Cultivating Community: The Southeast Beltline ribbon-cutting event was held at 905 Glenwood Ave SE. Atlanta BeltLine President and CEO Clyde Higgs, Mayor Andre Dickens and community members spoke at the event. (Lilly Amato)

Mayor Andre Dickens spoke before the ribbon cutting and said the Southeast Trail represents a broader effort to connect communities that were once physically and socially divided. 

“This section is going to connect these [four] great communities and the rest of the city together,” Dickens said. “Each new mile of the Beltline line brings Atlanta closer together, linking our neighborhoods, jobs and schools across what used to divide us.” 

Nearly 16 miles of the originally envisioned 22 mile Beltline loop have now been completed. The goal is to have 18 miles finished before the World Cup brings an influx of people into Atlanta over the summer. 

“Before the World Cup, sometime around the first week of June or the second week of June, we’ll be cutting the ribbon on that last segment that gives us 18 miles of continuous loop in just a month and some change,” Dickens said. 

Senior Project Manager Nancy Newell emphasized that connectivity has remained central to the Betlines purpose since its creation in 2005.

“The Beltline has always been a 22-mile loop around the city, and the plan was always to bring the trail to this area,” Newell said. “Moving forward, we’re trying to connect everything, get all that done on the walking trail and then hopefully transit in the future. We want to make it definitely more accessible for neighbors in different neighborhoods to be connected, and also just to make it a lot more friendly for people on bikes, on scooters, just basically anyone that’s not wanting a car.”

The opening of this part of the Beltline is right next to Atlanta Public Schools’ Maynard Jackson High School and Parkside Elementary. Maynard Jackson Principal Kimberly Latchman said she is excited because it will help make the Jackson Cluster within the community closer than it already is.

“The Jackson cluster is such a really close knit, family-oriented structure,” Latchman said. “I think this provides us with the opportunity to be a bit more connected and an easier path and safer path for us to get to and from school.”

Along with increased connectivity, school leaders say the trail provides an alternative safer route for student travel. John McCall, instructional coach at Maynard, said this part of the Beltline opening is invaluable to the school not only for connection, but for improved student safety too. 

“I’m excited that it gives a dedicated pathway for students to travel on, maybe from home to school or between schools, as opposed to being on the streets,” McCall said. “Because, you know, this is a very crowded area now, because of the Beltline, the car traffic is much greater. I’m always concerned with our athletes, our cross country team, running throughout the streets and things. I’m really happy to have a dedicated pathway for them to have more safe travels.”

Maynard sophomore Alden Wright speaks out about the Beltline and the improvement of safety for the area and her classmates. Safety is not only important for teachers and staff, but students want to feel safe in their learning environment. 

“The new Beltline isn’t just a way to get to school — it finally makes it easier to get to the Midtown area,” Wright said. “I have friends at Midtown [High School] that I enjoy meeting up with, but walking was never a realistic option until the Southside trail expanded.”

The Beltline has bordered Midtown High School since 2012 and Newell said she thinks the way that students at Midtown use it for a safe way to commute will replicate at Maynard. 

“The Beltline is making it safer for kids to bike to and from school, to walk to and from school,” Newell said,“ We have seen it at Midtown [High School] and now we will hopefully see the same at Maynard. Overall the Beltline makes Atlanta super accessible.”

The safety aspect extends past Maynard to the whole Atlanta community. Senior Hailey Wortmann said as a young female, the Beltline is the safest place for her to run, and that the pathway being connected to the Midtown section allows her to run farther distances.

“I always feel safer on the Beltline, and I used to run a very short segment of it repeatedly for my runs,” Wortmann said. “But now that they have connected sections, I can run farther and still feel safe, which I am super excited about.”

In addition to improving safety and accessibility, Newel said the Beltline will contribute to economic changes around the communities. 

“The Beltline is definitely promoting a lot more businesses, especially on the east side trail, as we’ve seen, there’s been a lot more businesses pop up over there,” Newell said. “That’s another part of our goal, to spur economic development.” 

Dickens said the project serves multiple different roles in the city’s growth. 

“It is a pivotal infrastructure project for Atlanta and our entire region,” Dickens said. “It combines wellness, safety, art, retail and housing. Everything that a city needs to thrive as it connects us is delivering for every Atlanta in every direction.”

As development continues and the economy surrounding the betline grows, Newell said maintaining affordability remains a priority. 

“We do have an affordable housing team here at the Belt line that kind of acquires properties along the Belt line’s footprint,” Newell said. “They try to ensure that we still have affordable housing for the residents.”

More Than a Path: The Beltline Rail Now nonprofit organization, which promotes the need for free, accessible transportation along the Beltline, held signs supporting Beltline rail while the mayor addressed the crowd. (Lilly Amato)

With the opening of the new trail some advocates say the project is still incomplete without all of the originally planned aspects of the Beltline — the transit. Matthew Rao, chair of Beltline Rail, now said while the trail has improved connectivity across Atlanta, it doesn’t serve all residents equality yet. 

“For the first time, a lot of [Atlanta] is connected and that is incredible,” Rao said. “People on bikes, on foot, on scooters can now connect from the south side to the east side, to the north side of the city and that is fantastic. But what we don’t have right now is true connectivity for everybody and that is the Beltline rail, which is the reason for our Beltline and people have forgotten that.”

As the city continues work on completing the trial, Rao said the focus should shift toward completing the project’s original vision. 

“Now we have built the trail, let’s build the rail,” Rao said. 

As conversations about future transit continue, city leaders say the progress made reflects years of investment and collaboration across Atlanta. 

“As a son of this city, as the mayor of this city, and as a member of the Atlanta BeltLine Board of Directors since my time as a council member, I’m just proud of what our team and what our partners and our community have built together mile by mile, neighborhood by neighborhood,” Dickens said. “I have seen this project bring together people and communities and partners, and this is the thing that everybody’s talking about all across the nation.”