Eastside Beltline light rail work secretly halted last year

The committee’s secret vote has never been made public before now.

In fact, officials from all three organizations seemingly went out of their way to keep it from the public, omitting news of the vote whenever the project has been publicly discussed in the months since.

MARTA officials didn’t mention it in a briefing to the Atlanta City Council’s Transportation Committee or in two editorial board meetings with the AJC. Beltline officials didn’t disclose the decision when they unveiled a $3.5 billion transit plan. And a high-ranking official in the mayor’s office didn’t bring it up during a town hall discussion about transit on the Beltline.

In a September news conference, MARTA interim general manager and CEO Jonathan Hunt said only that the project was “on pause.”

The decision remained secret in large part because MARTA staff did not bring the committee’s decision before the transit agency’s board of directors. The board has ultimate responsibility for all transit decisions under the intergovernmental agreement that controls Atlanta’s More MARTA program, of which the Streetcar East Extension along the Eastside Trail was a top priority.

Any “significant” change to the light rail plans was required to come before the board, just as the initial decision to greenlight the project did.

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

It’s a process that would typically happen during the MARTA board’s public meetings and which a government transparency attorney said should have happened here because of the magnitude of the decision.

“Public business decisions must be made in public and must be voted on in public,” said Joy Ramsingh, who serves on the board of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation. “This isn’t like saying we’re going to pick blue seats instead of gray seats on the next bus.

“This is a pretty big deal as to whether or not people are going to get transit services.”

Current and former Atlanta City Council members and advocates from both Beltline Rail Now and Better Atlanta Transit, which opposed the project, told the AJC they had no idea a final decision had been made. They believed studies and design work were still underway.

Several said the decision to stop the project would undermine public confidence in the More MARTA program, which has yet to deliver a single capital project nearly 10 years after Atlantans began taxing themselves to pay for transit expansion.

“Hearing about it now, from you, and not from an official member of that committee or from the MARTA board or the MARTA representative, is concerning,” said Atlanta City Council member Byron Amos, who chaired the council’s Transportation Committee last year.

“All eyes have been on this project, and this project is pretty much the linchpin to a lot of other things to take place,” he said. “It’s almost like a unilateral decision that was made by a few individuals on a widely watched project.”

Staff in the mayor’s office did not answer questions about the committee vote or the decision to keep it from the public. In an initial statement, spokesperson Michael Smith said the city, MARTA and the Atlanta Beltline are “all committed to connectivity” and have “frequent conversations about the most appropriate path forward for our residents, business community and the region.”

In response to additional questions about the secrecy, Smith told the AJC that the city plans to bring the decision before the public.

“No official decision has been made regarding changing the official order of the projects,” Smith said. “The (joint committee) agreed that at the conclusion of the planning phase of the Streetcar East Extension, the consultants’ work would be turned over to the Beltline for further review.

“Once complete, recommendations will go before City Council and then to the MARTA board for ratification.”

Credit: Ben Gray for the Atlanta Journal

Credit: Ben Gray for the Atlanta Journal

Beltline President and CEO Clyde Higgs said his organization, which operates as an arm of the city, is committed to supporting the transit vision Dickens laid out last March. He said the three groups are in continued talks about how to reprioritize More MARTA projects, with additional announcements to come.

“Coordination with our partners has been integral to our progress,” Higgs said.

A MARTA spokesperson said the vote wasn’t brought to the MARTA board because the joint group, called the program governance committee, has authority to make the decision itself.

“The sequencing of the projects and budgets within the More MARTA Atlanta program are managed by the PGC, not the MARTA board,” MARTA spokesperson Stephany Fisher said in a statement, adding “While the project prioritization is being reviewed by the PGC, all parties agreed the most prudent course of action is to hold (off) expending funds on the Streetcar East Extension project.”

None of the 13 MARTA board members — who are appointed by officials in Clayton, DeKalb and Fulton counties, Atlanta and the governor’s office — answered questions from the AJC about whether they believed the committee’s decision should have come before the board for ultimate approval.

Halting project not `significant’ change?

It’s not clear why the vote to stop work on the Streetcar East Extension didn’t qualify as a “significant” change requiring the MARTA board’s approval.

The intergovernmental agreement describes a significant change as “any change in the implementation sequence of one project to the detriment of another” or “not consistent with the approved program sequencing plan.”

Budget increases or decreases can also qualify as a significant change. Roughly 4% of the Streetcar East Extension project budget has been spent so far. Diverting the remaining money to spend on other projects would exceed the 10% threshold that triggers reporting to the board.

The motion specifically called on MARTA to stop — not pause — all work, according to notes from the committee meeting. No date was set for work to resume, effectively deprioritizing the project.

