A peek at the MARTA rail that might have been
The Planning Atlanta website, which shows planning documents from the city’s past, brings us a bittersweet look at the proposed reach of MARTA heavy rail in this 1961 map, above. The map was originally published in a Atlanta Region Metropolitan Planning Commission document.
A quote from the post:
In this publication are numerous early MARTA maps that far exceed our current transit options, reaching up to Norcross and Marietta, and even extending a transit line to Emory University. In the face of our current traffic woes, it’s painful to see these early plans were never realized.
As the story goes (and you can read about it in this great piece from Atlanta Magazine), Cobb and Gwinnett counties decided against joining the transit system, leaving its reach stunted and establishing car commuting as the too-dominant transportation force in the metro.
It’s equally sad to see that train line going out to Emory University that was never built.
