Monday, June 21, 2010
News Beltline let down
Posted by Andisheh Nouraee on Mon, Jun 21, 2010 at 10:18 AM
CL's Thomas Wheatley reported Saturday, the Beltline received $5 million from Kaiser Permanente and the PATH Foundation to build a trail from DeKalb Ave to Piedmont Park.
In and of itself, it's great news. Whether for leisure, errand-running, or bicycle commuting, I have a semi-informed strong feeling it's going to be very popular when it opens next year.
Viewed within the bigger picture of Beltline history though, the announcement was a big let down. It's dispiriting that the city has made so little progress with the Beltline project that a short bike trail is considered a huge breakthrough.
A thumbnail history — the Beltline was conceived in 1999 as a comprehensive urban re-development project, including parks, mass transit and new private construction. Embraced by city residents as soon as they began hearing about it, it was promoted first by the City Council President, then by a powerful and popular mayor. She helped give it an organizational structure and (controversial) funding mechanism in 2005 and 2006.
That's a lot of time. A lot of money. A lot of public discussion. A lot of political capital.
And for what? So far, just a couple of short trails.
Now another, longer trail is coming. It'll probably be a good trail, but still. 12 years of talking. 6 years of doing. And I'm supposed to be impressed by a bike trail? Not just any bike trail, but a bike trail the city wouldn't have been able to build without generous charitable donations.
The Beltline was supposed to be a signifier progress. So far, I mostly see paralysis. Emerald necklace? More like a handcuff.
Comments (22)
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The Beltline has gained ownership or access to nearly 50% of the right away, built an important trail in West End (many said the project favored the northern section of the city), installed permanent and temporary art, cleaned up long stretches of littered and abandoned greenways, made a long overdue public purchase of an aging and annoying quarry and adjacent land for a park in NW, has been a catalyst for millions of dollars of nearby development, kept its promise of affordable housing funding in its bonds, and gained nearly universal community support for the long term development plan as the city's population undoubtedly grows. I applaud the Beltline team, their partners, the mayor and Council for continuing the development of this 20 plus year project. Like it or not building infrastructure whether parks, water systems or transit doesn't happen over night. Without a plan and determination it never happens. The State's lack of planning and funding has landed us in a pickle on water, air quality and transportation.
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Thomas - those of us who have lived, played, prayed and worked within walking distance of this Beltline for decades (I'm in my 5th decade, now) are quite happy with the progress and the committment of this City to the Beltline. Too fast and we lose sight of what's important - people and place. We need the Beltline to work its way into our hearts and minds, too - for it must become part of the fabric of our lives, not just buildings or trails or transit through our neighborhoods. That takes time. Relax my friend - its coming. Enjoy the art and the leasurely strolls along its paths that will soon connect me to you!
"Like it or not building infrastructure whether parks, water systems or transit doesn't happen over night."
Who said anything about overnight progress? I'm talking about more than a decade of talk and nearly half a decade of a government action.
For a multitude of reasons - many of which are not the fault of city leadership - progress has been slow. Like you write, a lot of it is the fault of state leadership that's more comfortable thwarting Atlanta than nurturing it.
That said, the Beltline's published literature about the project's transit component is exceptionally vague. Big projects with dates and deadlines are difficult to deliver on time. Big projects with no dates or deadlines are difficult to deliver at all.
Does anyone disagree that the Beltline needs a big break-through on the mass transit component?
I have yet to use my bike in Atlanta and I've been here 3 years. I see people biking on Piedmont Road, which I think is suicidal and should be illegal. I see people biking in Piedmont Park, where there really are no bike trails. Instead of biking after work, I take long walks. I actually drive to neighborhoods in Buckhead to take walks because there are very few biking/hiking trails in the area. Living in other cities like DC and Chicago, Atlanta is way behind when it comes to biking/hiking opportunities. I know Atlanta doesn't have a big lake like Chicago does and it doesn't have a major river like DC does. But it shouldn't take so long to put something together so that people can actually enjoy outdoor exercise without fear of being run over by a car. It's shameful.
I'm all for pragmatism, but I really have to disagree with the tone of this post.
Breaking ground and pouring concrete on this trail is a big deal, even if it is for a limited portion of the route. Not only is it part of a forward momentum that the project is finally gathering, but that path specifically is one of the most crucial portions of the cycling component.
It's too easy to just dismiss something like this as just a "small bike trail." It's exactly that diminutive attitude towards cycling that keeps transportation policy behind in places like Atlanta.
I'm a big fan of the transit component for the Beltline, but I would use the trail to get around much more than I would the rail car. Getting critical trail links established is very important to me.
metito - some people understandably ride a bike for recreation, but many of us ride for transportation/utility. Biking on Piedmont "Road" shouldn't be illegal, but speeding on a mixed residential thoroughfare should be - and is.
Also, kudos for walking but the concept of driving to Buckhead to walk is laughably ridiculous. Sorry for being direct, but it is.
Wyatt, I think you've mischaracterized my statement. I'm not minimizing the importance of cycling. I'm bemoaning the glacial pace of progress.
