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CHAMBLEE City awarded ARC funds to extend Rail Trail

The city of Chamblee recently was awarded federal grant funding through the Atlanta Regional Commission’s Transportation Improvement Program to extend the city’s Rail Trail, a multiuse trail for pedestrians and cyclists that currently connects Keswick Park to the Mid-City District, according to a news release.

Several major mixed-use projects have revitalized industrial sites, and city-funded infrastructure projects have created a walkable, transit-oriented hub near the city’s MARTA rail station.

Since 2000, the city worked to bring the Rail Trail along the abandoned Roswell Junction Railroad line to life. Portions of Phase 2 of the Rail Trail are currently or soon to be under construction. Phase 2 extends the multiuse trail on street along Peachtree Road from McGaw Drive to Pierce Drive and off street between Chamblee Tucker Road and Pierce Drive in the Mid-City District. This phase of the project is funded with local special-purpose local option sales tax revenues approved by voters in 2017. The city’s use of local and special funds to expand the Rail Trail likely helped the city secure this additional federal funding.

Phase 3 of the Rail Trail will extend the multiuse trail from Pierce Drive through the Town Centerdistrict, which surrounds the city’s current municipal complex to the Doraville Assembly Development. A combination of on-street and off-street trails are proposed along with a connection along Chamblee Dunwoody Road to New Peachtree Road on the south side of the Norfolk Southern and MARTA rail lines. This connection will allow the city to expand the city’s multiuse trails throughout the city and to neighboring communities. The Rail Trail project was eligible for funding as part of ARC’s Livable Centers Initiative program, in which the city has been a part from the program’s creation.

Chamblee received $660,000 for design of the project, which requires a local match of 20%, or $132,000. The total project cost is approximately $6.6 million. Design for the project is scheduled for early 2021. ARC only announced 2021 funds because of current economic conditions related to COVID-19. Chamblee was one of five jurisdictions that were selected during this initial round of funding announcements. According to ARC, additional funding for future years will be announced later this year.

Information: chambleega.gov or 770-986-5010.