Atlanta Beltline officials have tapped a veteran of Boston's "Big Dig" project to serve as design director for the planned 22-mile loop of trails, transit and parks.

Fred Yalouris, 59, spent 11 years as director of architecture and urban design for the Big Dig, a $15 billion project that buried a downtown highway. He retired in February.

DOMINIC CHAVEZ / Boston Globe (ENLARGE)

Fred Yalouris directed Boston's 'Big Dig,' a $15 billion project that buried a downtown highway. He retired in February.

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Yalouris was in charge of transforming the above-ground asphalt into a network of parks and plazas. He did not oversee construction of the new highway tunnel, which made headlines two years ago when falling concrete killed a motorist.

Yalouris plans to begin work on Monday. As design director, he will be responsible for the project's look and feel, from the layout of new parks to the incorporation of a planned transit system.

Yalouris said he searched across the country and even Europe for a project similar in scope to the Big Dig that he could join.

"There is nothing out there as grand, with as much transformative potential," as the Beltline, he said.

For the Beltline, Yalouris will be called on to juggle many projects at once, supervise up to 10 staffers and navigate neighborhood-level politics.

"He really understands how to implement projects, and he is a strong arts and design advocate," said Tina Arbes, chief operating officer of Atlanta Beltline, Inc., the nonprofit arm overseeing the Beltline's development.

The design director is a senior-level position that answers to the chief operating officer. Yalouris will be paid $145,000 a year.

Beltline leaders have come under criticism from some in Atlanta's design community for operating so long without a permanent design director. The master planning process, which involves a number of critical design decisions, is already under way.

Beltline officials had hoped to fill the position long before now, but they have been operating on limited funds because of a legal challenge to a planned bond issue. A bond issue of up to $120 million is now planned for September.

Some who helped interview Yalouris said they felt he has the organizational chops to move the Beltline from concept to reality.

"His experience in the challenges of facilitating projects within an infrastructure will be an asset," says Danielle Roney, an Atlanta cultural master plan consultant. "That can make or break a project."

As for the Beltline's design vision, Roney does not see it as emanating from a single person. Atlanta Beltline Inc. has created an additional position, a senior project manager, to be filled by a creative person.

Staff writer Catherine Fox contributed to this article.