PATH CONNECTING COMMUNITIES ACROSS GEORGIA WITH 300 MILES OF TRAILS
April 2021, Issue #103
NEWS
Westside BeltLine Connector Story on page 2
PATH Foundation A Non-Profit Organization Dedicated to Planning and Building Greenway Trails APRIL 2021
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Atlanta’s Westside Neighborhoods Connected! Team PATH officially opened the Westside BeltLine Connector Trail (WBC) with a virtual grand opening on March 18. The connection between downtown and the soon-to-be-constructed Westside BeltLine is the product of an amazing partnership between PATH and Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. (ABI), the Georgia World Congress Center, and the City of Atlanta. The WBC is the 300th mile of trail built by team PATH since the organization set out to make Atlanta a friendly place to walk and bike in 1991. PATH’s greenway trail master plan, adopted by the city in 1994, depicted a trail on the abandoned CSX corridor that weaved through the English Avenue neighborhood. Thirty years later, the WBC is reality. The WBC is an important connection for many reasons. It will serve as a cost-free transportation
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corridor for the people who live in English Avenue and nearby neighborhoods, many of which do not own automobiles. The WBC will provide a link between downtown and the PATH trail network to the Westside BeltLine and Westside Park. It will likely be a catalyst for desirable development along its path, and ultimately, the WBC will be a component of the connection to the Silver Comet Trail. Most importantly, the trail will serve as an extraordinary recreational amenity for the citizens of West Atlanta. Thank you to Atlanta BeltLine, Atlanta BeltLine Partnership, The Georgia World Congress Center, Georgia Power Company, and the City of Atlanta Parks Department for partnering with team PATH and our generous donors to make this project possible. We can all take pride in the WBC. l
Panola Mountain Greenway Completed PATH and Henry County formed a partnership almost 10 years ago to extend the Arabia Mountain Trail system into Henry County. On February 19th, Henry County Commissioner Bruce Holmes, State Parks Director Jeff Cown, and PATH officially opened the Panola Mountain Greenway, a trail that begins at the Panola Mountain State Park and continues 1.8-miles into Henry County, stopping just short of Austin school. The Henry County Board of Education recently voted to allow the trail to be extended to Austin School through Board of Education property. Henry County officials said at the grand opening,
they are committed to extending the trail in the near future. The existing trail was built utilizing federal funds combined with Henry County dollars. The design, engineering and construction management were funded by donors to PATH. The new trail features a bridge over State Route 155, a two-hundred foot long bridge over a natural ravine and a thirty foot bridge over Mitchell Creek. You can access the trail from the parking lot PATH built for Panola Mountain State Park off SR 155, or by trail from anywhere on the Arabia Mountain PATH system. l
PATH Interns
Taylor Potter joined the team at PATH as the Social Media and Publicity Intern in June of 2020. A senior at the University of Georgia studying Film Studies and Entertainment and Media Studies, Taylor hopes to write for television and film to tell stories that serve the greater public, much in the way that PATH’s network of trails serve the greater Atlanta community.
Michael Slagle joined the PATH team in February as a Trail Planning Intern. He graduated from the University of New Hampshire’s Community Planning and Sustainability programs in May 2020 with a research focus on housing planning and transdisciplinary research. After working for nonprofits in Boston, MA and Sydney, Australia, Michael is eager to work with the PATH Foundation to support its mission.
Ft. Lauderdale Needs Trails
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he City of Fort Lauderdale Florida has contracted with PATH to develop a master plan for trails. Ed McBrayer, former Executive Director at PATH, will lead the effort to help Ft. Lauderdale retrofit a trail system through the largely developed city, using knowledge gained from previous PATH planning efforts in metro Atlanta, Columbus, and Jacksonville. PATH will propose extensions and connections to the existing trail segments and suggest new trails to create a system of trails suitable for commuting and recreating. PATH will also create an implementation plan, branding ideas, and present a model project for the city to consider as an initial step in building out the system. Field work began in March and will continue through May. PATH plans to present the final plan to the Ft. Lauderdale City Commission for adoption before the end of the year. l APRIL 2021
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PATH PROJECTS We have elected to use the April newsletter to give you an update on most of the PATH projects in the pipeline rather than featuring a few in separate articles. This compilation will not only give you an idea of how many projects we have in the hopper, it will also forecast when we think the projects will be completed.
DESIGN COMPLETE CONSTRUCTION EMINENT 3-1
We often have PATH supporters ask how they can help us advance projects to construction. The speed at which most projects are delivered depends on local jurisdictions prioritizing funding and easement acquisition. Local governments respond to citizen demands so supporters letting their elected officials know of their interest in trails is an effective way to move projects forward and help PATH build more trails.
