Key Points
• Livable Buckhead and PATH 400 celebrated the opening of a major trail segment between Wieuca Road and Loridans Drive.
• The new 0.75-mile stretch features an 80-foot-high bridge and creates nearly three contiguous miles of greenway
Livable Buckhead, along with city officials and community members, celebrated the completion of the final major segment of PATH400 in Buckhead with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and community festival on Sept. 26.
The new 0.75-mile stretch, which runs between Wieuca Road and Loridans Drive, features an 80-foot-high bridge and creates nearly three contiguous miles of greenway, enhancing pedestrian and bike connectivity in the area.
The opening marks the culmination of a three-year construction project on the Wieuca-Loridans segment, according to a press release from Livable Buckhead.
The celebration featured remarks from project partners, a lively bike parade, and the whimsical “Pups and Pigtails” parade with neighborhood pets and llamas crossing the new bridge at Mountain Way Common. Officials participating in the event included Denise Starling, Executive Director of Livable Buckhead; Pete Pelligrini of the PATH Foundation; Atlanta City Councilmember Howard Shook; Justin Cutler, Commissioner of the City of Atlanta Department of Parks and Recreation; and Solomon Caviness, Commissioner of the City of Atlanta Department of Transportation.
“This is one of those moments where you stop, look around and say, ‘Wow! We actually pulled it off,’” Starling said in a statement. “This stretch of PATH400 isn’t just concrete and steel, it’s an 80-foot-high bridge in the treetops, a safe walk to school for Sarah Smith kids, and a front door to Mountain Way Common that’s going to keep getting better every year. PATH400 has always been about connecting people – to their schools, their parks, their neighborhoods and to each other – and today we quite literally connected the dots. That’s a promise we made, and it feels pretty amazing to deliver on it.”
This new portion of PATH400 promotes health and wellness by providing safe walking and biking routes, linking neighborhoods to parks and encouraging outdoor activity. The project also enhances the local environment with nearly 500 newly planted native trees that improve air quality and biodiversity. The greenway is also expected to boost local property values, support businesses and attract visitors, demonstrating the economic and environmental benefits of accessible greenspace.
The $13.4 million Wieuca-Loridans segment was funded through federal transportation improvement project funds administered by the Atlanta Regional Commission, City of Atlanta TSPLOST funds, and design funding from the Buckhead Community Improvement District (BCID). The Georgia Department of Transportation provided its right-of-way along GA 400 for the trail, and the PATH Foundation provided construction management services.
