By Guest Columnist JAY MILLER, a semi-retired lawyer who lives in the Inman Park area.
The Beltline is Atlanta’s jewel. It epitomizes how a human construct can complement nature and how people from all quarters can enjoy themselves side-by-side in harmony. If there is a better example of diversity anywhere, I have yet to find it.
City officials and MARTA, however, seem headed down a path that would tarnish this jewel and do so while spending unconscionable amounts of money and degrading adjoining properties in the process. That would be the end result of their planned eastside streetcar extension running from downtown to Ponce City Market (PCM).
We need to push the pause button, have a constructive conversation with stakeholders and seek an alternative proposal for the benefit of all Atlantans. Otherwise, an irreversible tragedy could befall us.
Picture this — steel rails plopped down on a slab of concrete, a gaggle of overhead wires, fences topped with barbed wire on either side of the tracks to protect Beltline pedestrians from harm and streetcars whizzing by noisily several times an hour. That’s what we’re looking at.
To accomplish this, it would be necessary to destroy acres of greenspace, cut down trees, and upend the lives of nearby business owners and residents. Indeed, some residents might be forcibly displaced from their homes to make way for the streetcar.
People of all income levels, white and Black, oppose this juggernaut. And thousands more who use the Beltline will soon join the opposition once they become aware of what’s happening. And, it’s a virtual certainty that most of them don’t know right now.
Why, then, is the city proceeding with its plans? Because they claim they have the money, and over twenty years ago voters approved a referendum that eventually included a streetcar component. Absolutely no consideration is being given to intervening developments or to how the populace feels today.
That’s bad policy and bad politics. Changing or modifying course is not a sin, but ignoring all warning signs and barging full speed ahead is.
Let’s take finances. Right now the 2.3-mile streetcar extension is estimated to cost $230 million. That equates to $18,939 per foot! It’s maddening to consider this expense, especially when more advanced means of transportation exist that cost far less and are far less disruptive to deploy.
Further, the $230 million price tag does not include the day-to-day costs of running the streetcar. Based on the abysmally low current streetcar ridership, MARTA is subsidizing operating costs to the tune of $40 per rider. (Looked at differently, the cost to MARTA of running the downtown streetcar per revenue mile is roughly 35 times that for their buses.) See More MARTA Monthly Progress Report March 2022 on p. 6. Even in the very unlikely event ridership increased tenfold with the planned extension in place, fares would still cover only 40% of such costs. Taxpayers would “get” to pick up the rest.
That’s not all. Another anticipated expense involves eminent domain. The projected width of the extension could dictate that homes on Auburn Avenue and Randolph Street which would be part of the route must be condemned and owners compensated. Compensation costs alone could run into the (tens of) millions. And don’t forget potential lawsuits from aggrieved parties.
By the way, the eminent domain scenario is not farfetched. The road surface on Auburn Avenue, for example, is 28 feet wide (26 feet in some areas), whereas in MARTA renderings the proposed streetcar extension would require 69 feet (including space on either side of the cars for passengers entering and exiting).
Although these streets might face the most egregious disruption, all along the route businesses and residences that have sprung up since the extension was first proposed would also be adversely impacted. Living, or working, cheek by jowl with a streetcar is not a pleasing prospect. Property values could take a big hit.
All for an out-of-date transportation system that does nothing to alleviate Atlanta’s traffic woes, according to an opinion piece by Georgia Tech professor of public policy, Hans Klein, which was previously published here. If MARTA intended to make the extension part of a loop around Atlanta in the near future, perhaps a plausible argument could be made for it. That’s not the case, however, any such plans have been pushed off until at least 2035, if then! For all practical purposes, we would be stuck with a stub.
Just so MARTA and the city can say they have accomplished something.
If MARTA argues that the extension would enable more people to reach PCM from downtown, blow a raspberry at that. PCM is already well patronized by folks from all over town — many of whom arrive courtesy of the Beltline itself.
Ah, the Beltline, Atlanta’s pride and joy, and deservedly so. How would the Beltline be enhanced by an endless stream of streetcars clattering next to it? The answer: It wouldn’t. So much for Beltline users being able to enjoy nature in an urban setting, collect their thoughts or engage with each other. So much for the musicians and cast of characters who entertain there. So much for seeing a diversified community taking root.