Silver Comet Connector to Plant Atkinson Road - The PATH design team has completed design and sent plans to stakeholders for review and permit. This project should be under construction this spring and finished around year end.
METRO ATLANTA TRAILS RECENTLY COMPLETED 1-1
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PATH400 Miami Circle to Lenox Mall - PATH, Livable Buckhead, the City of Atlanta, and GDOT are finally ready for trail users to enjoy this long-awaited trail.
UNDER CONSTRUCTION 2-1
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Westside BeltLine Connector (Northside Drive to Law Street) - Cover story; PATH/ABI partnership formed to provide a connection from downtown to the future Westside BeltLine. 2-3
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South River Trail Phase 5 (From Georgia State Decatur campus to Waldrop Road) - Scheduled to be completed August 2021. Chastain Park (West Wieuca Road) - PATH crews will begin work on closing the Chastain loop along West Wieuca Road between Powers Ferry Road and Lake Forrest Drive starting in April. Atlanta Westside BeltLine (Westside BeltLine Connector to Huff Road) - Construction began in March on this 1.3-mile segment of the Atlanta BeltLine trail. PATH is partnering with ABI to fund. PATH is also providing design and construction management. Completion is anticipated in the winter of 2022. PATH400 (I-285 Interchange) GDOT crews anticipate completion later this year.
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Silver Comet Connector (Plant Atkinson Road to Whetstone Trail) - This project is in the latter stages of design with funding committed by Cobb County SPLOST. Construction to be begin in 2021 and completed in 2022. Northwest BeltLine Connector (Underpass at Northside Drive and Peachtree Creek) - PATH provided design to City/GDOT; awaiting funding commitment from city. Needs to be completed with GDOT bridge replacement project. Southfork Peachtree Creek Trail (PATH400 to Lindbergh Drive) - Design completed;
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PATH Mobility Hub - Downtown
awaiting permits. Scheduled to be constructed summer 2021. 3-5
EMORY PATH - All remaining segments - Emory postponed construction of three additional Emory PATH segments due to COVID 19. Construction will resume this summer. DESIGN COMPLETE - AWAITING FUNDING/ACQUISITION
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PATH400 (Garson Drive to Morosgo Drive along Adina Drive/Peachtree Park) - PATH has obtained necessary permits; construction to begin late 2021. South River Trail Phase 7 (Custer Street to Crestmoor Circle) Design complete; acquisition of easements underway. Anticipate construction to begin 2022.
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PATH Mobility Hub (Baker Street at Luckie Street) - Design complete; working on partnership with Georgia Aquarium, Georgia World Congress Center, the City of Atlanta, and Central Atlanta Progress; anticipate construction late 2021. Eastside Trolley Trail (Gillem Park to Atlanta BeltLine) - PATH design team completed plans this month; awaiting easement acquisition & permitting. Expect construction to begin in late 2021 and be completed in 2022.
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Woodall Rail Trail (Chattahoochee Industrial Boulevard to Marietta Boulevard) - PATH partnering with Upper Westside CID. Design and acquisition underway. Sandy Springs PATH (Marsh Creek from Glenridge Drive to Roswell Road) - Design underway; acquisition underway. Sandy Springs PATH (Morgan Falls Connector) - Design underway; acquisition underway, construction anticipated to begin before end of year.
Westside Park Connector (Westside BeltLine to Proctor Creek Trail) In design; acquisition needed; anticipate 2023 construction. Tucker PATH (Lavista Road to Railroad Avenue) - Design complete; acquisition to be finalized in March; construction anticipated to begin by summer. BEING PLANNED
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BEING DESIGNED 5-1
PATH400 (Wieuca Road to Loridans Drive) - Design underway; anticipate construction in 2022.
