Ahead of schedule, Buckhead's PATH400 Greenway is almost 80 percent complete

The folks working on the PATH400 Greenway project know how to build a multi-user trail—and fast.

Following months of construction actually visible from its namesake highway, the planned 5.2-mile multi-use path is nearly 80 percent complete, Denise Starling, Livable Buckhead executive director, tells Curbed Atlanta.

As of earlier this month, nearly four miles of path are totally paved and nearly ready for walkers, runners, and cyclists—a milestone that was initially projected for October.

But as Starling candidly notes: “It’s gone crazy. We’re actually ahead of schedule.”

She added that the path, which will soon stretch from Sidney Marcus Boulevard north to Wieuca Road—save for a small section between Lenox Road and Lenox Square—is on track to open by late summer or early fall. (See the YouTube video below for a thorough before/after tour).

Before then, a few more additions are needed: some hand railings, decorative stone walls, and a canopy where PATH400 runs beneath Norfolk Southern rail lines.

“[The canopy] is almost complete,” Starling said. “It’s all being built by hand. Literally every single piece of steel has been hand-cut, hand-measured, hand-welded.”

Livable Buckhead

After that’s done and the path opens to the public, just landscaping and some art installations will be required to finish the major segment.

The art component “definitely won’t be a free-for-all,” like you see in places like Krog Street Tunnel, Starling said. “We’re going to find local artists [for murals].”

Once the current project wraps, just a few more smaller pieces will be left to build.

Shooting south of the current path, other tiny segments are planned from Lindbergh Drive down to Garson Drive, along Adina Drive.

And to the north, the trail will run from Wieuca Road to Loridans Drive. But that piece could take a bit longer to complete.

“That’s going to slow down because we’re using federal funding on it, and that’s currently programmed for 2022,” Starling said.

Major funding for PATH400 has otherwise flowed from a city-approved TSPLOST allotment of $5 million and $7.4 million from Atlanta Regional Commission’s transportation improvement program.

And thanks to a deal just inked between city leaders in Atlanta and Sandy Springs, PATH400 could one day link to multi-use trails as far away as Roswell.

Livable Buckhead