There is still time to avert this mistake. Let’s have reasonable minds come together to figure out an alternative that makes sense for all concerned.
At a minimum, tap the brakes. Pause to consider what is being wrought and its ramifications.
Someone once told me that if you take additional time at work to solve a problem, no one remembers the extra time taken. But making a bad mistake because you rushed to meet an artificial deadline is not so easily forgotten – or forgiven.
City of Atlanta and MARTA officials, take heed.
…
Would you like to write a guest column for SaportaReport? The SR team strives to uplift and amplify the diverse perspectives in our community, and we want to hear from you! Email Editor Derek Prall to discuss the specifics.
This piece hits the nail on the head.
It seems that the streetcar extension makes good political sense even though it makes little practical sense.
With deployment of the original streetcar, Atlanta joined the ranks of cities with grossly underused streetcar systems. However, Atlanta is unusual in spending another quarter of a billion dollars to extend its unused system — an extension that is unlikely to generate much more ridership.
Sure, tourists love Ponce City Market, and some might want to ride from the aquarium to PCM. But it would be cheaper to chauffeur those tourists in city-paid limousines than to buy them a train system.
The funds could be much better used serving the people who actually use transit — people on the south side of town, many of whom are Black.
Perhaps the last sentence of this article is the most significant. Once today’s elected officials have destroyed the Beltline as a park, will the public hold them accountable at the next election?
The Sweet Auburn/Old4th collation of over 350 homeowners & small Business Owners are very much opposed to this project.
MARTA’s answer = ” So What” -The Mayor & City Council President told us to do this – talk to them!
Ridership: – in 3 neighborhood meetings answers ranged from We Don’t Know to We Don’t Care”.
Another Key Question: What’s the Benefit to folks who are most impacted? MARTA Answer: New BIZ Development.
Follow on Question: Who are you talking about – Developers.
Empty Streetcars -250M spent? What could be wrong with this decision?
If you don’t like the streetcar extension, move. I for one would benefit from the streetcar. I’ll more easily be able to go grocery shopping and meet up with friends. Even when it’s raining. First street car was a train wreck and catered to tourist. This isn’t. This if for regular people who want to get around. The belt line was never meant to be a park t increase your property value. It’s a transportation corridor. No one cares that you think it’s gonna “degrade” your “jewel.” It doesn’t belong to you or your neighbors. I’m sure your house will easily sell. And by a lot.
Maybe you should move closer to the grocery store or use uber and instacart on rainy days. Marta has shuttle service for those with mobility issues. Perhaps you are made of sugar? Do you also have a 30 yr fixed rate mortgage and know that in our current economy your new interest rate would be borderline criminal due to the housing shortage and inflation? But yeah, 350 households should pack up their families and move so you can go drink with your friends at PCM on rainy days
Okay, Karen. How long have you lived in this corridor?
Karen – You don’t need to move, you just need to let others move into the area. Some of us can’t afford a house, an uber, or instacart. This allows for people of different backgrounds & incomes who live around the Beltline to access places like Kroger. The city allocated funding for this project years ago. The strip of land along the pedestrian walkway is there for this exact purpose. Our taxes are paying/have paid for this project. Let it happen so the rest of us can try to live life a little more affordably and maybe even buy a house someday in the far, far future.
Inman Park Resident,
It’s not the construction on the beltline and nor the construction of apartments (or the repurposing of outreach delivery ministry into Remerge) that worries me. It’s putting a streetcar down a congested narrow hilly side street full of homes that predate the 2005 approval of Ryan Gravels thesis, homes that were not constructed with a streetcar in mind. Requesting access to data that highlights how the streetcar will fall into municipal codes for the city and why this is the best route is not classist. My family is neurodivergent. Something autistic people often struggle with is flexibility (and obsessive thinking). The beltline does not seem to have turned into what Gravel envisioned and I would like to ask for the streetcar enthusiasts to have flexibility. Consider sending the streetcar down Edgewood to the heavy rail and installing separate bike paths along the beltline for example. Maybe consider putting the train on Boulevard and Irwin as those are historic streetcar routes. I’m sure those routes, despite being wide, also have newer constructions that would be problematic but other cites look at these problems and address them. I’ve walked down Edgewood/Irwin/Lake/Austin/Hurt/Elizabeth etc and the historic streetcar suburb has wide streets and the houses are far back from the road. I’m not trying to exclude you from the OW4 by excepting Atlanta to do intelligent city planning that considers the current residents as well as future ones
I originally thought it made 100 sense to have the streetcar go down Irwin. But unfortunately there’s nothing on Irwin that people would want to go to. But there is the studio plex on auburn. I think the turn radius is too tight to go from Randolph to Irwin. And I do hear you about those houses on auburn and the street, but auburn is wide enough and the houses on that small stretch seem like they will be okay. The city just needs to expand the sidewalk a bit.
