Beltline Southside Trail Moving Forward to Connect Eastside and Westside Trails (Atlanta: neighborhoods, contractor)

[ATLondoner]

So....the official start of Spring has now come and gone.

Any signs of the Beltline construction trucks rolling into Reynoldstown?

[JPD]

Originally Posted by ATLondoner

So....the official start of Spring has now come and gone.

Any signs of the Beltline construction trucks rolling into Reynoldstown?

No trucks yet, but it's only been Spring for one week so the official start date has not come and gone. Don't get me wrong. It will come and go, as it has many times in the past, but it hasn't yet.

[ATLondoner]

Originally Posted by JPD

No trucks yet, but it's only been Spring for one week so the official start date has not come and gone. Don't get me wrong. It will come and go, as it has many times in the past, but it hasn't yet.

OK I'll give them until the pollen goes away and the Mosquitoes arrive...and not a day more!

[JPD]

Originally Posted by ATLondoner

OK I'll give them until the pollen goes away and the Mosquitoes arrive...and not a day more!

Haha, then what? You roll up on a bobcat and start moving dirt? If that's your plan, I might help.

[magnetar]

Originally Posted by ATLondoner

So....the official start of Spring has now come and gone.

Any signs of the Beltline construction trucks rolling into Reynoldstown?

We've been told that the contractor who's been picked to build it will be at the April 11 Beltline meeting at Trees Atlanta here in the neighborhood.

Northeast + Southeast Study Group Public Meeting |

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by JPD

Haha, then what? You roll up on a bobcat and start moving dirt? If that's your plan, I might help.

Haha, I got a shovel, pick-ax, and post-hole digger. Might could steal... I mean borrow my dad's pickup and saw-zaw.

Meet me down on the BeltLine, we'll have a grand old time!

Edit: apparently p_i_c_k_a is a slur? Huh

[ATLondoner]

Originally Posted by JPD

Haha, then what? You roll up on a bobcat and start moving dirt? If that's your plan, I might help.

Deal!

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by ATLondoner

So....the official start of Spring has now come and gone.

Any signs of the Beltline construction trucks rolling into Reynoldstown?

Some of the old rails have been removed.

[magnetar]

We got some news last night at the Northeast/Southeast Study Group meeting at Trees Atlanta in Reynoldstown.

Eastside trail southern extension (from Irwin St. to Kirkwood Ave) is in the permitting process right now, and they expect to begin construction by mid-May. They're hosting another meeting on May 10 to meet the contractor. Construction should take 12-18 months.

Construction will start at Kirkwood Ave and work north, so the Irwin St. connection will be built last. Plans include speed tables/crosswalks at Beltline & Irwin, Beltline & Kirkwood, a pedestrian scramble at Krog & DeKalb. In ~18 months the section between McGruder and Irwin will be closed to partially rebuild the trail to meet the elevation of the new speed table.

Phase 2, Kirkwood to Memorial, is pending funding. Cost is north of $6 million for this segment, due to the Mauldin bridge that must be rebuilt.

Reynoldstown Stage design is starting to be fleshed out. Taking cues from the original student design seen last year, but expanding it to incorporate the DPW land at the top of the hill, where the Holtzclaw water tower is. Great views of the city here, this will be one of the cooler spots along the Beltline to take in a view. Sadly, only the design is funded. No money has been allocated to build it yet.

Southside trail, from Memorial to University Ave, is about to begin design. First stage will be designing Memorial to Glenwood. They are looking at potentially shifting the Beltline alignment from the west side of Bill Kennedy Way, to the east side, to eliminate the multiple conflicts along the west side (two I-20 ramps, Glenwood Place shopping center). They want to try to keep the trail on the original Beltline alignment, on Bill Kennedy, instead of shifting west to Chester as was previously planned. Looking at 6 months of design for this stage.

Southside trail from Glenwood to University will be designed next. This will be a longer process. Beltline is getting federal funding for this segment, so it's subject to NEPA environmental reviews. No projected start date given for this section.

Next meetings:
Southwest Study Group, April 19, Southwest Study Group Public Meeting |
Northeast Study Group, April 21, Northeast Study Group Public Meeting |
Eastside trail southern extension kickoff/meet the contractors, May 10, details TBA.

Presentation slides are available here, though the presentation was really short; it was mostly a Q&A. http://beltlineorg.wpengine.netdna-c...-4.11.16-2.pdf

[fourthwarden]

Good news, and thanks for the report magnetar!

Looks like we won't need to break out the rented machines and pick-ups on our own. Good, I kinda had plans!