A MARTA board committee Thursday approved plans for an Atlanta Streetcar extension to Ponce City Market despite opposition from some neighborhood residents.
The board’s planning committee approved a resolution selecting the streetcar as the “locally preferred alternative” for the route — a formality that clears the way for the project to move toward final design. The full MARTA board of directors is expected to consider the proposal next month.
MARTA has long planned to extend the streetcar east to Ponce City Market. The 2-mile extension would run along Edgewood Avenue to the Atlanta Beltline at Irwin Street, then up to the market at Ponce De Leon Avenue. It would operate in traffic along the streets and in its own right of way on the Beltline. It includes five proposed stations.
Credit: Courtesy of MARTA
Credit: Courtesy of MARTA
Some residents fear the $230 million project will disrupt their neighborhood during construction and impede traffic when it’s done. Some suggested alternative forms of transit — such as autonomous shuttles — for the route. Even some MARTA board members have questioned the wisdom of extending a streetcar that is often stuck in traffic and has failed to attract many riders.
But MARTA has made it clear it plans to proceed with the streetcar extension. The agency says that streetcar ridership will improve if it goes more places — though it has not released updated ridership forecasts for the extension. MARTA also plans to extend the streetcar west to the Beltline.
The agency’s stance was confirmed recently when negotiations with Mayor Andre Dickens produced a list of nine priority projects for MARTA’s Atlanta expansion. The streetcar is on that list.
MARTA plans to begin construction of the streetcar extension in 2024. It would open in 2027.
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