The street car has been a colossal failure. The ridership is non-existent. It literally makes no sense to pour money into a failed project for expansion.
Yay to the streetcar! I do live close to the BeltLine, will be strongly impacted while it’s being built, but see the true advantages it will have for EVERYONE once it’s done. Even if some residents don’t want to use it, I think once it’s there they’ll be greatful to have have fewer cars on the streets since we won’t need them.
Yes, stop this wasteful spending! The downtown loop streetcar was broken for months, and when it’s working it’s empty. Let’s bring transit to areas that need it most, which would be impossible if all funding is tied up in a mile of Beltline Rail! Note that there are NO plans to move forward with more trolley miles on the Beltline until 2035 and this is just a desperate attempt to save the downtown loop failure.
The people who have lived in Atlanta for over 20 years are not opposed to the streetcar. The light rail line should have been built before the outside developers even noticed the potential it would eventually have. Atlanta is way to car centric. In this article, he is asking marta and the city to consider the opinion of developers who barely know the history of Atlanta and are only interested In their profits. The beltline was apart of the original plan. If you don’t like it move. More transit is necessary for the future of this city as we continue to grow.
Bringing up the point of the current streetcar having a low ridership seems to be a rather questionable argument. Yes, it doesn’t have much ridership, however, why is that? I Think that it’s because it simply doesn’t go anywhere, however, connecting downtown to the beltline could be rather beneficial to the city as a whole. Take students at GSU for example, as the existing streetcar is right along the campus. Many of those students don’t have cars, however, if there was a streetcar connection to the beltline and PCM I’m sure that there would be significantly significantly more ridership from that demographic alone.
What level of “density” would be needed to support a mass transit system like this on the beltline? For those who believe the beltline transit should have been built already, ask yourself this question: If the light rail system was operational right now on all 22 mi of the beltline, how many people would be using that transit system today? I have been questioning the logic and the viability of this extension, in particular, and beltline transit, in general, for years. Given the accelerating pace of transit and mobility innovation that is taking place today, I would hope that Marta and City officials would take the author’s suggestions very seriously.
I think you ask a good question, Steve. And the chicken-and-egg question of density first or transit first isn’t only being asked here. But retrofitting transit to serve density rather than building a transit infrastructure that with other land-use polices anticipates the coming density is a far more difficult and expensive proposition than having built the transit in the first place.
It’s difficult to imagine Manhattan as a low density grid as the New York City subway was being built, but it was. And we can’t imagine NYC without the subway. And just as it’s difficult to imagine retrofitting the NYC subway into modern Manhattan, it’s equally hard to imagine building the MARTA heavy rail system through Midtown and Downtown with the built environment we now have. We built it when we had a low density midtown without a single high rise.
The unique opportunity we have with the BeltLine is bigger than the trail or the transit alone. It’s the combination and its connectivity to the other transit we have and will build that is the reason for the BeltLine.
Has this guy ever seen the existing streetcar? where is the barbed wire? How many people have been hit by it?
What ridiculous, parochial yuppie whining. First off, barbed wire? There’s nothing in planning documents about barbed wire. The fact that this piece starts off with a ridiculous falsehood immediately discredits it.
The BeltLine isn’t your personal jogging path or brunch spot, it’s a public works project to fulfill a public need — better transportation around the heart of a major metro area. Sorry, but your agent should have told you that when you bought your overpriced townhouse. It’s been in the works since 2005, we voted for transit nearly 3-to-1 in 2016, we’re paying taxes for it now, and we expect to see it built. There’s no better route to link dozens of neighborhoods to reliable, high-capacity transit, and just building it where the poors are is not an option. Don’t like it? Go back to the suburbs.
