Mayor Andre Dickens open to revisiting decision on Beltline rail

Now is an opportune moment to take a fresh look at putting rail on the Beltline’s Eastside trail.

The case to move forward with rail on the Eastside trail is as strong as ever.

It is the one corridor that makes the most sense for transit, given the density of development on the Eastside. It is the project that is farthest along of all the More MARTA projects in terms of engineering, design and designated dollars, with the exception of the Summerhill Bus Rapid Transit line now under construction.

And it is the only rail project that could be operational this decade — in a city and region that’s in desperate need of rail transit. More MARTA was passed in November 2016 with 71 percent of the vote. But, nearly a decade later, there’s little to show for it.

There may be a window to do the right thing.

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, in an exclusive interview on Sept. 12 of last year, said he might be willing to revisit the issue of rail on the Eastside trail after the election. (The mayor won reelection decisively in November.)

“I revisit stuff all the time,” Dickens said during the interview. “Everybody doesn’t want what you want, and so we can have public discourse about it. Sure, fire up. Let’s talk Beltline come January, I’m open for it.”

Courtney English, Dickens’ chief of staff, said the mayor’s position hasn’t changed.

“I just spoke to the mayor, and he reiterated he is open to revisiting the prioritization of the More MARTA project list, including Beltline rail,” English said during a phone interview Monday morning.

Now there’s one more reason to revisit the issue.

When it comes to good governance and transparency, going forward with Beltline rail on the Eastside trail is an opportunity for the mayor, the Beltline and MARTA to correct the embarrassment of a significant policy decision being made outside the public eye. It’s a matter of good governance and transparency.

Excellent reporting by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Sara Gregory revealed a key vote to stop the streetcar extension along the Eastside trail was taken on May 27 in a closed committee meeting “unbeknownst to the public.”

(The comprehensive story published on Jan. 20th shows why local news is so vital, and why it’s important to subscribe to the AJC and support our community’s journalism outlets.)

The article disclosed a key vote by the Program Governance Committee,which includes representatives from MARTA, the City of Atlanta and Atlanta Beltline Inc., led to MARTA asking the engineering firm of HDR to stop all its work on the streetcar extension project two days later. The only person to vote against stopping the work was Collie Greenwood, then MARTA’s general manager.  Seven weeks later, Greenwood resigned, citing immigration issues.

The move to change course on the streetcar extension was made without an official vote by the MARTA board or a briefing before the Atlanta City Council, two public bodies where engaged citizens could have weighed in.

“I’m disheartened that the vote was not made public and not shared with the MARTA board,” said Doug Shipman, former president of the Atlanta City Council, who did not run for reelection. “The best possible outcome is that the mayor reprioritizes the Eastside project at the top of the priority list. The answer is not to go behind closed doors to pass something outside of the public view.”

Another reason to revisit the issue is the outcome of the November election, showing the popularity for rail along the Beltline’s Eastside trail.

In the surprise city election of 2025, Kelsea Bond won the District 2 open city council seat, beating four other opponents with 64 percent of the vote. District 2 completely envelops the Eastside trail.

The perception had been that people in the district, especially in the Inman Park community, were against Beltline rail.

But Bond’s election proves otherwise. One of Bond’s major issues was strong support for Beltline rail. During the election, the campaign polled the district to see how aligned they were with Bond’s positions.

Nearly 64 percent of likely voters polled said they strongly or somewhat supported Beltline rail, compared to 21 percent very or somewhat opposed. Support for rail was as high in Inman Park as the rest of the district.

“One of the primary things that motivated our volunteers was my support for Beltline rail,” said Bond, who won with the help 200 volunteers.

Bond support rail on the Beltline’s Eastside trail for environmental reasons.

“I’m very concerned about our climate and what our city is doing or not doing to fight climate change. The issue is way more urgent than we treat it in Atlanta,” they said. “We owe it to future generations to invest in public transit.”

Bond also said it’s important to make sure the investment of 10 years of planning and engineering work on the streetcar extension is not thrown out the window.

“If we start from scratch, it would take one more decade before you could put tracks in the ground,” Bond said of other possible Beltline rail projects. “The Eastside is ready to go.”

It’s also a matter of building back public trust.

“Unfortunately, I think our city has a transparency problem,” Bond said. “I believe the numbers are on our side for Beltline rail. I believe the energy is out there. We’ve already taken the More MARTA votes. There was a community discussion. Why would we waste all of that? I think a narrative shift needs to happen.”

Remember, the MARTA board unanimously approved going forward with Beltline rail on the Eastside on July 13, 2023. At the time, Mayor Dickens was a strong advocate of Beltline rail on the Eastside, but as time went on, his position softened, then changed while he was running for re-election. The theory was influential leaders in Inman Park had the mayor’s ear.

Going further back in time to the fall of 2021, it’s important to note that Dickens was able to get into a run-off with Felicia Moore (easing past former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed by a few hundred votes) thanks to support from Eastside neighborhoods.

Shipman, who runs along the Eastside trail almost every day, said he believes there is strong support for the rail along the corridor. As a strong supporter for Beltline rail, Shipman said people would constantly thank him for pushing the project.

“Anecdotally, I felt there was broad support for Beltline rail and a little bit of vocal opposition,” said Shipman, who believes there must be better alignment between MARTA, the city and the Beltline on the More MARTA project list. “This is an opportunity to reset the MARTA relationship and to reset priorities.”

Shipman also said the case for rail on the Eastside is as strong as ever.“The Eastside trail connects jobs to people, and that’s vital to making a transportation work,” Shipman said. “The Eastside is one of the major economic engines in the city.  The best possible outcome is that the mayor reprioritizes the Eastside project at the top of the priority list.”