More MARTA revenue is limited, and there are far more eligible projects than available money. Projects not at the top of the list are not guaranteed funding. Notes from the committee’s meetings obtained under the state’s Open Records Act also show committee members discussing how to repurpose the Streetcar East Extension funding for other projects.

Neither city nor Beltline officials answered questions about why this decision did not count as a significant change. Fisher said the joint committee governs the program, including adjustments to the prioritization of projects.

Matthew Rao, who leads Beltline Rail Now, said he questions whether the committee’s vote alone was sufficient to stop the project.

“The only entity that decides is the MARTA board,” Rao said. “It can’t be de-escalated by a non-elected, nonaccountable, secret back-room group.”

A More MARTA priority project

Dickens quipped months ago that everyone has an opinion about the Beltline. That is especially true with the Streetcar East Extension, the most studied light rail segment and the only one where a specific route has been determined.

City and MARTA officials made it a top-five priority out of more than 73 potential projects the More MARTA sales tax is earmarked to cover. The plan would have extended the existing Atlanta Streetcar to the Beltline and run tracks alongside the trail to Ponce City Market — roughly two miles in all. Initial work started in 2019.

Residents and business owners began voicing disapproval when the final route was unveiled, but MARTA’s board of directors approved the project in 2023, saying it was Atlanta’s money and the mayor’s priority.

Dickens had campaigned for the project during his first election bid, but his support began to wane as public opposition increased. In 2024, the mayor said he wanted more study. In February 2025, Dickens said officials were exploring self-driving pods, gondolas, rapid bus routes and shuttles as potential alternatives to light rail.

A little over a month later, Dickens pulled his support for the Eastside project entirely and said the first phase of light rail should go on the Beltline’s Southside trail because it is less dense and located in an area that’s more transit-dependent.

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Ryan Gravel — whose master’s thesis called for turning abandoned rail lines into a 22-mile loop of transit and trails, a vision that became the galvanizing idea behind the Atlanta Beltline — said he was heartbroken but not surprised to learn the group had secretly voted to stop the Eastside light rail plans.

“I think it will go down in Atlanta history as a significant failure,” Gravel said. “It’s the decision not to do transit, but it’s also the decision to go against the will of the people without a process commensurate with the process that delivered that direction.”

Vote taken at closed-door meeting

MARTA’s board of directors has “ultimate responsibility” for the transit component of the More MARTA program, according to the intergovernmental agreement. But most decisions first go before two committees made up of city, MARTA and Atlanta Beltline staff.

One committee deals with day-to-day issues more technical in nature. The second, the program governance committee, oversees the long-range plan and vision. It was this group that voted to stop the Streetcar East Extension project.

Credit: Jessi Esaprza / AJC

Credit: Jessi Esaprza / AJC

The governance committee met a few weeks after Dickens’ laid out his new transit vision in March 2025. On MARTA’s side, officials like former General Manager and CEO Collie Greenwood attended. On the city’s side, representatives included Transportation Commissioner Solomon Caviness and Chief Operating Officer LaChandra Burks. Higgs, from the Beltline, also attended.

Notes from these meetings show officials first started discussing reprioritizing projects in March, shortly after the mayor announced his new transit priorities. The notes are prepared by a MARTA staff member but reviewed by all participants before being approved.

At the March meeting, Courtney English, one of Dickens’ key advisers who now serves as the mayor’s chief of staff, asked MARTA how much of the Streetcar East Extension money could be used to fund feasibility studies for other projects, according to the notes.

Greenwood asked how new projects would be vetted by the public. The notes don’t say how attendees responded to that question.

At the group’s next meeting in April, MARTA told city officials that the transit agency needed them to put their proposed project changes in writing.

Then during the May meeting, Burks asked to discuss the Streetcar East Extension, according to the notes. Higgs then made a motion to immediately stop all current Streetcar East Extension project activity and spending of funds.

The notes do not record the group’s discussion, if any. The four city officials in the meeting voted in favor of Higgs’ motion. Higgs and two MARTA officials also voted in favor.

Greenwood, who could not be reached for comment, was the sole vote against.

Later in the meeting, Greenwood twice repeated the request that the city document its new priorities in writing and say which projects would be replaced, according to the notes. Both times, Burks said the city planned to bring its proposed changes to the group for a vote, which would serve as documentation.

The city had not done so by the Oct. 30 meeting, the last one for which notes are available.

`Many changes ... many delays’

The May vote ended up being one of Greenwood’s final actions as general manager and CEO. He resigned in July amid issues stemming from the expiration of his work visa.

Greenwood met with the AJC’s editorial board in June, just days before the visa expired and he stopped working. He was asked about the Eastside project being put “on hold.”

“MARTA’s role is to deliver what the process yields,” Greenwood said. “The mayor has every right to change his mind, and I think he understands better than most of us the perils of that.