Exactly. At no point has barbed wire fencing ever been considered, and the tracks are also not going to be only on concrete. These are some of his first claims and they are clearly wrong so its hard to take anything else he writes about seriously.
The BeltLine always was intended as a transit and trail project, one of urban and natural beauty, and it can indeed be Atlanta’s crown jewel if we finish building it, in its entirety. It’s really so embarrassing in this day and age to read someone who has written here before say we should put transit over “there” where the black people are- I mean, really? The role of the high-capacity streetcar transit, among many other things, is to connect ALL people to AND from what is today one of the city’s hottest destinations and biggest visitor draws. People in other parts of town want to reach the BeltLine and work, play, shop, eat, and relax, without a car or parking. And people who live on the BeltLine want to reach the rest of Atlanta.
The BeltLine is one of our biggest density successes, what building its streetcar transit will do, among so much else, is mitigate the need for the continued explosion of parking to house the ever-growing sea of automobiles.
To be sure, there are several ways this project can be greener and better, and many of us are working toward those goals.
As to all the assertions about streetcars and their effectiveness and viability and visibility as an important symbol of the city we want to become, we can look at what has happened in other cities. This video from Portland, Oregon shows one such example. Neighborhoods won, businesses won, pedestrians and the environment won.
https://www.streetcarcoalition.org/video-concept-to-reality-the-making-of-the-modern-streetcar-portland-streetcar/
Why do cities build useless expensive trains like this in the first place? Development and gentrification that is the obvious answer here but is mentioned or criticized. These white elephant transit projects are solely intended to upzone, densify and gentrify the areas the streetcar runs through. The project limits, as well as the current street car are areas the city wants to develop and gentrify and what better way to do that than with a cute little train. Transportation is easily solved by adding more buses or OMG widening roads in the area. But common sense approaches are something used when transportation is an actual issue here. It really is not, that is why it’s about real estate development and gentrification. Imagine if this was to widen ponce it would be DOA, because lowering the cost of driving does not develop or gentrify neighborhoods, but cute little trains that liberals love does. Good luck not getting run over by the kind of logic.
What roads could be widened?
The one thing all of these comments have in common is that they are sweeping generalizations based on emotion and assumptions. Where is the data to support the economic viability of this mass transit system? Who is doing the financial analysis? What are these decisions based on? If the pandemic and other recent events have taught us anything, it is that some of the smartest people can be very wrong, even when well intentioned. The level and pace of disruptive technology that is occurring as we speak, is going to render many assumptions and current systems obsolete in short order. It seems to me that the downside risk (to the city) of making poorly informed decisions when it comes to multi-decade projects that cost hundreds of billions has to quantified and considered. There is no shortage of evidence that poorly informed decisions have been made in the past.
Now, if you’re arguing that a multi-billion dollar transit system like this does not have to be economically viable and that you are going to depend on the federal government to subsidize it in perpetuity, then that is a different discussion. In that case, we should take a look at alternatives to spending the money.
There have been multiple studies of this over the last 20 years. Pre-pandemic, MARTA and ARC estimated about 30k riders a day for BeltLine segments from Lindbergh clockwise to Bankhead, and the pandemic hasn’t exactly made BeltLine neighborhoods less of a destination. But yes, all transit systems are perpetually subsidized – they’re not moneymaking ventures, they’re public services that every first-world city in our weight class manages to provide. There’s no reason to hold this project to a higher standard.
Many have noted that the path is overburdened with users. People walking and running must compete for space with those on bikes and scooters, including the personal mobility devices I mentioned earlier.
This is bad design. A proper path for such a busy corridor would separate those on wheels from those on foot. This reduces conflicts that result from high speed differentials. So why not use the right-of-way for the streetcar for a parallel path?
