PATH400 bike, pedestrian bridge just keeps getting more awesome

Josh Green

Tue, 11/19/2024 – 14:07

It’s been a good month for awe-inspiring bike and pedestrian bridges in Buckhead.

First, Atlanta Beltline Inc. officially broke ground two weeks ago on a section of the Northwest Trail in southern Buckhead that will include a standout feature on the 22-mile loop: a suspension bridge high over Peachtree Creek, near Lindbergh.

Now, PATH400 is saying, basically, “Hold my beer.”

According to an update from PATH400 spearheads Livable Buckhead, handrails have been added to the soaring Mountain Way Common bridge that help lend an idea just how open and tall the bike and pedestrian infrastructure will be. Denise Starling, Livable Buckhead’s executive director, writes in the latest PATH400 newsletter those safety measures have incorporated taller and sturdier designs than initially planned. (Good call).

The Mountain Way Common bridge currently being finished by C.W. Matthews Contracting Company. PATH400; via Livable Buckhead

Following more than a year of construction, the bridge structure stands nearly 60 feet high over the Mountain Way Common greenspace, Ga. Highway 400 and towering trees. It’s part of the PATH400 expansion of 12-foot-wide, multiuse trails north to Loridans Drive.

The mile-long trail segment is on pace to be finished by June, pending city approvals and barring further delays that have included surprise protection measures for a bat wildlife habitat near the trail, Starling reports. Current construction includes more than three total miles of walls, she notes.

Guardrails (thankfully) being made studier than earlier plans called for. PATH400; via Livable Buckhead

Construction is also progressing on a more artistic gateway to the trail at a key entry point: the top section of Miami Circle off Piedmont Road, home to the Southeast’s largest collection of art galleries and attractions such as Eclipse di Luna restaurant.

PATH400 links to a parking lot next to Eclipse di Luna by way of a ramp. Starling reports that work on handrails and granite is nearly finished there, and talks are underway with the City of Atlanta to install “artsy sculptures,” though projects in other parts of town including murals and decorated traffic boxes are in line for funding first.

PATH400’s full scope calls for a 5.2-mile greenway on public land adjacent to Ga. Highway 400. Partnering with Livable Buckhead on the project are the PATH Foundation and Buckhead Community Improvement District.

Beyond current construction, only the gap between Loridans Drive up to Atlanta city limits at Sandy Springs remains to be built; north of that, Sandy Springs has approved a $20.1 million construction contract to extend the pathway past Interstate 285 into Central Perimeter.

An “exit ramp” beneath the bridge that’s being constructed as a connection to Mountain Way Common, a unique greenspace along Nancy Creek. PATH400; via Livable Buckhead

Meanwhile, at the southernmost end of PATH400, a junction of trails is planned to help create a true regional network.

Atlanta Beltline Inc. received a $25 million federal grant in summer 2023—the largest in project history—to help build those connections between the Beltline’s Northeast Trail, PATH400, and two other trail networks in the Lindbergh area, the Peachtree Creek Greenway, and Southfork Conservancy trails. Planning work continues in that area.

How PATH400 is expected to fit into a growing regional network of trails. The first dotted sections north of existing trails are under construction now. Livable Buckhead/PATH400; PATH Foundation