The Case for Light Rail in Old Fourth Ward

— Ian Burr

I am a resident of Old Fourth Ward, living near the proposed Streetcar East expansion, and I strongly support both the eastside extension and the larger project of bringing 22 miles of lightrail to the entire Atlanta Beltline.

My reasons for this stem from my experiences as a transit rider on the eastside of Atlanta. Before we moved to the Old 4th Ward in 2021, my fiancée and I lived in Cabbagetown for a number of years. MARTA riders who have spent time in Cabbagetown are familiar with the “station gap” problem there— the heavy rail tracks run right by the neighborhood, but the two closest stations are just too far away to be useful. In fact, most of MARTA’s east/west blue line has this problem: while it grazes the edges of many walkable, historic neighborhoods, it hugs the freight rail line, meaning that the stops are usually not convenient to walk to.

“But Ian,” you might say, “You were talking about light rail on the Beltline. Why are you griping about the heavy rail line?” I bring it up to emphasize how rare of an opportunity the Beltline corridor presents for the neighborhoods it connects. It’s hard enough to get space for transit. Having dedicated space with the natural advantages the Beltline has is unheard of. I’m not trying to diss the heavy rail— it was a product of its time (and its budget). The blue line was built to be more of a “park and ride” commuter system, interfacing with cars rather than pedestrians.

Atlanta Beltline corridor overlaid on the original Atlanta Streetcar lines circa 1924, intersections emphasized. Credit: Open World Atlanta

Light rail gives a more human-scale experience than heavy rail: shorter distances, closer stops, and small platforms instead of large stations. The Beltline passes straight through a number of walkable neighborhood centers. Many of these beloved neighborhoods owe their designs to the previous streetcar lines! Because the freight rail on the Beltline is gone, it doesn’t present a barrier to walking, like the railroad on the blue line does. Quite the opposite, actually - as any Atlantan knows, half of this former freight space is now an incredible multimodal trail. Another benefit of the freight line being defunct: the Beltline is flanked by hundreds of industrial properties and other disused spaces that can be (and are being) reused for housing, stores, and places to work.

In other words, the Beltline right-of-way gives us a ready-made transit line where we can have our cake and eat it too. It’s cheap to build transit on, it’s continuous for 22 miles, and it brings us straight to places where people live, work, and want to be.

This vision has to start somewhere. Linking it to our existing light rail infrastructure is a necessary first step. Old Fourth Ward residents like me would have many uses for the Streetcar East extension alone. This line would connect our neighborhood to downtown and the heavy rail system much more effectively than the current MARTA station at King Memorial. For me, living in southern Old Fourth Ward, the current streetcar is a lot like the MARTA stops near Cabbagetown: tantalizingly close, but just far away enough to be hard to use. But I’m close to a best-case scenario. For the majority of this large neighborhood, the current streetcar line is pretty much useless. 

Boulevard, the Old Fourth Ward’s major north-south street, last Sunday afternoon. Try getting a streetcar down this!

I share a car with my fiancée to save money, but we try to use it as little as possible, both for environmental and traffic-hating reasons. I could list plenty of ways that Beltline rail would benefit me personally. I could tell you that our north-south roads, like Boulevard, Glen Iris, and Moreland, are becoming impossible to navigate during rush hour and on the weekends. I could say that Streetcar East would allow me to get groceries, and visit the Freedom Farmers Market and Sweet Auburn Curb Market more often. I could explain that a better downtown connection would let us go to events and attractions there without paying predatory surge pricing for parking. I could tell you that a larger Beltline rail system would let us easily get to work, and visit close friends in Reynoldstown and Ormewood Park, some of whom are car-free.

These are all reasons for streetcar expansion. But the truth is also that I believe the streetcar will help Atlanta become the city I know it can be: one where the neighborhoods are connected to each other, and we challenge the wisdom that you “need a car” to live here. Atlanta is projected to see a huge influx of residents in the next few decades. Those of us who currently live adjacent to the Beltline are uniquely positioned to help guide this coming growth in a sustainable and equitable way, creating a more accessible city and mitigating future sprawl. I think we have an obligation to do so - and that we will be rewarded with a stronger Atlanta when we succeed.

Ian Burr is an Old Fourth Ward resident, a frequent MARTA rider, and an Atlantan since 2013. He works on digital 3D modeling for architecture and studies Atlanta history as part of his work.