Ten months after construction began on the next Southside Trail segments and public access was denied, twin towers of infrastructure have taken shape like nothing else along the Atlanta BeltLine corridor to date.
What appears to be the makings of a mini interstate flyover bridge is actually the support system for a sky-high new segment of BeltLine over Grant Park.
The columns in question are located next to the circa-1900 Ormewood Avenue railroad bridge, a closed spandrel deck arch bridge that was Atlanta’s first piece of infrastructure to be recognized as a designated landmark site in 2021.
The concrete structure, a portal between Grant Park and Ormewood Park neighborhoods, stands about 40 feet high and 162 feet long. It’s now considered a piece of BeltLine transit infrastructure, bedecked in a 2022 mural called “The Fates” by Animator and muralist Drew Borders.
Now standing just as high are bridge piers that will support a new pedestrian bridge for the Southside Trail’s Segments 4 and 5.
The northern pier alongside one aspect of artist Drew Borders’ 2022 mural “The Fates.” Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta
The historic Ormewood Avenue bridge’s location east of Grant Park along the under-construction Southside Trail corridor. Google Maps
According to BeltLine spokesperson Keona Swindler, the new pedestrian bridge will carry the mainline BeltLine trail once complete.
Meanwhile, adjacent to the northernmost pier of the new bridge, ramp and stair access will be built between the BeltLine and Trestletree Village Apartments. That entry/exit point is taking shape at the northwestern corner of the Southside Trail’s junction with Ormewood Avenue, according to Swindler.
Pile-driving work for bridge abutments at Ormewood Avenue is scheduled to begin the last week of April.
The BeltLine’s towering bridge piers as seen over Ormewood Avenue this month. Josh Green/Urbanize Atlanta
Mural work depicting a…
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