How Buckhead’s answer to the BeltLine will reach its construction finish line is coming into clearer focus.

Officials with PATH400 spearhead Livable Buckhead announced this week the multi-use trail has scored $400,000 from Atlanta City Council and two city department coffers that will be “critical” in completing construction between Buckhead and Sandy Springs.

The Atlanta Department of Transportation, Department of Parks and Recreation, and Atlanta City Council member Howard Shook (longtime representative of Buckhead’s District 7) have reached an agreement to provide the funding, according to Livable Buckhead.

Denise Starling, Livable Buckhead executive director, said the funds will allow PATH400 to begin construction on PATH400’s last major missing piece—the segment stretching from Loridans Drive to Atlanta city limits at Sandy Springs—early next year.

“We’re thrilled to get this funding,” noted Starling.

Construction progress on the next northward leg of PATH400 is seen during a recent public tour. Courtesy of Livable Buckhead/PATH400

PATH400’s full, 5.2-mile greenway is expected to be finished on public land adjacent to Ga. Highway 400 sometime in 2025. Partnering with Livable Buckhead on the project are the PATH Foundation and the Buckhead Community Improvement District.

Starling told Urbanize Atlanta in August construction to expand the existing PATH400 trail north to Loridans Drive had hit its stride. Several walls have been erected and infrastructure for PATH400 bridges that soars almost 60 feet high (see below) was nearly finished.

Courtesy of Livable Buckhead/PATH400

Courtesy of Livable Buckhead/PATH400

In other PATH400 news, plans are moving forward to install a large, artistic gateway to the trail at a key entry point: the top section of Miami Circle off Piedmont Road, home to the Southeast’s largest collection of art galleries and attractions such as Eclipse di Luna restaurant.

As is, PATH400 links to a parking lot next to Eclipse di Luna by way of an unremarkable ramp. Livable Buckhead plans to rebuild the ramp with a bold art feature to create an aesthetic highlight and link public art on the trail with fine art in galleries, officials have said.

The outlook is bright on the southernmost end of PATH400 as well, where a junction of trails is planned to help create a true regional network.

This past summer, Atlanta BeltLine Inc. received a $25 million federal grant—the largest in project history—to help build connections between the BeltLine, PATH400, and two other trail networks in the Lindbergh area, the Peachtree Creek Greenway, and Southfork Conservancy trails.

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