their demands to halt procedures that would allow the Atlanta BeltLine Inc. and the City of Atlanta to develop the long-out-of-use strip of rail. The Decatur Belt makes up a northeastern portion of the planned BeltLine, a 22-mile loop of transit and green space around Atlanta. By stepping aside to allow the Beltline to develop the Decatur Belt, the agencies effectively end any prospect for high-speed or intercity rail in the corridor, which runs directly behind some of Atlanta’s most sought-after neighborhoods.
   
    The trouble erupted in January after GDOT’s and AMTRAK’s last-minute interference with Norfolk Southern Railroad’s request for abandonment of the corridor was submitted to the Federal Surface and Transportation Board. Norfolk Southern’s agreement to give up the rail would have given full control over the corridor to Atlanta BeltLine Inc. and the City of Atlanta. The abandonment would have stripped AMTRAK of its ability to develop the corridor for high-speed and intercity commuter rail should funding for such a project become available in the future.

The interference by GDOT and AMTRAK resulted in a letter from Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin to Congressman John Lewis asking for his help in the matter. Supporters of the BeltLine, along with residents angered by the possibility of noisy high-speed trains running through their backyards, rallied in protest of GDOT and AMTRAK. Finally, representatives from MARTA, Atlanta BeltLine Inc, GDOT, AMTRAK and the City of Atlanta announced they would work together to find a mutually acceptable solution to the disagreement. 
   
    The heated clash between federal, state and local groups served to highlight the need for better cooperation between Georgia’s transportation agencies and has led to a “framework agreement” requiring the various parties to actively communicate their plans in the future, hopefully preventing similar dust-ups.
   
    Crystal Paulk-Buchanan, media projects manager at GDOT, emphasizes the positives that resulted from the initial head-butting over abandonment of the corridor.

“The improvement that’s come out of this is that everyone that needed to be at the table is now talking to each other,” she says.
   
    According to Paulk-Buchanan, GDOT will examine other options for future high-speed and intercity commuter rail, including a heavily used trunk line west of Atlanta. A multi-modal passenger terminal in Atlanta, serving local and intercity rail and bus customers, remains a long-term GDOT goal, but plans for such a facility will have to be adapted to exclude the previously anticipated use of the Decatur Belt.
   
    Ethan Davidson, director of communications for Atlanta BeltLine Inc., sees the recent developments as largely positive, regardless of the initial discord surrounding the issue.
    “We are pleased that all parties worked together in good faith to resolve this issue and that the abandonment of the Decatur Belt can now proceed,” he says. “The dialogue that began during this process will continue under the framework agreement and will help coordinate transit planning for the Atlanta region and the state moving forward.” SP