This leads me to an encounter with Ryan Gravel on June 17, 2019. He had invited people to his space on the Beltline to discuss his Generator vision. I took the opportunity to ask him about an idea I had to TEMPORARILY use the streetcar ROW for a parallel path. My thinking was that the streetcar was having a lot of trouble getting underway, so why not alleviate congestion with a bit of asphalt that could easily be removed once the streetcar construction finally began? IMPORTANT: at this point, I was still a streetcar supporter. I had actually been part of a push for a streetcar in Arlington and Alexandria, Virginia, some years earlier (we lost to a competing BRT plan, because it was far, far cheaper).
His reaction was telling. He adamantly rejected the idea and said, “If a path is built there, they will never build the streetcar.”
I was thunderstruck. Up until that point, I thought that the argument for a streetcar was a lot stronger than that. Yet here was the man behind the whole idea, telling me that a mere temporary asphalt path would be enough to derail it. The mere added hassle of adding a bit of work for a bulldozer driver was too much to continue the project.
Just a few days later, I traveled to Breda in The Netherlands (where I once lived) for some coursework in bike infrastructure design. I kept thinking about that conversation. So for my final course project, I came up with a plan to make the Beltline safer and more efficient, but for far less money that a streetcar would cost. This column in the Saporta Report grew out of that plan: https://saportareport.com/saving-the-atlanta-beltline-a-shift-from-transit-to-micromobility/columnists/guestcolumn/current-guest/
I live in Inman Park near the BeltLine Eastside Trail. and the future BeltLine streetcar is among the reasons I chose to locate here.
The BeltLine has always been planned as a transit corridor. It is not meant to be just a local greenway for the benefit of people who can afford to live near it or drive to it. Because the trail got ahead of the transit component and spurred so much density, having people drive in order to enjoy the trail and all the many attractions along it has created horrible traffic congestion. This is the very situation the transit component is designed to alleviate.
However, the beauty of the parallel rail/trail design is that the Eastside Trail will also remain a greenway once the streetcar is in place. We can have both rail and trail. As someone lucky enough to live near the BeltLine, I use it frequently for leisure activities. But I also use it for errands that I would prefer to do on the streetcar. And I would prefer to use the streetcar to run some errands that currently require that I drive my car.
Yes, public amenities like mass transit cost money. Mass transit projects are not designed to make money but to bring equity, opportunity, and livability to cities. Highways cost taxpayer money, and yet they bring all the problems we are so familiar with. Seventy percent of Atlanta voters chose to vote in favor of the More MARTA plan in 2016, which is 8 years ago, not 20, and yes, the money is there to build the Streetcar East Extension. I consider that a good thing.
We need mass transit to connect everyone in Atlanta without requiring the use of a car. Car ownership is expensive, and not everyone can afford to access the jobs and amenities along the Eastside Trail due to lack of affordable transportation. Good public transit allows more people to afford housing since housing and transportation are the two biggest household expenses. Eliminate the need for a car, and there is more income left for housing. In addition, people like me who live in the Eastside Trail corridor will be connected to other amenities all over the city through the MARTA heavy rail connection at Peachtree Center.
There are too many inaccuracies to list in this opinion piece. I would encourage readers to educate yourselves about what this project really is and what it can mean for all of us.
https://www.streetcar-east.scoutfeedback.com/
I am grateful that our city is moving ahead with the Streetcar East Extension, which was always planned as the next phase of the streetcar system. I look forward to further streetcar expansion.
oml y’all nimbys just ruin everything. this city is already car dependent as hell. this streetcar would benefit me very well, especially because I no longer would have to walk on the beltline. public transit is actually good and y’all just cancel good projects and not even realize you are just giving more money to big oil, and as acting like a slave to those large oil companies with your combustion engine.
This article is correct! Pause and really think before investing into this streetcar. The streetcar downtown only goes 5mph. If you’re going to invest in the infrastructure for transit be smart. Honestly, the BeltLine is for everyone who lives, work, and play in the metro area. There should be a United metro system that loops around the BeltLine and connects with the metro. Please MARTA don’t waste anymore money on LRT. Cobb county is setting up for a transit referendum in 2024 and possibly Gwinnett county if Cobb is talking working with MARTA. This is the moment we’ve been 50 years for! This metro area is too big for MARTA to be thinking about LRT.
To the writer, you are aware that a full locomotive used to run down that crown jewel, right? Now you’re complaining about an electric streetcar that makes a ding dong noise at every stop? Give me a break
First and foremost, is there no sort of journalistic integrity where you would fact-check a guest writer to confirm that the details included in their “opinion” piece at least meets the test of validity?
