ATLANTA — There's a safety concern on the popular Atlanta Beltline. Six years after the Eastside Trail first opened there are still no lights.
There's a plan to fix it but the Beltline is having trouble getting the money.
Along the Beltline Friday night, Channel 2's Justin Wilfon saw plenty of people running and jogging, enjoying the trail. By nightfall, most of those people have gone home.
“I try to get out by 4:30 p.m. so I can get home by 6 p.m. before it gets too dark,” jogger Wendy Jamerson told Wilfon.
For more than six years, the busiest stretch of the Beltline known as the Eastside Trail, remains with no lights.
“Frankly there’s crime. There’s smash and grabs, you know? I just don’t feel as safe when it’s dark,” Jamerson said.
The Atlanta Police Department’s crime map shows several thefts, even robbery and assault around the Eastside Trail in northeast Atlanta over the past three months.
A Beltline spokesperson told Wilfon that adding lighting remains a priority, saying, “ABL's plan is to start construction on lighting this year."
The Beltline hoped to begin installing the lights a year ago, but challenges with the funding prevented it.
“I would think that would have been a priority,” Jamerson said.
Channel 2 Action News has reported as far back as 2016 that Ponce City Market, and many others, gave money to the Beltline to help pay for the lights, but Beltline officials are still waiting on federal money to pay for the rest of the project.
Money, they believe they’ll get their hands on soon, so they can start lighting runners’ path.
“I would love to see lights as soon as possible,” Jamerson said.
The Georgia Department of Transportation is involved in funneling the federal money to the Beltline.
GDOT told Wilfon they’ve been waiting on the proper documentation from Beltline officials. The Beltline claims they’ve now submitted that documentation.