PATH NEWS
August 2019 Issue #99
BRIDGING THE CREEK IN BROOKHAVEN (Page 2: Bridging the Creek in Style)
PATH Foundation
A Non-Profit Organization Dedicated to Planning and Building Greenway Trails
pathfoundation.org
Bridging the Creek in Style
T
he final steel beam for the bridge over Peachtree Creek in Brookhaven was lifted into place in mid July. With the support beams in place, PATH crews began to install the decking, handrail, and lighting that will ultimately make the bridge the centerpiece for the entire Peachtree Creek Greenway. There were 66 beams required to construct the bridge. The ten, sixty foot long beams were welded and bolted together to create 120 foot long beams that span Peachtree Creek. It is designed for bicycles and pedestrians, but is capable of supporting maintenance and emergency vehicles as needed.
The bridge will be lit from the handrail as well as street lamps along the trail. The cable handrail will continue past the main span on each side to form the railing on top of the retaining walls. The entire trail will be lit and secured by camera surveillance. This initial segment of the Peachtree Creek Greenway project has been extended to North Druid Hills Road, complete with a trailhead just east of the North Druid Hills highway bridge. Trail users will be able to turn into the trailhead at the traffic light entrance to the Salvation Army facility, and proceed to the parking area next to the trail. This project has been developed by a partnership between the City of Brookhaven, the Friends of Peachtree Creek Greenway, the Salvation Army, and PATH. Funding for design and construction of the trail was provided by the City of Brookhaven.
Campus Connected In May 2018, Emory hired the PATH planning and design team to master plan PATH through the Emory campus. The plan was presented to Emory in the fall of 2018. Before the end of the year, Emory contracted with PATH to design large segments of the plan with a goal of actually constructing them while the students were away this summer. The PATH design and construction team delivered! Emory PATH segments along North Decatur Road and from Andrews Circle to Clifton along Haygood are open as planned. Both segments weave around trees and existing infrastructure, giving cyclists and pedestrians safer routes to and from classes. The completed phase will connect at Andrews and Haygood before linking to Starvine Way and the existing South Peachtree Creek Trail coming under Clairmont Road. Emory plans to extend the PATH from Haygood at Clifton all the way to the stadium across from the new student union building where a bike depot will be established. Soon the Emory PATH will connect the new student union to North Druid Hills Road and the Leafmore neighborhood making an easy commute for thousands of nearby residents. PATH construction crews will begin work on two additional segments in October: Andrews to North Decatur Road and Clifton to Means Street. Emory plans to have all segments of the Emory PATH open within five years.
Atlanta BeltLine & PATH Advance Westside BeltLine Connector The partnership between PATH and Atlanta BeltLine continues to make progress on the connection between downtown, the Westside BeltLine and Westside Park. Last month, PATH submitted plans to the City of Atlanta to permit the segment between Northside Drive and the northern end of The Point at Westside apartment complex. Plans are also being finalized for the segment from The Point at Westside to Joseph E. Lowery Boulevard. The survey has been completed between Joseph E. Lowery Boulevard and Marietta Boulevard. Design of this segment will begin later this month. The entire corridor from Northside Drive to Marietta Boulevard has been cleaned up, bush hogged, and readied for construction. Work is just beginning west and north of Marietta Boulevard where PATH will be constructing a portion of the Atlanta BeltLine Westside Trail. This segment will also serve as a portion of the PATH Silver Comet to Centennial Park connection.
Existing tunnel under Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway
North of Marietta Boulevard and Huff Road, PATH is still negotiating with CSX Transportation to build a trail along the northeastern edge of what once was Tilford Yards. The Whetstone Trail is presently being refurbished and Cobb County and PATH are finalizing plans to complete the connection between Atlanta and the Mavell trailhead on the Silver Comet.
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East Point PATH Phase one of the East Point PATH will be under construction by the end of this month. The city has selected a contractor and awarded the contract as of press time. The new trail will follow Norman Berry Parkway past the East Point Velodrome and Tri-County school complex.
Commerce Drive – Decatur
PATH crews are about halfway done with the
one-way cycle track project on Commerce Drive in downtown Decatur. The city asked us to only disturb one block at a time so things are pro- ceeding a little slower than planned. That said, the west side of the street will be finished in a week or two and we will turn our attention to the east side of the street. This will be the most advanced, one-way cycle track in metro Atlanta. The track is level with the sidewalk but separated from both cars and pedestrians. Cyclists coming off the Stone Mountain Trail will have their own, protected facility all the way to Clairmont and Commerce. A future Decatur project will extend the protectPATH Decatur taking shape. ed cycle track to LA Fitness on North Decatur Road at Church Street. The PATH400 construction visible from Georgia 400 south of Lenox Square is almost completed. By Labor Day, you will be able to travel on a trail from Roxboro Road at East Paces Ferry to Sydney Marcus Boulevard near the QT station.
PATH400 - Miami Circle
The soon-to-be-open section of PATH400 between Miami Circle and Lenox Mall was extremely complicated and expensive to build. Our design team had to work with GDOT, MARTA, Norfolk Southern Railroad, and the City of Atlanta in order to floss the trail through existing infrastructure. Your donations to PATH made it happen! A shout out to our partners at Livable Buckhead for dreaming big with us when this trail was proposed. When you experience the trail, you will agree it was worth the money and effort.
