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A decade after voters approved a special sales tax for BeltLine rail transit, no tracks have been laid. In 2026, city leaders and transit advocates are split on whether the 22-mile loop needs trains — or whether its success as a trail is enough.
Atlanta broke ground on improvements to the Jackson Street Bridge in July 2025, adding a protected bike lane and expanded pedestrian zone to the Old Fourth Ward span that has become one of the most photographed vantage points of the downtown skyline.
Congresswoman Nikema Williams announced $207.6 million in federal funding for two of Atlanta's most ambitious infrastructure projects: $157.6 million for Phase 1 of the Stitch and $50 million to connect the BeltLine to the Flint River Trail.
A $2.9 million trail project will create a three-quarter-mile pedestrian and bicycle connection between the Upper Westside and the BeltLine's Westside Connector — feeding directly into the network that reaches downtown Atlanta.
In 2015, Mayor Reed appointed Atlanta's first Chief Bicycle Officer, the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition was pushing to open streets for car-free events, and a statewide survey found that 81 percent of Georgians would bike if the infrastructure were safer.
In his 2015 State of the City address, Mayor Kasim Reed announced two ambitious infrastructure moves: extending the Atlanta Streetcar eastward to connect with the BeltLine, and transforming the abandoned Bellwood Quarry into the city's largest park.
In 2013, Atlanta officials explored laying fiber-optic cable along the 22-mile BeltLine corridor — envisioning a broadband backbone that would attract tech companies and deliver internet speeds 100 times faster than typical cable service.
