Westside Trail of Atlanta Beltline Starting to Take Shape (Forest Park: how much, home)

[equinox63]

Westside trail of Atlanta Beltline starting to take shape | www.wsbtv.com

[Ant131531]

Wow, she's almost 100? Long life.

[demonta4]

Residents along Westside Trail push back against demolition plans | News Feature | Creative Loafing Atlanta

Beltline officials are shaping the plan for what will be one of the biggest investments along the loop and deciding how much the redo will evoke the market's midcentury heyday. They want to "activate" the neighborhood, and are commissioning help on a plan to attract jobs and jump-start nearby neighborhoods.

But some residents are worried that demolition might be the order of the day. After announcing plans to raze an abandoned gas station overlooking the trail along Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard, Beltline officials now say they want to bulldoze one of the market's buildings. The plans have sparked community concerns that the under-construction trail and other plans could wipe out some of the area's historic character.

Today, the old State Farmers Market site belongs to graffiti artists, photographers of urban decay, and a state probationer day-reporting site that will move in 2017. The property boasts 10 abandoned buildings and one big open shed, according to the Beltline. The state tried to sell off most of the site in 2012 and described the buildings as vacant and in bad need of repair. It had no takers.

Things were different 75 years ago. Construction started in 1940 and when the market opened, it was almost too successful. According to historian Harold Martin's Atlanta and Environs, the massive facility was supposed to replace makeshift farmers markets all over town that provided reasonably priced vegetables and eggs — along with "noise, smells, traffic congestion and an influx of raffish characters." The city and the state partnered to build the central market on Murphy, despite objections from neighbors both in council and in court, according to Martin.

Before long, the site was so crowded in high harvest season that there was no space for all the farmers, and customers sat in traffic jams. In 1959, the state opened the market in Forest Park that's still there today.

Ironically, Atlanta's former food Eden is now something of a food desert. The USDA says the area around the old market is home to a significant number of low-income people who live more than a half-mile from a grocery store.

[cqholt]

Now come the lights. The trees. And that glorious, 14-foot-wide ribbon of concrete, linking Adair Park to Lena Avenue at Washington Park.

In various reports over the last few weeks, Beltline officials have adhered to projections that the three-mile Westside Trail will open this summer—possibly by the end of July. It’ll highlight what’s probably the biggest year yet for the multi-use trail and planned transit corridor.

http://atlanta.curbed.com/2017/4/10/...ning-look-real

[atlHawks]

Have they announced what the section(s) will be next up?

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by atlHawks

Have they announced what the section(s) will be next up?

I think Eastside Trail, from Kirkwood Ave to Memorial is next. Then Southside from Glenwood Ave to University.

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by cqholt

I think Eastside Trail, from Kirkwood Ave to Memorial is next. Then Southside from Glenwood Ave to University.

Eastside extension to the end is likely the next one.

I don't know which will actually be built first though: the Southside trail or the Northern Eastside trail. I have a feeling that'll come down to if MARTA and the BeltLine get federal funding for the streetcars and light rail before they get money for the Southside trail.

[tikigod311]

I rode the section of the Westside trail pictured in the Curbed article Sunday afternoon. Pretty short and kinda cool as it's definitely the Beltline but it's just hanging out there by itself. The opposite side from Adair Park to Lee St/MARTA is nowhere near done, it's all mud. I know they have done a lot of conduit work, but it seems it has been in its current state for years. Interested to see how close they will get to that Summer deadline.

[samiwas1]

Originally Posted by cqholt

I think Eastside Trail, from Kirkwood Ave to Memorial is next. Then Southside from Glenwood Ave to University.

Originally Posted by fourthwarden

Eastside extension to the end is likely the next one.

I don't know which will actually be built first though: the Southside trail or the Northern Eastside trail. I have a feeling that'll come down to if MARTA and the BeltLine get federal funding for the streetcars and light rail before they get money for the Southside trail.

As I suspected from the beginning...the northwest section will probably be last. Oh well, I held out this long...time to give up on that one and move on. Will likely be ten years or more before they get to the NW section.

[atlHawks]

Originally Posted by samiwas1

As I suspected from the beginning...the northwest section will probably be last. Oh well, I held out this long...time to give up on that one and move on. Will likely be ten years or more before they get to the NW section.

Don't say that. Got to push them to complete it sooner.