GDOT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SHORT FORM FOR NEGATIVE FINDINGS: Addedum Phase I Archaeological Survey of the Atlanta Beltline Southwest Corridor, Fulton County, Georgia

This proposed GDOT undertaking (Project No. CSSTP-0009-00[396], P.L No. 0009396, HP No.130926-002) would provide for a multi-use trail from Lena Street to University Avenue in southwest Atlanta within a former railroad corridor. The proposed Southwest Trail project, a 3.51-mile portion of the larger Atlanta BeltLine project, would construct a multi-use trail along the Southwest Corridor of the project from Lena Street to University Avenue (Figure 1). The full build out of the Atlanta BeltLine is a system of transit and trails that would form an approximate 22-mile loop within the City of Atlanta. This project, the Southwest Trail, begins at Washington Park in Southwest Atlanta at the terminus of Lena Street and would continue to the southeast along an existing out-of-service railroad right-of-way (ROW) for approximately 1.54 miles, to just south of Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard. At Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard, the trail would exit the rail corridor and run along a new sidewalk for .046 mile, and connect to an existing trail that parallels White Street for approximately .7 mile. Utilizing an existing ramp, the trail would run along Lawton Street for .13 mile and ultimately return to the Atlanta Be1tLine corridor. For the remaining 1.09 miles, the trail would continue in the Atlanta BeltLine corridor to University Avenue. With the exception of the existing trail along White Street, the project would construct a 14-foot wide multi-use trail with 2-foot wide shoulders and a I 0-foot vertical clear zone. The project would involve the replacement of the existing

former rail bridge over Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive and would utilize existing underpasses under

Westview Drive, Interstate (1-) 20, Lucile Avenue, Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard, Lawton Street and

Murphy Avenue/Lee Street. Trail construction would also include at-grade trail crossings at the trail 's intersections with Allene Avenue and White Street. Concrete retaining walls with granite fascia would be

constructed at various locations along the alignment in order to minimize impacts to property adjacent to

the rail corridor, while not precluding the implementation of streetcar in the future. Existing and proposed

ROW width varies.             

                The addendum APE consists of the area around Building II as described in the short form and depicted in Figures 1-2. The scope of archaeological survey associated with the original Phase I survey for the trail project (Moss and Woodliff 20 14) encompasses the entire ROW of the former rail corridor, now owned by GDOT, which in most places is between 50 and 100 feet wide. Additionally, when the trail centerline comes out of the corridor there is included a I 00-feet buffer, which occurs in three locations: northwest of the end of Napoleon Drive, south of Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard to White Street where the trail would exit the former rail corridor and connect to the existing West End trail, and Lawton Street where the trail would re-enter the corridor. Also included are 25-foot buffers when the trail centerline comes

within 20 feet of the ROW boundary including areas south of Lena Street and northwest of the end of Napoleon Drive. Because plans for the project would connect it to a segment of existing trail, pedestrian

survey also occurred along the West End trail east of White Street between Ralph David Abernathy

Boulevard and Lawton Street.

                EPEJ's previous Phase I survey included surface inspection, systematic shovel testing, and selective metal detecting within the above defined survey area. In brief, survey resulted in the identification of four newly recorded archaeological sites, additional survey of and a reexamination of prior collections pertaining to previously recorded site 9FU79, and the archaeological evaluation of the historic ran corridor. No archaeological resources were identified that are recommended eligible for listing on the NRHP under

Criterion D, and none of these previously recorded sites are located near the addendum APE. The addendum survey area also overlaps reconnaissance level surveys conducted for the BeltLine corridor prior to the Phase I survey (AECOM/Jacobs Engineering 2009, 2011 ; AECOMIEPEI 2012). The addendum APE is located within the boundary of the NRHP-eligible Georgia State Farmer's Market property, however, Building 11 was found not to contribute to the overall eligibility of the resource (EPEI

2016).

Georgia State Farmers Market property. Located at 1050 Murphy Avenue, this addendum APE is adjacent to, but outside, EPEI's original survey corridor, and measures approximately 150 by 19 meters. EPEI's original Phase I survey, described in additional detail in the attachments, had negative results in this vicinity (Moss and Woodliff 2013). There have been no other changes to the overall project corridor previously examined by EPEI. According to a search of Georgia's Natural, Archaeological, and Historic Resources Geographic Information System (GNAHRGIS), no previously recorded sites are located within 1 kilometer of the addendum survey area.