Friday, March 13, 2009
News Feds: Beltline dispute update expected on March 23
Posted by Thomas Wheatley @thomaswheatley on Fri, Mar 13, 2009 at 3:45 PM
The federal agency in charge of the exciting topic of "railroad abandonments" has told the Georgia Department of Transportation, Amtrak and Atlanta Beltline Inc. that it expects an update about the three agencies' dispute over hotly contested Beltline tracks no later than March 23.
In a decision filed today, the U.S. Surface Transportation Board says it received the transportation agencies' requests for 15 more days to resolve any remaining issues about the "Decatur Belt," a 4.3-mile segment of rail that runs from Ansley Park to DeKalb Avenue and hugs Piedmont Park.
In late January, the local, state and federal agencies got into a nasty fight over the rail segment, which is owned by the city and planned to be a vital part of the Beltline, the 22-mile loop of parks, trails and transit envisioned to circle the city. Last Friday, the agencies said they'd reached a "consensus" that commuter or intercity rail did not need to run on the tracks.
Comments (2)
Showing 1-2 of 2
TW at CL: I don't understand what this article means. It was reported that the Amtrak-Beltline issue was resolved. If so, why is additional time needed? What is your best guess about what is going on? And does anyone out there want to speculate (or gossip)?
like
dislike
Yeah I have some gossip, came from an insider even: it makes no sense for passenger rail to go by piedmont b/c if regular passenger rail (high speed or otherwise) ever reaches Atlanta in a big way, the Brookwood Amtrak station certainly cant handle it, nor is there any affordable ITP site on the drawing board for a giant train station. Such train depot would need to be OTP. However, if that gossip is true, then presumaby Amtrak/GDOT are aware of these constraints, so why make the land grab? Gossip/speculation, anyone?
Latest in Fresh Loaf
-
Film Clips: Men In Black 3
Men in black are back, Chernobyl's tourism industry is booming, and music festival romance all this weekend 'at the movies.'
-
Rep. Elena Parent won't seek re-election, will join Georgia Watch
Endorses Holcomb, fellow Dem who was drawn into new district
-
#AtlantaSlang takes over Twitter
Twitter "finna" get real.
- More »
More by Author
-
Decatur mayor: Tea partiers, South DeKalb won't cheer if transportation tax fails... Charlotte and Dallas will 28
Moving past the rail vs. roads, urban vs. suburban debate
-
We get mail: Andrew Young defends Mayor Kasim Reed 27
Former mayor disagrees with recent column by John Sugg
- More »
