Plans for a one-mile trail to connect Downtown Atlanta to the Chattahoochee River got a $6.5 million boost this week. The trail also has a deadline — to be completed before the 2026 World Cup comes to the city.
The funding, approved by the Atlanta City Council at its April 15 meeting, will be used by the PATH Foundation to build the linear river park trail beginning at Standing Peachtree Park in Buckhead and ending at Marietta Road NW.
The segment is part of the Chattahoochee RiverLands plan by The Trust for Public Land to connect communities, parks, greenways, and trails along a 100-mile stretch of the river from Lake Lanier to Chattahoochee Bend State Park.
The city and Trust for Public Land are already working on a Chattahoochee Camp and Paddle Trail at Standing Peachtree Park to allow public access to the river.
Councilmember Dustin Hillis, who represents District 9 where the trail is being built, said on social media the goal is to finish this segment of the Atlanta RiverLands, along with the Silver Comet Connector and Woodall Rail Trail, by the end of 2025.
Finishing on that timeline would make it possible “to walk/bike from Downtown (or anywhere on the completed Beltline) to our City’s River (and, technically, all the way to Anniston, Alabama) by the 2026 World Cup,” Hillis said.
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Above the Waterline: RiverLands offers new Chattahoochee access