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Politics & Government

Atlanta BeltLine Adds 3-Plus Miles of Trails in Cascade

BeltLine formally adds trail segment that crosses Cascade Road at Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard

The Atlanta BeltLine has added just over three miles of trail along the eastern tip of the Cascade community.

The new trail begins near Washington Park, crosses a scenic bridge above Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, crosses Cascade Road near its intersection with Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard, and ends on Allene Avenue, near Adair Park.

This stretch of trail already has been open on an informal basis. Last year, pedestrians and cyclists used it to visit art exhibits in the “Art on the Atlanta BeltLine” series.

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It will join the BeltLine’s existing trail in southwest Atlanta – the West End/Westview Trail. That trail spans about 2.5 miles and links West End with Westview and Mozley Park.

A deal approved last Thursday by the city’s development arm, the Atlanta Development Authority, calls for the BeltLine to lease the land from the state Department of Transportation. The cost is $1 a year for this segment as well as a 0.4 mile segment in Reynoldstown.

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The lease will last up to 49 years. Ethan Davidson, spokesman for Atlanta BeltLine, Inc., said the terms call for the city to have an option to buy both segments within the next decade at a total cost of about $1.6 million.

The Georgia Department of Transportation now owns both these sections of out-of-service rail line, according to Charles Whatley, the ADA’s director of business development. Whatley indicated at the ADA board meeting on April 21 that GDOT had dramatically lowered its asking price for the land.

“GDOT is investing in the BeltLine,” Whatley said.

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