The Atlanta BeltLine’s Board of Directors has unanimously approved the Atlanta BeltLine 2030 Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP), which will guide the citywide transportation and redevelopment program through its completion. The first seven years of the program generated a roughly 3:1 return on investment, with more than $1 billion in private redevelopment spurred by roughly $350 million of investment. The SIP expects to equal or exceed this return on investment as the economy continues to improve in the coming years.
“The 2030 Strategic Implementation Plan is a thorough, practical strategy that will help ensure the realization of the full vision of the Atlanta BeltLine,” said John Somerhalder, Chairman of the ABI Board of Directors. “It will guide the work of public, private and community partners investing in America’s most ambitious urban transportation and redevelopment program.”
The SIP is the culmination of a yearlong effort with extensive community and stakeholder engagement to create a living document that determines short, medium and long-term priorities for the implementation of the Atlanta BeltLine across the City of Atlanta. The SIP also provides cost estimates and funding scenarios to complete the program.
The next phases of redevelopment outlined in the SIP will build on progress to date including seven miles of new trails, 200 acres of new and renewed parks and greenspaces, more than 70 acres of remediated brownfields, and new, diverse affordable housing opportunities. Critical planning, environmental review and real estate acquisition for transit is well underway, increasing the program’s competitiveness for federal funding. Most immediately, the City of Atlanta is receiving an $18 million TIGER V grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation for the development of a 2.5-mile portion of the Atlanta BeltLine Westside Trail in southwest Atlanta.
The SIP divides implementation into three periods of projects. For the next five years, Period 1, the SIP includes the following project priorities:
- Securing rights to the remaining right-of-way to complete the 22-mile Atlanta BeltLine loop;
- Completing the southern half of the Westside Trail and commencing construction on the Southeast Trail;
- Constructing Boulevard Crossing Phase II, Enota and Murphy Crossing Parks;
- Initiating the first phase of Westside Reservoir Park including the passive-use park space; and
- Constructing streetcar/light-rail transit on the East and West sides of the Atlanta BeltLine.
The SIP estimates the cost of completing the projects identified within Period 1 at $926 million and proposes sources for 80 percent of the necessary funding. The SIP estimates the total remaining program cost (indexed to inflation), encompassing all three Implementation Periods through 2030, at $4.39 billion. The SIP proposes sources for 80 percent of the necessary funding to complete the remainder of the program, with 20 percent anticipated from sources to be identified.
The 2030 Strategic Implementation Plan is available in its entirety at BeltLine.org.