Mayor Dickens, Atlanta BeltLine leaders and community members recently broke ground on the 1.3-mile stretch of the Atlanta BeltLine’s Westside Trail connecting Washington Park to Bankhead and Historic Westin Heights.
The Westside Trail starts at the western boundary of the Washington Park neighborhood, founded 100 years ago as a trailblazing Black suburb and the proud home of Atlanta’s first greenspace that provided key recreational amenities for an African American community. Once this segment of the “necklace around Atlanta” is completed people will be able to travel 6.5 miles on paved trails from Pittsburgh Yards in the southwest to Huff Road in West Midtown to the northwest and to downtown Atlanta. giving them an opportunity.
The Atlanta BeltLine is one of the largest, most wide-ranging urban redevelopment programs in the United States. This network of public parks, multi-use trails, transit, and affordable housing along a historic 22-mile railroad corridor is enhancing mobility, connecting intown neighborhoods, and improving economic opportunity and sustainability.
The Westside Trail is the newest and longest segment of the Beltline will provide an opportunity for residents and visitors to see and visit some of Atlanta’s most historic neighborhoods including Summerhill, Pittsburgh, Mechanicsville, Adair Park, Capitol Gateway, and Peoplestown.
“It’s a tremendous asset to the entrepreneurs and workers that people walking and biking the BeltLine will be able to easily connect to Pittsburgh Yards. And we expect that BeltLine trail users will benefit from amenities like recreation on the James Bridges Field, food and retail in the Container Courtyard and a spur walkway to the Pittsburgh neighborhood” Ryan Akin, of Columbia Core Partners, investors in this one-of-a kind project.
“With the Westside Trail, we’re creating a brighter tomorrow for all who call Atlanta home,” said Clyde Higgs, president and CEO of Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. “It’s an important part of our 22-mile trail network, and we’re excited that our vision is coming to completion. We estimate the BeltLine will be 80 percent completed or under construction in the next two years.”
To date, 9.3 miles of the 22-mile BeltLine mainline trail loop are complete.
