Atlanta Streetcar expansion could be 'disruptive' of BeltLine life, some residents say

ATLANTA - Testing is underway this week for the Atlanta Streetcar, which MARTA sidelined late last year after safety concerns were raised during an inspection.

The streetcar’s return comes as officials debate whether it should be expanded into other parts of the city. Right now, the streetcar travels around Downtown Atlanta, but there is a proposal to have it travel along the Atlanta BeltLine towards Midtown Atlanta.

Fred Duncan, who helped organized the Old Fourth Ward's Streetcar Impact Team, chose to live near the BeltLine. He represents about 350 homeowners in the area.

"We enjoy getting out and walking through to all of these areas. Being on the Beltline, on a beautiful day like today, it's packed with people," Duncan said.

Duncan moved to Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward neighborhood seven years ago, but fears his quality of life would go down if the Streetcar East Expansion project moves forward.

"The Beltline is a fantastic linear park, and running a streetcar adjacent to it would be very, very disruptive," Duncan said.

This shows the current route and proposed route of the Atlanta Streetcar. (MARTA)

The proposed expansion would have the streetcar’s route continue down Edgewood Avenue and wind through Duncan’s neighborhood. It would then meet up with the BeltLine near the Krog Street Market and continue to Ponce City Market.

"It's so important because this is the proof of concept of Beltline Rail," said Matthew Rao, the chair of BeltLine Rail Now. "The Beltline is great on a sunny day or when it's not raining. It's not so great if you're older if you're carrying things, if it's raining, if it's cold."

The streetcars' current route will return this week. MARTA started testing it Tuesday after repairs to the train's wheels. Before it stopped operating late last year, MARTA said ridership was about 4,000 a week.

"It was always envisioned to be transit and trail together, but we didn't have enough money to do it 15 years ago and now that money's there," said Rao.

"The city wants to marry one of the best things it ever did, which is the Beltline, with one of the worst things that it ever did, which was the Streetcar," said Duncan.

What is the Atlanta Streetcar's history?

Atlanta utilized federal dollars to get the streetcar started. There is an additional $225 million that has been committed through a sales tax that everyone pays when they make purchases inside the city limits.

The streetcar began service in Dec. 2014, the first of its kind in 65 years in the city. It served a 2.7-mile loop around Downtown Atlanta.

In 2015, a report released by the Atlanta BeltLine, the Atlanta Streetcar, Inc., and Invest Atlanta identified the BeltLine and Peachtree Road as two of the possible corridors of expansion.

MARTA took over the Atlanta Streetcar service from the city of Atlanta on July 1, 2018, as part of its $2.6 billion expansion.

Late last year, all the streetcars were removed following a safety inspection and shipped to the Siemens manufacturing facility in Colorado. The total cost of the replacement and refurbishment was estimated to cost $7.4 million