[This event is past. It was held on 11 May 2023.]

PANEL
The Desire for Streetcars:
Is the Beltline a Rail Corridor or a Linear Park?
Thursday, May 11, 10am-noon
Sugarberry Room, Historic Academy of Medicine
Georgia Institute of Technology
875 W Peachtree St NW, Atlanta, GA 30309
(Easy parking behind the building.)
Panelists:
Prof. Hans Klein, Georgia Institute of Technology (School of Public Policy)  [Powerpoint Presentation]
Prof. Mike Dobbins, Georgia Institute of Technology (School of City and Regional Planning)
Walter Brown, Former Senior Vice President of Development, Jamestown (developer of Ponce City Market)
Panel is part of the ATLANTA STUDIES SYMPOSIUM
A research symposium on the past, present, and futures of Atlanta.
Event is Free.
Please register: https://atlantastudies.org/2023/04/03/10th-annual-atlanta-studies-symposium-2023

Abstract:

This discussion session will focus on the streetcar component of the Atlanta BeltLine and its impact on the very popular but increasingly congested walking, bike, and scooter path. The larger question to be addressed is: “After 18 years and millions of dollars spent on the streetcar with none of it yet built, should policy makers step back and reassess the Beltline streetcar’s purpose and program?”

The context for this assessment includes radical shifts in travel modes, technologies, and behaviors not at all anticipated when the program launched in 2005.

The immediate question is: “Should Atlanta extend its existing Downtown streetcar line through settled neighborhoods onto the Beltline’s green right-of-way, or instead should the Beltline focus on its current development as a linear park by using its right-of-way to add a cycle lane and to provide for light individualized transportation (LIT) alternatives?”

Additional information on this issue available at:   www.SaveTheBeltline.net

 

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