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BeltLine creator holds contest for reimagining 1-285’s uses
BYJOHNRUCH
The urban planning
guru who dreamed up the
Atlanta BeltLine is stag
ing a contest for rethink
ing the car-centric uses
of 1-285 and turning the
entire Perimeter high
way into “A Bigger Better
Loop.”
Ryan Gravel launched
the contest for the con
cepts Nov. 15 at Generator,
his downtown nonprof
it that serves as a brain
storming club. He was
expected to announce
winners and display their
ideas Dec. 6. He circulat
ed the contest on social
media, using a graphic
showing 1-285 as a huge
ring and the BeltLine as a
smaller loop within it.
In an interview, Grav
el said the contest is just
for playful, casual fun
and he’s aiming for far-
out concepts, while at the same time ac
SPECIAL
The “Bigger Better Loop” design competition entry form
includes a graphic showing 1-285 and the Atlanta BeltLine.
knowledging that one never knows where
brainstorming might lead. After all, that’s
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how the BeltLine came about 20 years
ago, an anniversary that is the occasion
for the 1-285 contest. This year also hap
pens to be the 50th anniversary of 1-285.
“I do like the idea of rethinking 1-285.
It could do more than just carry cars,”
said Gravel. “...So I like the idea of 285 be
coming something that people love. And
I don’t know what it would
take to do that. I definitely
think that it’s possible and
I don’t think that it comes,
necessarily, at the expense
of cars.”
“The thesis of the Atlan
ta BeltLine was that adapta
tion of underutilized infra
structure could make a new
way of life possible in Atlan
ta,” says Gravel’s contest an
nouncement. “Inspired by the success of
that proposition, Generator is asking you
to pitch your ideas for transformation of
Atlanta’s larger loop: Interstate 285.”
“Early advocates for the Atlanta Belt-
Line were proposing a wildly ambitious
idea for a loop of land they didn’t own,
to be transformed by money they didn’t
have, in a political climate that - at the
time - was hostile to everything they were
proposing,” the announcement says. “Giv
en that, Generator’s hope for this compe
tition is that you not burden your idea
with today’s politics, budgets or other
constraints. It could be anything - think
big and be creative.”
1-285 gets prominent discussion in
Gravel’s acclaimed 2016 book “Where
We Want to Live: Reclaiming Infrastruc
ture for a New Generation of American
Cities.” Gravel is a Chamblee native who
says his family moved there because of
the suburban development the Perimeter
made possible. “I grew up 285... We drove
to Perimeter Mall when there were cows
across the street,” he said.
The latest solid plan for the future of
1-285 is the Georgia Department of Trans
portation is embarking on a massive and
controversial plan to add toll lanes to the
top end of the Perimeter. Brookhaven,
Dunwoody, Sandy Springs and other area
cities are advocating that transit buses
use the lanes as well. Gravel said the toll
lanes were not an inspiration for the con
test and made it clear he’s not a fan.
“The toll lanes are fine. But to me, we
should be jumping ahead to transit and
being real about transit,” he said. “I just
don’t get that. I don’t get those [toll lanes].”
Like officials in the top end Perime
ter cities, Gravel suggest bus rapid transit
on western 1-285 in his work on the city
of Atlanta’s urban planning vision book.
He said such projects as a rail line ringing
the Perimeter could be a transformative
connection between metro Atlanta com
munities. “You could do it,” he says. “You
don’t have to build anything new. You
could take the middle lanes.”
Regarding GDOT’s current plan, he
said he understands the benefits of charg
ing for driving and that cars will persist in
American culture, but that toll lanes raise
questions about equity, lifestyle and the
future of transportation. “I’d rather start
in a more aspirational
place and just sort of go
design something for ev
erybody,” he said. “At the
end of the day, toll lanes
are still for cars, right? I
just don’t think that or
dinary cars are the fu
ture.”
“The magic of the
BeltLine is that it is ab
solutely a transportation
project,” he said, “but it starts with [the
question of] what kind of life we’d like to
lead.”
Gravel’s contest calls for clear, concise
concepts that Generator can publicize
and adapt. Winners will get unspecific
awards “in a range of categories.” He said
that won’t be taken too seriously.
His idea is that all submissions will be
hung on the wall and some judges he’ll
gather will choose winners in catego
ries that may be whimsical. He reeled off
such ideas as, “Best for People,” “Best for
the Planet,” “Best Utopia” and “Best Dys
topia.”
The prize part is playful, too. What will
the winners get? Perhaps a driving tour of
the Perimeter? “Honestly, it just occurred
to me today, what will people be expect
ing? I might craft something... But it’s go
ing to be handmade for sure,” he said,
adding with a laugh, “But I do like the idea
of a personal tour of 285.”
Gravel apparently was introduced to
the idea of rethinking 1-285 in 2017, when
he made a keynote speech to the San
dy Springs Conservancy, a parks advo
cacy group, on the night that part of 1-85
burned in a notorious fire. During the
event, conservancy Executive Director
Melody Harclerode asked about the fu
ture of 1-285 and its possible alternative
uses. However, in the recent interview, he
said he doesn’t recall the exchange.
“Y’all are so lucky to have Melody here
because I’ve never heard that question....
But I love it,” Gravel said at the time. “I
love the idea of rethinking 285.”
“It’s a public space,” he continued, sug
gesting that some of its many lanes be
used for something other than cars. “In
stead of thinking of it as a barrier be
tween ITP and OTP [inside and outside
the Perimeter], think of it as a place that
people come to somehow.”
Generator is based at 828 Ralph McGill
Boulevard in Atlanta. For more informa
tion about Generator, see generatorcity.
org.
Ryan Gravel.
