Feds: Beltline dispute update expected on March 23
Uncle Sam sets a deadline for an update about hotly contested rail segments in Northeast Atlanta.
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.