“fences topped with barbed wire on either side of the tracks to protect Beltline pedestrians from harm and streetcars” – completely unsubstantiated from any of the materials presented so far.
“over twenty years ago voters approved a referendum that eventually included a streetcar component.” – The More MARTA Referendum was 2016. The Atlanta Beltline Inc. was created in 2006 by a vote of the City Council.
“How would the Beltline be enhanced by an endless stream of streetcars clattering next to it? The answer: It wouldn’t. So much for Beltline users being able to enjoy nature in an urban setting, collect their thoughts or engage with each other. So much for the musicians and cast of characters who entertain there. So much for seeing a diversified community taking root.” – This is such an ignorant, ableist argument that completely ignores the mobility impacted people and communities that are not currently adjacent to the Beltline and how providing transit would create a reliable mode of transportation.
It’s quite clear that this publication is heeding the call of the “development” community (i.e. Portman Holdings) who are opposing the project because of it’s impact on their soon-to-be-completed project at the Beltline and Irwin. It’s utterly insane that those moving into the community so late into the Beltline development have such an outsized voice in the direction of this project. Those of us that have been here for years awaiting the inclusion of transit are left to simply sit by – nothing could be more Atlanta than that.
While Saporta Report continues to publish “community voices” of opposition, there is rarely any air given to the pro-transit voice outside of the excellent work of John Ruch.
Let’s stop with all the conjecture and start to provide an equal platform for those that support this project, as happens for the vocal and well-heeled minority that opposes transit on the Beltline.
I have lived on Auburn since before the Krog market and beltline development took off. I have a special needs child who has problems with elopement. Being able to get in and out of our driveway is a necessity. I understand that many people think that living next to the beltline means we never need to drive but that is untrue and even if PCM or downtown were the areas we need to go a slow streetcar would not be something I would trust to get me to school or work on time. Stop pretending that this is transit that will service the people living in the neighborhood rather than tourists. imho you are the one being dishonest and ableist
First and foremost, is there no sort of journalistic integrity where you would fact-check a guest writer to confirm that the details included in their “opinion” piece at least meets the test of validity?
“fences topped with barbed wire on either side of the tracks to protect Beltline pedestrians from harm and streetcars” – completely unsubstantiated from any of the materials presented so far.
“over twenty years ago voters approved a referendum that eventually included a streetcar component.” – The More MARTA Referendum was 2016. The Atlanta Beltline Inc. was created in 2006 by a vote of the City Council.
“How would the Beltline be enhanced by an endless stream of streetcars clattering next to it? The answer: It wouldn’t. So much for Beltline users being able to enjoy nature in an urban setting, collect their thoughts or engage with each other. So much for the musicians and cast of characters who entertain there. So much for seeing a diversified community taking root.” – This is such an ignorant, ableist argument that completely ignores the mobility impacted people and communities that are not currently adjacent to the Beltline and how providing transit would create a reliable mode of transportation.
It’s quite clear that this publication is heeding the call of the “development” community (i.e. Portman Holdings) who are opposing the project because of it’s impact on their soon-to-be-completed project at the Beltline and Irwin. It’s utterly insane that those moving into the community so late into the Beltline development have such an outsized voice in the direction of this project. Those of us that have been here for years awaiting the inclusion of transit are left to simply sit by – nothing could be more Atlanta than that.
While Saporta Report continues to publish “community voices” of opposition, there is rarely any air given to the pro-transit voice outside of the excellent work of John Ruch. As someone who has volunteered as an advocate for this project since 2011, it is absurd to continue to posit the fact that “thousands” are opposed to this, when we have seen the momentum for the project build since its inception in 2006. I live directly along the route extension and I can promise you that myself and many neighbors are absolutely looking forward to transit extending through our Old Fourth Ward community.
Let’s stop with all the conjecture and start to provide an equal platform for those that support this project, as happens for the vocal and well-heeled minority that opposes transit on the Beltline.
Re: aesthetics and design, we should consider a heritage trolley along the route: https://atlanta.urbanize.city/post/opinion-downtown-atl-vintage-streetcars-would-boost-ridership