Atlanta mayor, others kick off work on Southside Trail section

Newest segment slated to be finished in spring 2025.

Construction on a new piece of the Southside Trail of the Beltline is officially under- way after Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and project leaders broke ground on the 1.2-mile section.

Once completed, the paved trail will connect the Glen- wood Park and Grant Park neighborhoods, from Glenwood Avenue to Boulevard.

“To day, we’re taking another step closer to making a complete Beltline a real- ity,” Dickens said at the event Monday. “I know that community leaders and business owners on the Southside and also on the Westside have waited a while for this construction that will close the loop on the Atlanta Beltline.”

The newest segment of the Southside Trail is expected to be completed in spring of 2025, followed by the beginning of construction on the final por- tions that fall. To date, nearly 16 miles of the Beltline has been built and paved.

Clyde Higgs, president and CEO of Atlanta BeltLine Inc., said 80% of the Beltline will be complete or under construction within the next two years.

“O n ce this segment of Southside Trail for the Belt- line is completed, you’ll be able to continuously ride a bike, walk from Boulevard all the way to the Piedmont Park,” Higgs said. “That’s game changing for us.”

Southeast Atlanta community leaders highlighted the importance of the project as a way to connect communities — particularly Black neighbor- hoods — previously isolated by the construction of I-20.

“Many were permanently displaced, but the aftermath of construction left most of south Atlanta on what felt like an island,” said Coun- cilman Jason Winston, who represents the area. “Today, we celebrate the bridge that will finally connect southeast Atlanta to the rest of the city.”

The Southside Trail expansion also aims to create safer routes between schools like Parkside Elementaryand Maynard Jackson High School.

Construction on the entirety of the Atlanta Beltline is expected to be done by 2030.

Leaders. RILEY BUNCH/RILEY.BUNCH@AJC.COM Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens (center) celebrates Monday’s groundbreaking on a section of Beltline Southside Trail with project and community