In Buckhead, opening set for PATH400 trail section with soaring bridge

A true highlight of Atlanta’s growing web of multi-use trails is set to make its official debut soon.

Livable Buckhead has scheduled a grand-opening celebration and ribbon-cutting from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 26 for the newest section of PATH400, a multi-modal cousin of the Atlanta Beltline that will link Buckhead to Sandy Springs.

The one-mile segment, stretching between Wieuca Road up to Loridans Drive, includes the soaring Mountain Way Common bridge.

That structure stands nearly 60 feet over the Mountain Way Common greenspace, between Ga. Highway 400 and towering trees. (Safety measures installed last year included taller and sturdier handrails along the bridge than initially planned. Phew!)

Guardrails being made studier than earlier plans had called for, as seen in fall 2024. PATH400; via Livable Buckhead

An "exit ramp" beneath the bridge that serves as a connection to Mountain Way Common, a greenspace along Nancy Creek, as shown in fall 2024. PATH400; via Livable Buckhead

Construction on the segment has spanned nearly two years, as complications arose related to unexpected protection measures for a bat wildlife habitat near the trail. The latest segment also included more than three total miles of walls, Livable Buckhead officials have said.

North of the new bridge, the final unfinished PATH400 segment between Loridans Drive and the city limits of Atlanta/Sandy Springs is also under construction now.

Beyond that, heading north, a 2.3-mile extension that would bring the Sandy Springs pathway up to the Interstate 285 and Ga. Highway 400 interchange is now fully funded with an $18 million grant from Atlanta Regional Commission.

The Mountain Way Common bridge built by C.W. Matthews Contracting Company, as seen last fall. PATH400; via Livable Buckhead