ATLANTA — City officials broke ground Friday on a new construction project that will pave the Atlanta BeltLine through Piedmont Park to where it meets Monroe Drive and 10th Street.
Anyone who’s driven through that area knows how busy it can be. You have two major streets meeting up with the beltline.
A year from now, that whole area may look different.
Kathy Hodge and Mary Sweeny are what you would call veteran BeltLine hikers, once taking three days to hike the entire 22-mile loop.
“We had a great three-day extravaganza on the BeltLine,” Hodge said.
Channel 2′s Richard Elliot stopped the two right beside where the new groundbreaking ceremony was about to take place to celebrate paving the section of BeltLine that runs through Piedmont Park.
“We like the rough road as well, but the pavement will bring in more people, you know, to be able to walk and get out and enjoy it,” Sweeney said.
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But paving that section of the BeltLine will also mean dealing with the tricky and busy intersections of 10th Street, Monroe Drive, and the BeltLine itself.
Atlanta DOT Commissioner Solomon Caviness said they’re planning to build a “raised intersection” to help drivers be more aware of walkers and bikers.
“We have to deprioritize that segment of travelers, i.e. motorists, and think about all who use that intersection,” Caviness said.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens joined other dignitaries to move the first dirt before construction begins.
Atlanta BeltLine CEO Clyde Higgs helped secure $350 million from the city, donations, and a federal grant to accelerate construction there and all around the city.
“We are in an acceleration mode for construction on the BeltLine, and again, most people don’t realize 80% of this project is either under construction or completed within the next two years,” Higgs said.
The project should start within a month and will continue for a year to a year-and-a-half.
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