Sinkhole on Beltline’s Eastside Trail shuts down high-traffic section of path

A popular section of the Atlanta Beltline’s Eastside Trail is closed for the foreseeable future, thanks to an apparent sinkhole that’s opened up near Ladybird Grove & Mess Hall.

City officials on Wednesday closed the paved path between Inman Park, across the street from Krog Street Market, to Montag Circle, where the Mariposa Lofts are located.

“Businesses will remain open and can be accessed from the street,” reads a statement from the Atlanta Department of Watershed Managment. “Pedestrians are urged to use caution.”

Obviously recent weeks have been abnormally wet and stormy, but officials did not address what specifically caused the sinkhole, saying only the path’s section would be closed to the public “until further notice ... due to pending repairs.”

Watershed officials have shared a map illustrating detours for trail access: One option to the east takes folks up Lake Avenue, with access points at Montag Circle and Elizabeth Street; another, to the west, brings people up Sampson Street to Highland Avenue.

Construction crews working for the Beltline have lately been installing lighting fixtures along the Eastside Trail between Midtown’s Piedmont Park and Irwin Street, which bisects Old Fourth Ward and Inman Park.

But Beltline officials told Curbed digging holes for the lights’ foundations did not have an effect on the problems near Ladybird and Kevin Rathbun Steak.

In other Beltline news, a major section of the Southside Trail officially closed recently so crews can begin construction on the first part of that path stretching from the southern terminus of the existing Westside Trail, parallel to University Avenue, almost to Interstate 75/85.

Beltline leaders are still searching for funding sources to help build out the rest of the 4.5-mile, potentially $70 million trail.

This story was updated to include more information from Beltline officials.