The Georgia Tech College of Architecture is home to some pretty creative nerds people who come up with some awesome ways to make Atlanta better (e.g. the Beltline). This spring Carlton W. Ingram, a masters student in the School of City and Regional Planning, examined the placement of an infill MARTA station at Hulsey Yard. The station would be located between the King Memorial and Inman Park/Reynoldstown stations, adjacent to the Beltline near Krog Street and would serve as a major connection point for the existing rail system and the obscenely popular trail. Well wouldn't that be nice ...

Hardly joking around, Ingram brings serious arguments for the development, traces MARTA's history of studies for the site and examines precedents in other cities. With details about drawing ridership, cost and even how the station could fit into the surrounding neighborhood with minimal impact, the 25-page report offers some insight into how the process could unfold.

While it may be a long shot for actual implementation, it'd be nice to see the folks over at MARTA give the report a once-over and aim for incorporating the idea as a future goal and maybe building on previous studies. Since the Beltline came from Ryan Gravel's master's thesis, it would be only fitting to build off that legacy, right? Considering the Beltline's timeline, however, it could be 2100 before the MARTA stop gets built.

· An Infill Station in Atlanta: Evaluating a MARTA rail stop at Hulsey Yard [SmarTech]