By Gabriel Owens, contributor 

In a community meeting Thursday, the landscape architect of the Eastside Trail expansion announced Phase Two of the project will begin soon.

“Phase Two is now fully funded,” said Meghan Injaychock, landscape architect and urban planner of the Eastside expansion. “Construction [for Phase Two] will begin after Phase One is complete next month.”

Construction of Phase Two is expected to last about six to eight months. The first phase of the Beltline’s Eastside Trail expansion began in 2016, taking the trail from Irwin Street to Kirkwood Avenue. This has added over one mile to the Beltline’s existing shared-use trail. The second phase is expected to reach Memorial Drive and will also replace the bridge at Fulton Terrace.

“We’re also looking to update the sidewalks along Mauldin and Fulton Terrace,” Injaychock said. “Along with the installation of a plaza at Memorial Drive.”

The current phase is near complete, with camera and fiber cable installation being one of the last parts of the project left to complete, she said.

“Cameras went in [yesterday] and we will start laying the fiber [today],” Injaychock said.

Some other highlights include:

• Atlanta BeltLine Inc. is looking to avoid complete road closures during Phase Two and try to stick to only lane closures.
• They are working on better lighting for the Krog Street Tunnel for pedestrians and cyclists, but not blinding car drivers “is a major concern.”
• There’s still no concrete date for the official ending of Phase One, beyond middle to late August. ABI not expecting any kind of ribbon cutting ceremony, but stated “plans can change.”
• ABI is looking to stagger the building of the Fulton Terrace bridge as to lessen inconvenience to pedestrians in the area.

The Eastside trail extension will bring the Atlanta Beltline from Memorial Drive into southeast Atlanta.  For more information on the Beltline construction, visit www.beltline.org.

The following maps and slides were presented at Thursday’s meeting: