Images: Another segment of Atlanta Beltline officially breaks ground

Demolition efforts are roaring ahead and ground has officially broken on an Atlanta Beltline section that will link to a major Buckhead commercial corridor. 

Beltline leaders, city officials, and other dignitaries held a groundbreaking this week for Northwest Trail—Segment 2A, a short but crucial multi-use trail piece that will eventually help connect the 22-mile Beltline loop with Peachtree Road and job centers, including the Shepherd Center and Piedmont Hospital Atlanta, the latter considered the Beltline corridor’s largest employer. 

The .3-mile Segment 2A will branch off completed trails around Bobby Jones Golf Course and head east toward Peachtree Road. It’s part of a .7-mile stretch running from the golf course along Colonial Hills Circle.

According to Beltline officials, Section 2A will connect Collier Hills North and Colonial Homes. It's scheduled to finish construction in early 2028. 

Positioned near the very top of the Beltline’s oval, the Northwest Trail’s Section A is broken down into three pieces—all of them forging new pathways instead of using former rail corridor. 

Segment 2A will include the typical, 14-foot-wide multi-use trail, a pedestrian bridge, an elevated trail structure, security cameras, fiber-duct bank installation, Trees Atlanta landscaping, stainless-steel handrails and guardrails, and other infrastructure. 

The scope also calls for a “temporary trail connection that will provide trail users access to Peachtree Road, where new pedestrian-friendly traffic signals will support safer crossings and improve connectivity while the remaining sections are completed,” per a Beltline announcement today. 

Crews in recent weeks have been demolishing the vacant section of the Bennett Street commercial district now owned by the Beltline near Peachtree Road: six buildings totaling 75,000 square feet. That work is setting the stage for infrastructure improvements—including carving out the trail corridor where none exists today—and long-term redevelopment in coming years, which Beltline officials have said will include commercial space and non-market-rate housing.  

Next door, the Beltline bought troubled former nightclub Elleven45 Lounge and adjacent property in 2024. 

All told, the Beltline owns 3.2 acres on Bennett Street—the agency’s first acquisitions along the Peachtree Road corridor—having paid $29 million total for both sections.

Work to complete the rest of Segment 2 will move forward in stages. 

Section C will run for .1 mile from Peachtree Road to Peachtree Park Apartments and is expected to start construction early next year. 

Section B will also span .3 miles, but it includes a Peachtree Road crossing that will require a new Georgia Department of Transportation bridge. No timeline for that work has been provided. 

Clyde Higgs, Beltline president and CEO, said the work in question will demonstrate how the broader project can open pathways for Atlantans to both specific places and opportunity in the city. 

“This trail will help connect people to jobs, healthcare, grocery stores, and other essential services,” Higgs said in today’s announcement. “We’re not just building trails. We’re investing in infrastructure that improves quality of life, expands economic opportunity, and strengthens neighborhoods.” 

Once it’s finished, the full Northwest Trail will span 4.3 miles, stretching from Blandtown in the west around to the Lindbergh and Morosgo neighborhoods.

The Northwest Trail—Segment 2A development team also includes the PATH Foundation (program manager), Heath & Lineback (designers), and Hasbun Construction (contractor).

Find more context and visuals in the gallery above. Below is a look at current construction progress around the 22-mile mainline loop, and where Northwest Trail—Segment 2A pieces fit into it: 

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