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Silver Comet Connector through Tilford Yards - Concept in place; awaiting ownership change. Georgia Tech to Westside BeltLine Connector (Means Street to Northside Drive using abandoned road bridge over railroad) - PATH working with Georgia Tech, Lincoln Properties, City of Atlanta, and property owners. South River Connector (Custer Street to Atlanta BeltLine) Concept in place; awaiting motivated partners. PATH400 (Loridans Drive to Johnson Ferry Road) - Design underway with City of Sandy Springs; scheduled for construction late 2022. North Fork Peachtree Creek – In partnership with DeKalb County and Peachtree Creek Greenway; PATH will be studying the North Fork Peachtree Creek corridor to outline a detailed study and implementation strategy beginning this spring. l
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PATH Chastain Park
BeltLine Westside r Tunnel Connecto
Silver C omet T rail
Silver Comet Connector 3-2 3-1
Northwest BeltLine Connector
Chastain Park Wieuca R oad
Upper Westside Trail
Ri v
er
3-3
ee
6-1
tt Cha
a
ho
h oc
5-1
WESTSIDE PARK
5-5
eltLine estside B Future W
Proctor Creek Greenway
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Westside BeltLine Connector 1-2
PATH Parkway 6-2 4-3
Westside Trail
CENTENNI OLYMPIC PA
Southwest BeltLine Connector Westside BeltLine Legend
Existing PATH Trails Future PATH Trails Recently Completed Under Construction Design Complete - Construction Eminent Design Complete - Awaiting Funding/Acquisition Being Designed Being Planned Parks
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East Point PATH
Southtowne PATH
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To Sandy Springs 2-4 5-2 5-3
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6-5
1-1
PATH400 4-1
r
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Peachtree Creek Greenway
Tucker PATH
400 3-4
S.Fork Peachtree Creek Greenway Creek Walk
Stone Mountain PATH
Emory PATH PIEDMONT PARK
IAL ARK
South Peachtree Creek Trail
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Eastside BeltLine
Decatur PATH
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Trolley Trail
PATH400/I-28 5
Interchange
Battle of Atlanta Trail PATH South River Connector 6-3
4-2 onnector eltLine C B e id ts s Marker We 300 Mile
South River Trail 2-1
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GEORGIA TRAILS RECENTLY COMPLETED 1-1
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Newnan LINC over I-85 - The City of Newnan funded the 1.0mile phase of the Newnan LINC that joins phase 1 to the Cancer Treatment Center and beyond, including a bridge over I-85. PATH provided design and construction oversight for the project. Carrollton Greenbelt Spur - The City of Carrollton, with lots of help from Tanner Hospital, recently opened the 0.5-mile south side spur trail from the Greenbelt to downtown. Panola Mountain Greenway Henry County and PATH Recently opened a 1.8-mile extension of the Arabia Mountain PATH into Henry County.
Newnan LINC Bridge over 1-85
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UNDER CONSTRUCTION 2-1
Covington Cricket Frog - Several phases under development with Newton County building the trail from Mansfield to Covington; City of Covington building trail from Turner Road to eastern city limits. 2-3
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construction management services. It is scheduled to be completed in early 2022.
PATH providing intersection design and construction management. Winder to Fort Yargo - PATH is providing design and construction oversight for the City of Winder on this Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program project. The one-mile long trail connecting the city to Fort Yargo State Park will be completed later this summer. LaGrange Thread Panther Park The City of LaGrange began construction on phase 7 of the LaGrange Thread before the holidays. This 0.6-mile segment will be completed this spring. Newnan LINC Phase A/B (Downtown Newnan to Greison Trail Road) - The City of Newnan released this project to construction in late February. PATH is providing design and
DESIGN COMPLETE CONSTRUCTION EMINENT 3-1
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Newnan LINC, Phase C (Greison Trail Road to McIntosh Parkway) The City of Newnan has final plans in hand. They elected to get Phases A & B under construction before awarding Phase C. Columbus Dragonfly Trail (MLK to Riverwalk) - PATH delivered final plans to the city in December 2020. City obtained bids but has not awarded the project to anyone at press time. Scheduled for completion in 2021. BEING DESIGNED
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LaGrange Thread Clocktower PATH has partnered with the Friends of the Thread and City
of LaGrange to design and construct an additional 1.6-mile trail segment of the Thread Trail System from Southbend Park to the Calloway Clocktower. The City is currently in conversation with CSX railroad along the southern portion of the project. Construction of the northern portion to begin this spring. 4-2
Spanish Moss Trail (Depot Road to Ribaut Road) – PATH has partnered with Friends of the Spanish Moss Trail and Beaufort County, SC to extend the Spanish Moss trail 0.4-miles towards downtown. Design is underway and construction anticipated for end of year.
Panola Mountain Greenway
Fort Yargo State Park - Winder
BEING PLANNED 5-1
Georgia HiLo – PATH has been asked to master plan the regional Georgia HiLo (Athens to Savannah) Trail. Work to begin this month. l
Winder to Fort Yargo
Carrollton GreenBelt
PATH METRO
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Panola Mountain Greenway
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Newnan LINC Carrollton GreenBelt - Tanner Spur
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Georgia Hi-Lo Trail
Covington Cricket Frog
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LaGrange Thread 3-2
Spanish Moss Trail 4-2
Columbus Dragonfly Trail
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THIRTY YEARS AGO The founders of PATH were frustrated by the lack of safe places to walk and ride a bike in metro Atlanta so they decided to do something about it. In the three newsletters during this, our thirtieth year, we will share highlights from our early years so you better understand the PATH journey. This is grass roots personified!
