Concept
The idea originated in a 1999 masters degree thesis by Georgia Tech student Ryan Gravel, who founded the non-profit Friends of the Belt Line and currently works for the city of Atlanta's planning department. Frustrated with the lack of transportation alternatives in Atlanta, Gravel and two of his colleagues, Mark Arnold and Sarah Edgens, summarized his thesis in 2000 and mailed copies to two dozen influential Atlantans. Cathy Woolard, then the city council representative for district six, was an early supporter of the concept. Woolard, Gravel, Arnold, and Edgens spent the next several months promoting the idea of the BeltLine to neighborhood groups, the PATH foundation, and Atlanta business leaders. Supported by Atlanta mayor Shirley Franklin, previous city council president Cathy Woolard, and many others in Atlanta's large business community, the idea grew rapidly during 2003 and 2004.
The railroad tracks and rights-of-way are owned mostly by CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern, and the Georgia Department of Transportation. Developer Wayne Mason had purchased most of the NS portion, in anticipation of the BeltLine, but later sold it after conflict with the city.
The total length will be 22 miles (35 km), running about 3 miles (5 km) on either side of Atlanta's elongated central business district. It is planned to include a neighborhood-serving transit system (likely streetcars), footpaths for non-motorized traffic, including bicycling, rollerskating, and walking and the redevelopment of some 2,544 acres (10.3 km²). The project (although not the funding for it) is included in the 25-year Mobility 2030 plan by the Atlanta Regional Commission, for improving transit from 2005 to 2030.
Read more about this topic: Belt Line
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