If you live in Atlanta and are breathing right now, you’ve heard of the BeltLine. The network of multi-use trails, which will be a 33-mile loop of transit and pathways by the time it’s finished, is THE place to walk, jog, bike, and take that all-important “Look! I’m on the BeltLine” selfie. WellATL hit Atlanta BeltLine Interim Director Rob Brawner with our Friday Five to find out what’s at the end of the trail.

Atlantans are most familiar with the Eastside Trail, but you know all the little nooks and crannies along the whole loop. What’s your favorite hidden gem on the BeltLine? I love the stretch that runs through a double tunnel under Ralph David Abernathy on the Westside Trail. In fact, there are lots of great tunnels on the Westside Trail that I think people are going to enjoy discovering – it’s an experience you don’t really have on the Eastside Trail. Another cool spot is Lewis Gulch, the blasted rock section behind the Atlanta Botanical Garden alongside Clear Creek (and I like that it’s the same creek that feeds Historic Fourth Ward Park). So, what’s the next piece of the map? What will the BeltLine look like by this time next year? There will be two major projects under construction: the Westside Trail connecting Washington Park to Adair Park and the Eastside Trail extension down to Memorial Drive. Both will be completed in 2016, and together they will add more than 4 miles of new Atlanta BeltLine trail, bringing our total to 11 miles (out of 33). Also, Arthur Langford Park on the south side of the BeltLine is being renovated next year and will include a new skatepark.

There’s always something happening on the BeltLine. What’s been the biggest hit so far? Is it the Lantern Parade? I think it’s the Lantern Parade. Right? Art on the Atlanta BeltLine is definitely one of our most popular events. The Lantern Parade is part of that. This year, around 20,000 people participated in the four-mile walk down the Eastside Trail, enjoying the lively atmosphere and showcasing awesome lanterns. But we also have a growing contingency of running and biking enthusiasts, so we are seeing a lot of passion around our annual Atlanta BeltLine Eastside 10K, as well as the annual Bicycle Tour we do with the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition. Building this thing can’t be cheap. Where does the funding come from? Not to get all Jerry Maguire on you, but show me the money. As you might expect, there are multiple funding sources for the Atlanta BeltLine. The primary local funding source is the Atlanta BeltLine Tax Allocation District, and there have been significant investments from multiple City of Atlanta departments (Parks, Watershed Management, Public Works, etc.). The Atlanta BeltLine Partnership has raised more than $50 million of philanthropic funding to date. And there have been grants through federal, state and regional agencies.

Let’s be real. It’s going to take quite an effort to see the Beltline to completion by 2030. How do you respond to haters who say the BeltLine won’t happen within our lifetime? We have a roadmap to complete it by 2030 called the Strategic Implementation Plan. Within that, we’ve identified 80 percent of the funding. And we have the broadest, most passionate base of support for any initiative in Atlanta since the Olympics. So while the challenge is significant, we actually feel like we’ve got the wind at our backs.

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