As the summer swelter starts giving way to crisper autumn temps in coming weeks (hopefully), the forecast calls for multi-use trail construction to ramp up in northwest Atlanta, with more projects on the 2024 horizon.
Forthcoming trail projects include long-awaited sections of the Atlanta BeltLine, spur trails to help link residents to downtown, and crucial sections of a connector between Centennial Olympic Park and the Silver Comet Trail—and Alabama beyond that.
Here’s a quick rundown, starting with the project that will break ground first, according to the PATH Foundation.
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BeltLine link to The Works
PATH expects a section of its regional connection of the Silver Comet to downtown—the Silver Comet Connector/Woodall Trail—to begin construction in September, according to the agency’s August newsletter.
That piece will connect a section of the BeltLine’s future Northwest Trail to The Works, a growing adaptive-reuse district being developed by Selig.
Three planned segments of the BeltLine's Northwest Trail linking the Westside to Buckhead. Atlanta BeltLine Inc.
PATH officials say the connection will meet The Works at Chattahoochee Avenue. We’ve asked for clarification on the exact route it will take between the BeltLine and that point, and we’ll update this story with any further information that comes.
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Northwest Trail is coming
Good news for BeltLine enthusiasts: PATH officials report the first section of the Northwest Trail connecting the Westside to Buckhead is expected to break ground this fall.
As finalized a year ago, Atlanta BeltLine Inc. and PATH have decided it best to build the Northwest Trail in five phases, beginning with what’s known as Segment 5.
According to 2022 blueprints, that section will travel .7 miles, beginning where the Westside Trail currently ends at Huff Road and Marietta Boulevard. From there, it will travel through Blandtown to a point at English Street and Culpepper Street.
Permits are being finalized now, according to the PATH Foundation.
The full, official Northwest Trail route that will link the Lindbergh/Uptown area with Atlanta's Westside. Atlanta Opera's project will be located near the loop at top. Courtesy of Atlanta BeltLine Inc.
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Spur trail link to downtown
As Rough Draft Atlanta reports, construction is scheduled to begin early next year on a long-awaited spur trail that will link the Westside BeltLine Connector with points north, passing two major new developments on the way.
The .75-mile long “The Spur” will branch off the Westside BeltLine Connector at Jefferson Street and then wend up to West Marietta Street, where a future cycle track is planned.
En route, it will pass the new Westside Paper district and a massive QTS data center where a residential component is planned.
The $2.9 million project, a collaboration between the Upper Westside Community Improvement District and PATH Foundation, is being funded by the city’s $750 million Moving Atlanta Forward infrastructure package.
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Another Silver Comet connecting piece
Last but not least, PATH officials report they’ve started planning and designing another Silver Comet connecting piece called the MacArthur Trail.
It will serve as an extension of the 3.2-mile Whetstone Creek Trail near Crest Lawn Memorial Park and the Chattahoochee River.
The current Whetstone Creek Trail and planned extensions toward Cobb County and downtown Atlanta. PATH Foundation
The next leg will take the Whetstone Creek Trail to Chattahoochee Avenue near Scofflaw Brewing Co.’s original location on MacArthur Boulevard. No ETA on construction was provided.
A rails-to-trails project, the Whetstone Creek Trail was built on a former rail spur, connecting Marietta Road to Bolton Road, with a trail link to Adams Street near Bolton Academy. Plans in coming years call for it to be part of the connection between the Silver Comet Trail and Centennial Olympic Park.
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