Mayor Andre Dickens has changed course on Beltline rail, scrapping support for MARTA's streetcar expansion to the Eastside Trail in the near future. Why it matters: The surprise announcement at yesterday's MARTA board meeting marks a major inflection point in the development of the wildly popular linear park system and Atlanta's future growth.

The mayor is opposed to starting the build-out of a Beltline rail network with the proposed streetcar extension that would run along the Eastside Trail.

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens attended Thursday’s MARTA board meeting to discuss, among other topics, a proposed change to plans for how the MARTA streetcar service would access the Beltline.

Mayor Andre Dickens appeared at the MARTA Board of Directors meeting on March 13 to reject the findings of a new spending audit and reprioritize extending the Downtown streetcar to Atlanta Beltline. The new audit of the More MARTA capital fund program claims the transit agency only owes $865,