ATLANTA – Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and his staff announced Thursday he no longer supports the first phase of the light rail project along the eastside Beltline. 

“It’s the Beltline, so it is literally everybody’s got an opinion about it,” Mayor Dickens said during a MARTA board meeting. 

The mayor said he didn’t see the immediate need for the project. Instead, he’s intent on expanding Atlanta’s streetcar to reach Murphy’s crossing.

“We are committed to building rail on the Beltline,” said Courtney English, Dickens’ top advisor. “However, not in, the form that has been previously discussed.”

The other side:

Proponents of the Beltline rail project worry that the mayor’s decision could significantly delay or even jeopardize the future of the train service altogether. 

Reid Davis, who uses the Beltline to get around via bike, said the light rail system would add much-needed accessibility. 

“I’m just really disappointed because there are a lot of my neighbors who need what would have been built here,” he said. “It’s been a gentrification corridor. It hasn’t been a transit corridor. It hasn’t connected people to jobs.”

Dickens’ announcement was a surprise to many, but some Beltline rail advocates for the project said it was apparent the mayor’s support for it had waned. 

Davis claimed that Dickens caved to political pressure from businesses opposed to the Beltline. He pointed out that voters already approved funding for the project with a half-penny sales tax in 2016.

What they’re saying:

Nina Carrick was walking on the Beltline on Thursday evening.

She said she understood both sides to the debate, but wasn’t sure if she’d use the rail service.

“I work from home. I don’t know that I would ever need to use it,” Carricl said. “But yes, maybe. I think it’s one of those things that I won’t know until it gets here.” 

What’s next:

The future of the Beltline rail project remains uncertain following the mayor’s unexpected change in stance. It’s also unclear if or when the Murphy’s Crossing project Dickens has advocated for will move forward. 

The City of Atlanta has made several changes to its non-car transport options over the years since launching programs in 2018.

Initially, the city approved use of e-bikes and e-scooters for additional ways to get around Atlanta, but as Channel 2 Action News has reported over the years, the e-bikes and e-scooters haven’t been without issues for residents, prompting regulations by the city council. Rideshare company Uber even got in on it.

On the flip side, the city still encourages the use of e-bikes through multiple, and recent, rebates for purchase.

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Despite the changes to regulations on the micromobility vehicles, newly released data for Atlanta shows ridership is booming.

Atlanta has two official e-bike and e-scooter servicers, Lime and Bird.

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Data from Lime shows that since 2024, ridership of the green and white scooters and bikes has increased by 62%.

The company said its usership in 2025 is already record-breaking, with more than 200,000 trips taken on their vehicles since the start of the year.

“February ridership in 2025 is 62% higher than in 2024, and an astonishing increase of 200% from 2023,” according to a Lime announcement.

With thousands of riders and more than 100,000 trips in just February, Lime said their use in Atlanta shows the potential for moving away from being car-dependent.

“I am excited to see Lime ridership taking off in Atlanta, because it shows how incredible the potential is for micromobility to succeed even in a city that is historically car-dependent. We are working day in and day out to help connect communities outside of major transportation hubs, offer a reliable and time efficient commuter alternative, and are dedicated to building the future of transportation in Atlanta,” said Carol Antúnez, Senior Manager of Government Relations at Lime.

Channel 2 Action News is working to get similar information on ridership from Bird and the City of Atlanta for a fuller picture of the city’s e-bike and e-scooter situation.

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Taking Grady Jarrett out of Atlanta creates a little bit bigger impact than if someone pulled the deep dish pizza out of Chicago.

Some people don’t really like deep dish in Chicago. No, it’s true. Everyone in Atlanta, it seemed, loved Jarrett.

A beloved institution was cast off when the Falcons mismanaged their salary cap so bad they couldn’t keep him, after trying up to the last minute. Instead, they let go of their heart and soul Monday and Jarrett arrived Wednesday at Halas Hall not talking about looking for revenge or respect, just wins.

“Like I said, these things happen and I couldn’t be more grateful for those guys,” Jarrett said of the Falcons organization. “They made that process seamless. Granted, it is a little hard on you to be a Day 1 starter, never not starting when you’re dressed.

“But they made it easy for me. Hat’s off to those guys for trusting in me still. It is what it is.”

This didn’t seem quite like an announcement about a revenge tour. In fact, he hardly seems pre-occupied with vengeance.

“How can I? I’m focused on the next thing and my next thing is here,” Jarrett said. “I would be robbing Chicago coaches, players, fans, if I was up here worried about how Atlanta made me feel. And so even to give that energy to say: ‘I’m gonna get back at Atlanta’… We don’t even play Atlanta this year.

“So whatever they’re doing ain’t got nothing to do with me, you know? So all my energy, all my focus is right here in Chicago and that’s where it’s going and that’s where it’s gonna be.”

He did have a few more kind words for Atlanta even if his departure was less than ideal.

“You know what it was? I didn’t expect it, you know?,” Jarrett said. “But I would have faith to trust the process and let it play itself out, but I gave Atlanta my all.

“Everybody in that building, the organization know I gave Atlanta my all. I’m from Atlanta with or without the Falcons. Atlanta is always going to show me love. I’m going to show Atlanta love. You know, I’m so invested already in the community and life goes on. But my motivation doesn’t come from trying to get back or vengeance or whatever it is. I’m focused on the next thing and my next thing is here.”

Atlanta had been disappointment for years. The Falcons have fallen into such disrepair that the Bears have been in the playoffs twice since Jarrett was last in a postseason game. It is hard to believe.

He did make it to an infamous Super Bowl in Atlanta as a rookie, the one Dan Quinn and Co. gave away against the Patriots, and then a playoff season in 2016. But none after that.

Once off the Atlanta payroll, Jarrett wasn’t sure where he’d be going until his agents told him who was calling.

“I didn’t have any idea,” he said. “They said the Bears, and I was like, ‘OK, cool. They (a) perfect situation.’ “

Even after his 2023 ACL tear, Jarrett says he has plenty left to give his new team. Two years since said injury, he should be back to 100%. But 100% at age 32 isn’t like at 28 or even 30.

“My body is good, my body is strong, and my mind is hungry to learn,” Jarrett said. “I’m just in a position to where I’m in a special place at the right time around the right people and I’m super excited about what’s to come.”

What he’s hoping comes is wins, sacks, tackles for loss, even quarterback hits. He wants to be the disruptor in Chicago within Dennis Allen’s defensive scheme, just like he had been in Atlanta.

“I am the (Atlanta) franchise leader in quarterback hits as well,” Jarrett pointed out, to laughter across the room. “I thought I’d throw that in there. Sometimes you get seasons where guys may have eight hits but they might have six sacks. You’re like ‘dang.’

“But you might have a guy that had 20-25 hits and have three or four sacks. Affecting the quarterback is the bottom line, getting him off the spot, getting him uncomfortable. So to be able to be in a position from an interior standpoint it means a lot, especially when you have dominant guys from the outside coming every direction or whatever else coach Allen draws up, being able to be a piece to add to the group that’s here, it means a lot.”

The Bears are hoping he’s that missing piece to their defensive line puzzle, the quick three-technique disruptor who fits between two bigger edge rushers and a stout one-technique.

He might not ever be an institution in Chicago the way he was in Atlanta because at 32 there just won’t be a lot of seasons left.

But be a part of a second Bears Lombardi Trophy and all bets are off.

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