Canopy bridge on PATH400.
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LaGrange Phases 4 & 5
The City of LaGrange has been aggressively building trail segments since before the ink was dry on the Thread Master Plan. They have the 6th phase on the draw- ing board!
Phases four and five of the Thread are under construction along Country Club Drive to Calumet Park. The city is not only funding design and construction, they are moving and burying utilities that get in the way.
Hats off to the city for making it happen and the Callaway Foundation for helping the city financially. We have great partners in the City of LaGrange.
Peachtree Creek Greenway- Brookhaven More than 75% of the Peachtree Creek Greenway between Briarwood Road and North Druid Hills Road is poured and backfilled. Crews are installing the massive beams across the creek (see cover page) which are the support system for the trail bridge. The trail will be substantially completed in December. Brookhaven has not announced a date for the grand opening celebration. Watch the PATH Foundation website for updates.
Ivan Allen, Jr. Gateway
Teresa Huffman’s extraordinary artwork is being added to the Ivan Allen, Jr. Bridge as part of PATH’s effort to create a spectacular gateway to the Westside and honoring Mayor Ivan Allen, Jr. for which the bridge and street are named. In 2017, PATH built the trail across the bridge to connect west Atlanta to the PATH trail system. Soon there will be a grand entrance to Atlanta’s Westside. If you are entering the city on the PATH, we are building a grand entrance to Atlanta and Centennial Olympic Park. The artwork is scheduled to be completed in September. Thanks to the James M. Cox Foundation and the Allen Family for their generous donations to make this happen. pathfoundation.org
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Takeaways from
I recently returned from an extraordinary vacation in the Netherlands and Belgium. Before I left, all my cycling buddies were telling me how awesome it is to cycle in a country where bicycles are at the top of the food chain, even above cars. Everyone respects cyclists over there, I was told. I anticipated cycle utopia, something we could aspire to achieve in Atlanta. Let me share my takeaways from the trip. Let’s chat about Amsterdam first. Indeed bicycles rule the road; cars, trucks, and pedestrians yield the rightof-way to cyclists. The protected bicycle infrastructure is incredible! Virtually every street in Amsterdam has a separated, one-way, colored bicycle track on both sides of the road. Some bridges and narrow alleys have been set aside for bikes only. I must point out a few negatives that keep me from wanting Atlanta’s bicycle culture to ever resemble the one I experienced in Amsterdam. The mass of people cycling down the track alongside any major thoroughfare resemble a giant school of fish. They all get where they’re going, without colliding because they all know how to swim together in the school. As an American tourist, I did not attempt to interject myself into the school. There were mothers with babies strapped to their chest, a two year old riding on the front bumper, and a five year old sitting on the back seat while THE MOTHER WAS TEXTING; and yet swimming right along with the school (and no one wears a helmet). I only saw two bicycles in the three days I was in Amsterdam that were worth more than $100. All the bicycles look like something you’d see in an East Tennessee yard sale. I was told that no one rides a nice bike so they don’t get stolen. Every employment center, school, or large apartment complex has 500-1000 crusty bicycles parked and piled out front. Such a beautiful city to be littered so badly with junky bicycles. There are negatives to virtually everyone riding a bike.
One of many ‘bike piles’ littering the streets of Amsterdam.
in the Netherlands After three glorious days enjoying Amsterdam, we started our ride through Belgium to Brugge. The trails were incredible, following canals and paralleling highways. They are truly bicycle trails. Pedestrians are in the way; as in harm’s way. The cyclists we encountered were not so incredible. It was hard to stay out of the way of this peloton and that peloton. Maybe I’m just getting too old to keep up, but these guys (mostly guys) were going twenty-five miles an hour and slowed for nothing. They all became very irritated if we got in their way. So back to what I learned from a country where bikes rule and the infrastructure for cycling is phenomenal: Atlanta is a better place to be a recreational cyclist than Belgium; certainly better than Amsterdam. We are not bicycle utopia in Atlanta, but we are on our way to being better than Amsterdam with a few additions to the infrastructure and a little southern charm and hospitality. I don’t want to have to join a school of fish to cycle anywhere. I also don’t want to be road kill to a peloton. I like the way Atlanta’s cycling scene is shaping up. Besides, we are way more stylish in our brightly colored spandex and our rust-free road bikes than Amsterdamers will ever be. Be careful what you wish for!
Presorted First-Class Mail U.S. Postage Paid Atlanta, GA Permit No. 8163
PATH Foundation P.O. Box 14327 Atlanta, GA 30324
PATH Foundation Board of Directors Chairman, Charlie Shufeldt Vice Chairman, Alex Taylor Secretary, Brian Cosgray Treasurer, Harry L. Anderson Samuel Bacote Jennifer Dorian Doug Ellis Sam Friedman Executive Director, Ed McBrayer
William C. Fowler B. Harvey Hill, Jr. Warren Jobe James C. Kennedy Sarah K. Kennedy Cody Laird Carol Muldawer Austin C. Stephens