As the Atlanta Beltline winds down its 20th anniversary year, plans and timelines are coming into clearer focus for a half-dozen bridges that will carry Atlantans over manmade obstacles and natural waterways in key places. 

Construction of the Beltline’s Northwest and Northeast trails (the northern arc, basically) calls for six bridges that are now in planning stages, with one under construction. They’ll cross creeks and tributaries, active rail lines, and the traffic lanes of major streets.  

A rendering has emerged illustrating how one potentially popular section of the future Beltline will keep patrons clear of traffic on busy north-south corridor Northside Drive, as the ABC first relayed. 

The Northside Drive bridge will be placed about a block north of where a new Northwest Trail section currently ends, near Monday Night Brewing’s The Grove, according to plans. 

Plans for the Beltline's Northwest Trail bridge over Northside Drive, looking north toward Buckhead. Kaizen; courtesy of Atlanta Beltline Inc.

The bridge will be part of what’s considered Northwest Trail—Segment 3B. That project is scheduled to go out for bid, seeking companies to build it, in the second quarter of next year, per the Beltline. 

Beltline officials tell Urbanize Atlanta the Northside Drive bridge will be roughly 260 feet long. (The rendering shows long ramps on either side and a protective metal structure in between.) The bridge is expected to go out for bid in January; plans call for completing it by fall 2028, Beltline reps said this week. 

Meanwhile, in southern Buckhead near Lindbergh and the Armour Yards district, a true landmark of a Beltline bridge has been installed—but it won’t be accessible to the public for a while. 

Planned look of the installed suspension bridge over Peachtree Creek as part of Northwest Trail—Segment 1, now slated to open sometime in 2027. PATH Foundation/Atlanta Beltline Inc.

Earlier this year, a sweeping suspension bridge was constructed with a concrete multi-use trail atop it, high over Peachtree Creek, as part of Northwest Trail—Segment 1.

Previous schedules called for opening that Northwest Trail section in June. But according to the Beltline’s most recent construction update, the Segment 1 opening will now be pushed into 2027, due to “unforeseen conditions recently encountered on the project.” 

Below is a quick rundown of forthcoming bridge projects on the northern arc of the Beltline loop, followed by a broader look at where full construction of trails, parks, and ancillary projects stand now: 

Courtesy of Atlanta Beltline Inc.

The latest illustration of Beltline construction progress for projects large and small. The arrow pinpoints the location of the planned Northside Drive bridge. Courtesy of Atlanta Beltline Inc.

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