The Atlanta BeltLine just approved the largest budget in its history, and the number tells you how close the finish line finally is. The FY27 plan lands at $265.8 million, up from $242 million last year, as the project pushes toward its 2030 completion goal, according to SaportaReport.
Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. CEO Clyde Higgs called it a tremendous year for the corridor, which now draws about 2.5 million visitors a year. More than 60 percent of them are locals, he said, the neighbors who walk, run, and bike the trail through Old Fourth Ward and out toward the southside.
The money funds the emerald necklace's final and most complicated stretch, plus the affordable housing, small business, and public art programs that have grown up alongside the trail. The budget has climbed steadily since 2023, a sign of both rising construction costs and the sprint to close the loop.
For neighborhoods like Peoplestown still waiting on the Southside Trail, this budget is a real marker that the hardest miles are finally getting built.