Popular South Peachtree Creek greenway scores money for expansion

A multi-use trails project that will provide off-street access to schools, job hubs, and retail centers between Interstate 85 and Emory University has bagged crucial funding to get started, according to Decide DeKalb officials.

Today, the South Peachtree Creek Trail system is a popular route through a diverse array of nature—towering forests and swampy wetlands among them—that links Emory’s campus with greenspaces Mason Mill Park, Medlock Bridge Park, and other points of interest. Completed segments span about 2.6 miles.

Last week the board of directors for Decide DeKalb, the county’s chief economic development organization, approved funding to help develop two additional (yet unconnected) South Peachtree Creek Trail sections that will add roughly 1.7 miles between key destinations.

Today's South Peachtree Creek Trail at Mason Mill Park. Courtesy of Decide DeKalb

Courtesy of Decide DeKalb

The $951,600 award from the Briarcliff/North Druid Hills Tax Allocation District’s Urban Renewal Fund will support DeKalb County’s acquisition and design of Segments 3 and 5.

Those pieces will add about 8,900 linear feet of multi-use trail, stretching from Briarcliff Road to Interstate 85 (Segment 3) and from Margaret Harris Comprehensive School to North Druid Hills Road (Segment 5).

Another section, Segment 2, is currently in design phases.

Long-term plans for the South Peachtree Creek Trail system—and its planned connection with today's Peachtree Creek Greenway. Courtesy of Decide DeKalb

The South Peachtree Creek Trail system, a partnership effort between the PATH Foundation and DeKalb County government, calls for Segment 3 to ultimately link up with the existing Peachtree Creek Greenway in Brookhaven, creating a key connection for a planned regional web of trails across the metro.

Segment 5, meanwhile, will wend along Knob Hill Drive NE and Mount Mariah Road NE to serve residents of the Briarcliff Heights neighborhood and students and visitors at the school. (That route will also lead to the area’s Target along North Druid Hills Road.)

Other aspects of the project—estimated to cost $2.6 million overall—will include upgraded intersections, traffic-calming measures, and buffered side paths to boost pedestrian safety.

DeKalb County has approved funding to start work on these two sections of the five-segment project. Courtesy of Decide DeKalb

A typical section planned for the South Peachtree Creek Trail expansion. Courtesy of Decide DeKalb

Next steps call for DeKalb County officials to start the process of right-of-way acquisition and procure a design firm to put together construction drawings.

Project officials expect design and permitting to be wrapped in 2027, followed by construction in 2028 and 2029.

When finished, the full South Peachtree Creek Trail will link existing greenways near Emory with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and other regional trails—including, eventually, the Atlanta Beltline.

Created in 2007, the Briarcliff TAD is meant to spur economic vitality and infrastructure improvements, including new greenspaces and pedestrian and bicycle projects, per Decide DeKalb officials.

“These new segments will extend the trail network, improve pedestrian safety, and expand access to jobs, schools, and retail centers for people who walk or ride to work, or simply enjoy community benefits,” said Tiffany Wills, Decide DeKalb’s vice president of redevelopment and strategic initiatives, in an announcement.

“There’s nothing that enhances quality of life more for people than having greenspace outside their doors, whether it’s trails or parks,” added Jim Durrett, a Decide DeKalb board member and longtime head of Buckhead Coalition and Buckhead Community Improvement District. “I’m a big supporter of this kind of investment, which is why TADs are such a great community development tool.”

The trail system today at Clairmont Road near Emory University. Courtesy of Decide DeKalb