News

Now Open: Beltline Plaza and New Access Point

Where elevator access meets people-watching

BY JOSH GREEN JUN 23, 2016, 8:00A

Photos: Atlanta Beltline Inc.
Like an honest politician, the Beltline’s Eastside Trail just keeps making itself more accessible.

Now, via a stairway that incorporates a handy track for rolling bicycles up or down, anyone walking or pedaling from Midtown on North Avenue can access the popular trail without having to conquer an imposing hill or devise a convoluted route via parking lots or backstreets.

Or they can just take the elevator.

Beyond the stairs, the Beltline has also finished The Plaza at North Avenue, a public-private team effort with developer Jamestown Properties and the first manicured public gathering place adjacent to the trail.

Dotted with benches, the plaza functions as a communal respite and people-watching haven next to Ponce City Market’s Boiler Building, where more shops and restaurants are planned. Beltline officials say landscaping work will continue through the summer near the plaza, but the seating area is open for business.

The plaza is just one example of ongoing changes to the Eastside Trail.

Work to extend the multi-use trail through Old Fourth Ward and Cabbagetown to Reynoldstown began last month.

And just south of Ponce City Market, at Ralph McGill Boulevard, construction began this week on a new access point that will (finally) link the Eastside Trail to the roadway beneath.

The stairway’s convenient cycle track.