ATLANTA TRANSIT (Marta, Beltline, Peachtree Streetcar, LovJoy Commuter, etc...)

[smArTaLlone]

https://www.myajc.com/news/local-govt--p...clifton-corridor/4SFv7xH58bmjNuKTrj5tcN/

MARTA’s priorities may be changing as it finalizes its $2.5 billion plans to expand transit in Atlanta, and the Atlanta Beltline may be a beneficiary, a document obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution shows.

Amid intense public lobbying, the agency is considering reducing – but not eliminating – funding for the Clifton Corridor light rail line from Lindbergh Station to Emory University, according to a presentation MARTA made to a group of community stakeholders in a closed meeting Thursday. It also may eliminate a proposed bus rapid transit line along Campbellton Road in southwest Atlanta, but would still build a light rail line along the route.

Money from those projects could be reallocated to transit along the Atlanta Beltline and to the rehabilitation of existing MARTA rail stations, according the presentation. The document did not say how much money would be shifted among the projects, though it’s unlikely it would be enough to complete the full 22-mile Beltline light rail loop, as many supporters want. MARTA’s preliminary plans, unveiled in May, were to build just a third of the proposed transit loop, but supporters have pressed the agency to build more.

MARTA Board of Directors Chairman Robbie Ashe confirmed agency leaders met with Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms on Wednesday to discuss the transit expansion. He also said no final decisions have been made about the list of projects.