CAPITOL VIEW: Tony Thaxton spoke for an urban neighborhood east of downtown. His sign represents his community. (Mary Silver/The Epoch Times)
The Atlanta Beltline is a proposed ring of parks, bicycle paths, development and light rail following a circle of 22 miles of unused railroad tracks.
The abandonment would have taken effect on Jan. 22, and would have allowed the Beltline to go forward. AMTRAK, at GDOT’s request, began proceedings to condemn the corridor on Jan. 21. They propose to build high speed rail on the site, which is a narrow strip between Piedmont Park, designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, and a wealthy, historic neighborhood.
Over two hundred people rallied to condemn the proposed action. They came on foot and on bicycles, with children and dogs, carrying signs. They stood in a line four or five people wide to sign a petition supporting the planned Beltline.
A park on the west side of town has already opened, and ground was broken on Oct. 15 for a pond and park in the Old Fourth Ward. (http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/content/view/5773/) Millions of dollars and years of planning and public discussion have gone into the project. Georgia voters passed a constitutional amendment on Nov. 4 allowing special Tax Allocation Districts (TADS) to fund the plan.
Government officials and non-profit heads spoke to the crowd.
“This is derailing not only the Beltline but our plans for the future” said City Councilwoman Mary Norwood to the crowd. She said the people who proposed heavy rail there must not have come and seen how narrow the strip of land is or how close it is to houses. The crowd cheered her.
George Dusenbury of Park Pride said “There is no better park in Atlanta than the one right here. It is amazing how tone deaf and how ignorant of quality of life issues DOT and AMTRAK are.”
Tony Thaxton carried a sign representing the Capital View Apartments, which overlook the city from a high vantage point east of downtown. He said “We support the Beltline. The Beltline will be an inner ring for the people.”
“This is a neighborhood of activists,” said Mike Ventura, who has lived near Piedmont Park for twenty-five years. He walked to the rally with his dog, Sadie. “It’s disingenuous of the State and AMTRAK to do what they are doing.” He predicts public outcry will stop their planned actions.
Atlanta Beltline CEO Terri Montague struck a somber note after the rally. “Our credibility as a state is in question. This discord is not looked upon favorably at the federal level,” she said. The stakeholders have been working to cultivate federal and corporate support for the project. She said the project has been looked at as a national model of it’s kind, of “holistic approaches at scale... ‘I hope we don’t miss our moment. This is a once in a lifetime chance.”