“It’s not my place to opine on whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”

Greenwood, who had tense relationships with city and business officials before he resigned, said it’s hard to oversee a transit system that is encumbered by “temporal and political influences.”

“It would make it easier for transit if, when we decided what we were going to do, we actually did it,” he said. “But sometimes a stop or pivot is necessary.”

Greenwood did not disclose to the AJC editorial board that the project was not “on hold” and that, in fact, a vote had been taken just weeks earlier to stop all work. And no one else from MARTA, the city or the Beltline has publicly disclosed the vote in the months since.

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

During a briefing from MARTA in September, then-City Council President Doug Shipman questioned Hunt, MARTA’s interim general manager, about the status of reprioritizing the order of More MARTA projects in light of Dickens’ new transit priorities.

In addition to the Eastside light rail pivot, Dickens has also sought to expedite the construction of four new MARTA stations. Shipman asked how the projects were being reordered in light of Dickens’ proposal.

“At some point you have to say, here’s the new sequence,” Shipman said.

Hunt told him MARTA is “consistently engaging with our community partners and with the administration around sequencing. We’re hoping it’s relatively soon.”

Hunt did not tell Shipman about the committee’s vote to stop work on the Eastside project.

When told about the secret vote by the AJC in December, Shipman said he’s not surprised.

“But I am disappointed that it wasn’t openly discussed as a decision that had been taken,” said Shipman, who was one of the council’s loudest advocates for Eastside light rail.

Shipman said the ability of a small group to make changes to project timelines is a flaw in how the More MARTA program is governed. None of the capital projects on the list has been delivered nearly 10 years after voters approved the half-penny sales tax.

The first project, the Summerhill rapid bus line, is behind schedule but should be completed this year.

“The way we have it set up leads to many changes, which invariably leads to many delays,” Shipman said.

Credit: Ben Gray for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Credit: Ben Gray for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

$9.1 million already spent on planning/design

The reason officials have given for stopping the Streetcar East Extension is to prioritize work on other projects that Dickens’ administration believes will have more impact.

It’s unclear who is leading the planning for those projects or if any work has advanced beyond some preliminary studies into the four new MARTA stations the mayor has proposed. Notes from the joint committee indicate at least one meeting took place between MARTA and the Atlanta Beltline in November to discuss new station costs.

MARTA asked HDR, the engineering firm hired to complete the Eastside project’s design, to stop its work on May 29, said Fisher, the transit agency’s spokesperson.

To date, MARTA has spent $9.1 million on planning and design for the Streetcar East Extension, she said.

It’s unclear whether any of the existing work will be useful to plans on the Southside or elsewhere along the Beltline.

It also remains unclear how the Southside light rail or any of the mayor’s other transit projects would be funded. To qualify for More MARTA revenue, the projects must be placed on the priority list and OK’d by MARTA’s board, which has not yet happened.

Dickens has floated the idea of using revenue from the city’s eight tax allocation districts. He’s proposed extending the life of the TADs and projected that it could raise more than $5 billion — if the Atlanta City Council, Fulton County and Atlanta Public Schools all approve it.

There’s been pushback on the TAD proposal from council members like Shipman, who said part of his concern is a lack of trust in the cost estimates. He said it seems that MARTA has been cut out of planning and that he doesn’t have confidence in the Atlanta Beltline’s ability to carry out transit projects of this magnitude.

Shipman did not run for reelection last year and is now out of office. His replacement, two-term council member Marci Collier Overstreet, has also expressed support for starting light rail construction on the Eastside and said the decision about extending the TADs should not be rushed.

Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC

Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC

Overstreet, who was endorsed by the mayor last year in her hard-fought campaign for council president, did not respond to a call or text messages.

It’s unclear if Overstreet is aware of the May vote ending work on the Eastside project. But she said she supported starting construction on the Eastside trail and gave no indication she knew a decision had already been made when asked about her position during a candidate forum last year.

Liliana Bakhtiari, another councilmember who has been skeptical of extending the TADs, said she’s hesitant to do so in part because of how the More MARTA program has been managed. She wants a set project list so the public knows what to expect.

Bakhtiari said the city risks losing residents’ trust by stopping the Streetcar East Extension project.

“It’s just reflective of another bait and switch,” Bakhtiari said, adding: “Why should they trust us?”

Kelsea Bond, who joined the council in January, representing District 2, where the Eastside Trail is located, believes residents will be shocked to learn about the secret May vote.

Bond, who uses they/them pronouns, said voters they talked with during the campaign were aware of Dickens’ position but didn’t realize a final decision had been made.

“This is also my first time hearing that,” Bond said. “Given how high profile this issue has been, I think voters and council members and everyone deserves more transparency.”