The bike path itself will be welcome and popular. I'll use it. But a 5 mile bike path is not a lot of result for the time, effort, money, and thought the city and its residents have expended on the Beltline. It shouldn't be harder to plan, approve and construct and undersea tunnel linking England and France than it is to make the Beltline. But it is.
metito,
Perhaps you should oil up your chain and give it a try. I ride a bike almost exclusively. From Grant park to Buckhead and Marietta Blvd to Decatur there is exactly one road that I've found a bit nerve racking to ride on. Since the light went up at Howell and 17th, even that isn't so bad. What part of town do you live in? I'm sure there are nice walks/rides that you wouldn't have to drive to get to.
Andy - I see what you're saying. If a 5 mile bike path is all that comes of that time, effort, money, and thought - you're right, we'll all have good reason for disappointment.
I don't mean to generalize your statements, but they lean toward a theme that I've heard too often in transportation conversations here and elsewhere: that bike paths are "just bike paths" or, in other words, recreational and frivolous things. You didn't say that, but I inferred it in a knee-jerk sort of way.
I don't mean to make too much of a five mile path, but it is exactly this sort of infrastructure that can make cycling a mainstream, viable transportation option for those who wouldn't attempt it otherwise. I don't think that's anything to scoff at (not to accuse you of scoffing).
Those hanging onto the idea that some sort of transit is going to be part of the Beltline are fooling themselves. There is simply no funding. MARTA gets zero state funding today. The Beltline will get zero state dollars for transit, and the feds aren't going to put money into a project when the state has no 'skin in the game', as they have proven time and time again.
At the end of the day, if all we get is new parks and greenspace, with biking trails connecting them all, then that's more than we had starting out.
Sure this could have been managed much better, but there never was nor will their ever be any funding for transit for the Beltline.
Shirley points out things that were accomplished, but isn't the most objective measure of Beltline progress what targets in the 2006 Beltline 5-Year Plan were achieved or missed? Has that review been done and isn't it getting close to needing a new 5-Year Plan?
Shirley points out things that were accomplished, but isn't the most objective measure of Beltline progress what targets in the 2006 Beltline 5-Year Plan were achieved or missed? Has that review been done and isn't it getting close to needing a new 5-Year Plan?
Shirley lists some things that were accomplished, but isn't the most objective test of Beltline success what targets in the official 2006 Beltline 5-Year Plan were achieved or missed? Has anyone done that review? And isn't it time to start building a new 5-Year Beltline Plan so that today's economic realities and circumstances can be addressed?
Those hanging onto the idea that some sort of transit is going to be part of the Beltline are fooling themselves. There is simply no funding. MARTA gets zero state funding today. The Beltline will get zero state dollars for transit, and the feds aren't going to put money into a project when the state has no 'skin in the game', as they have proven time and time again.
At the end of the day, if all we get is new parks and greenspace, with biking trails connecting them all, then that's more than we had starting out.
Sure this could have been managed much better, but there never was nor will their ever be any funding for transit for the Beltline.
Much of their paralysis has been due to issues related to the TAD funding (first, the lawsuit, then the economic downturn). They just haven't had the money they were expecting to sell bonds and construct projects.
The BeltLine will fulfill its mission, that is, to connect or reconnect Atlanta's intown neighborhoods. How they get connected is yet to be determined, but I shared your skepticism. At its worst, I'm confident that the BeltLine is going to be a nice network of trails that connects the existing parks to some nice, new parks. The North Ave park is going to be a real amenity for Old Fourth Ward. The Westside Park should be a real gem along the corridor. Hopefully, they'll also be able to implement some of the recommendations in the street framework plans, and tie together communities via the city's street and sidewalk networks. We'll see what happens with transit, but as Scott says, it's unlikely. It's the most expensive component and if BeltLine Inc can't subsidize it using its own means, how else will it get paid for? The TSPLOST?
The fact that the beltline is still moving forward despite the great recession is amazing.
Isn't the Beltline moving forward because it is a $3 billion project that allows tax dollars to be handed out and tossed around in all sorts of ways?
I understand all the points here. I echo AN's frustrations, but I have to say I'll be thrilled, come next summer, to exit Piedmont Park on my bike and safely access some of the city's most established, hippest, developing and walkable neighborhoods via this measly asphalt ribbon. The almagam of near-eastside neighborhoods is great for biking. And I highly recommend the PATH trail from downtown to Stone Mountain Park. I lived here three years before trying it this spring ... some of it is (somewhat) quiet city streets, but overall very impressive.
Booooo Andisheh. This post is poisonously cynical to the point of being preposterous.
I look at recent developments in the Beltline and am absolutely amazed at its momentum and progress.
Of all the major park additions to the Beltline, how many were funded (substantially or wholely) by some other entity?
The Old Fourth Ward major park is coming out of Dept of Watershed, because they can't sell City Hall East otherwise with its flooding issues.
That skate park? Now the Piedmont Park trail?
What I've never seen is an actual accounting of incoming funding and expenditures for all things Beltline.
How much money has come in from where (each bond issuance, the park-related grants, etc.), and where has all of it gone (each major land purchase, brokers fees, staff salary, planning documents and traffic studies and the ilk, etc).
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