ATLANTA — Plans are moving forward to build new MARTA rail stations on the current track. It comes as the City of Atlanta and the transit agency try to connect more people to places like the Atlanta BeltLine.
Travious Scott takes in Spring's beauty on the Atlanta BeltLine. He said he looks forward to the change coming to the area soon once the Murphy Crossing development is completed. Part of those plans includes a new MARTA rail station.
"I get to see a little bit of nature, a little bit of Atlanta," Scott said. "People are going to be able to move, travel, walk and shop and do all that."
Once completed, the new Murphy Crossing MARTA rail station will sit in between the West End station and the Oakland City station. This would also mark the first MARTA station that would connect directly to the Beltline.
At his State of the City address this week, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens noted Murphy Crossing would be one of several new stations built on existing MARTA rail lines.
"Our current MARTA rail system is underutilized, in part because we don't have enough stations located where residents need it the most," Dickens said. "To create healthy, thriving neighborhoods. We must build a transportation system that is accessible to residents across the entire city."
MARTA general manager and CEO Collie Greenwood gave an update on the new stations Thursday during a committee meeting. He said the transit agency had been exploring new rail stations since 2007, and voters greenlighted the More MARTA Atlanta program in 2016, paving the way for the new stations to be built.
"Infill stations would allow us to leverage MARTA's existing 38-station heavy rail system and bring mobility and accessibility to a much wider population, allowing us to be more things to more people," Greenwood said. "MARTA’s role is now to go away and use the opportunity, now that it’s been announced, to open up our conversation, have exploration discussion with some of our industry experts in really shaping the strategy as to how this can occur.”
A MARTA spokesperson said it was too early to say when construction could begin on the new stations. The transit agency said it could cost around $500 million to build five new stations around the city, but that cost estimate was from a study in 2017.
"We're going to start talking about and exploring financial opportunities in terms how we might use local, state and federal partners and transit-oriented development to help pay for this," Greenwood said. "Visually and conceptually, it was clear that there’s a possibility we can move forward in fulfilling this vision.”
These plans do not conflict with plans to extend the Streetcar East project. MARTA said it would know more about how much it would cost to upgrade technology and improve the current Streetcar experience in about a month.
“We are in a study phase right now, where we’re really talking about cost and feasibility about replacing our wired street cars with off-wire type of technology," Greenwood said. “The other study is really how to improve the efficiency and experience of the existing 2.7-mile alignment.”
New York native Alexia Wright recently moved to Atlanta and usually takes MARTA to get to work. She said potentially adding more rail stations could make the city more accessible and long-term, she believes it could ease traffic on Atlanta streets.
Scott, meantime, is already preparing for change. He said change can bring opportunity, even if it brings some headaches along the way.
"Construction is always going to be a thing in Atlanta, so just letting people know," Scott said. "I think people are excited, so they'll be more understanding."