Sandy Springs will have to spend $322,650 on environmental mitigation credits for impacting Nancy Creek as part of the Path 400 multi-use trail extension into the city.
The Path 400 Multi-use Trail will extend the existing 5.1-mile path in Atlanta from Loridans Drive north to the GA 400/I-285 Interchange. TSPLOST funds will also be used to leverage state and federal grant opportunities.
“In the effort to get this Path 400 project within Sandy Springs advanced to construction, then we must first secure all of the environmental requirements required through the Federal Highway Administration, the Department of Transportation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in this case as well,” Public Works Director Marty Martin said during the Sandy Springs City Council’s April 4 meeting.
The federal funding subjects the project to federal requirements and environmental clearance through the Georgia Department of Transportation. That includes an evaluation of proposed impacts to Waters of the US. Nancy Creek has that designation.
One portion of the project requires the construction of a bridge where the path crosses Nancy Creek at the intersection of an intermittent stream that feeds into it, Martin said.
Clean Water Act permitting requirements include the purchase of compensatory environmental mitigation credits when more than 100 linear feet of a stream is impacted. Construction of the bridge will require disturbance of the stream bed and temporary bypasses of creek culverts, he said.
The project will require 179.25 stream mitigation credits with an estimated cost of $322,650, Martin said. The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) will provide 80 percent of the funds, with the city’s cost being $64,530. The City Council approved the purchase at its meeting.