OUR HEADER
PATH MEETS WITH MEMBERS OF OLYMPIC COMMITTEE
THE NEWS IN 1991
Saturday Trail Bikes Continue
Alycen Whiddon (from the City of Atlanta’s Planning Dept.), along with volunteers from PATH, Atlanta Bicycle·Campaign, and members of the Green Ribbon Committee, has organized investigative trail hikes on Saturday mornings at 9:00 a.m. The goal is to walk all potential trunk trail locations to identify obstacles, opportunities and alternate routing and chart the findings on the ever-developing master trail map. The hikes are fun and provide critical information that can only be obtained from field work. If you care to join us, please bring your camera, wear hiking apparel, and plan on being with us for a couple of hours.
Chastain Park Model Trail Segment Is Closer to Reality
PATH Executive Director, Ed McBrayer, met with Messrs. Morris J. Dillard and Harris Bostic of ACOG to discuss the planned trail system for the Atlanta area. Mr. Dillard supports the PATH goal of having a trail system in Atlanta and will work with us to insure that PATH and ACOG work in harmony to provide pedestrian and bicycle access, as needed, during the Olympics.
PATH representatives have met with American Golf, the City of Atlanta, the American Legion and NPU’s A and B regarding the possibility of installing a class trail around North Fulton Golf Course and Chastain Park. The 3-4 mile, closed loop trail will have two rest parks and a bicycle bridge over Nancy Creek. If all goes well, the trail will be open for use next summer.
OUR FUNDING
OUR FOOTER
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ED’S CORNER edwin@pathfoundation.org
Reddi Teddi Meet Teddi; as cool of a dog as you’ll ever meet. I’ve always thought of my dogs as people, often referring to them as my kids. Teddi truly is as important to me as your kids are to you. She is a forty-pound angel wrapped in silky-soft hair that melts my heart every chance she gets.
with wet paws, or sniffing. Teddi, on the other hand, wants to greet everyone with the same enthusiasm she expresses when I come home at night. Teddi is a Wheaton Terrier. Wheatons are designer dogs with several unique traits, one of which is the propensity to ZOOM. Zooming is best described as running as fast as they can in big circles, with multiple split-second direction changes until they don’t want to zoom anymore. Her zooming while on a leash is like having a rocket on a rope.
Now that I’ve been trained to know that walking Teddi is all about her, it’s something we both cherish.
Every now and then, she decides to zoom on a busy trail. She collects people, other dogs and an occasional cyclist in her web. I spend the next fifteen minutes explaining her trait and apologizing for her behavior. Teddi chooses not to go potty on our trail walks. She saves her poop for our backyard. I don’t know if she’s shy or has her favorite spots picked out. I’ve stopped taking my doggie cleanup bag along. (I need ‘em for the backyard anyway).
Teddi’s a sniffer; when we are on the trail, she used to interrupt my walks by sniffing everything from pine cones to passersby. I caught myself yanking her along so I could walk at my pace. One day I realized, if I’m walking Teddi, it should be about her. If we are on a sniffest, so be it. I can take a walk at my pace anytime.
Now that I’ve been trained to know that walking Teddi is all about her, it’s something we both cherish. I’m not sure who enjoys them more. Rain or shine, we head to the trail for a walk and a sniff or two. After all, I’m getting to the point where I enjoy the sniff breaks too. Everyone has their own vision of what heaven will be like for them. For me, I want to be surrounded by my dogs, past and present, and offer them a walk that will be all about them. l
The other thing I learned about Teddi’s trips to the trail: everybody we meet doesn’t want to meet Teddi, especially if it involves her jumping, barking, greeting APRIL 2021
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PATH Foundation P.O. Box 14327 Atlanta, GA 30324
PATH Foundation Board of Directors Charlie Shufeldt, Chairman Alex Taylor, Vice Chairman Jennifer Dorian, Secretary Harry L. Anderson, Treasurer Samuel Bacote Brian Cosgray William C. Fowler Sam Friedman B. Harvey Hill, Jr.
Ciannat Howett James C. Kennedy Sarah K. Kennedy Scott Kitchens E. Cody Laird, Jr. Stephen Lanier John W. Somerhalder II C. Austin Stephens Richard Tyler
W. Douglas Ellis, Jr., Emeritus Greta deMayo, Executive Director Ed McBrayer, Executive Advisor Follow us on Facebook and Instagram and visit our new website at pathfoundation.org. Facebook 12
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