News on PATH400
New Housing on PATH400 – Housing construction is everywhere in Buckhead these days – even on PATH400! Yep, we are building micro units of housing right there in the GDOT right-
of-way.
of-way.WHAAAAAT???
PATH400 Wins Award of Excellence from Atlanta Urban Design Commission
Innovative greenway is one of four Buckhead projects honored for contributions to Atlanta’s cityscape
ATLANTA – May 18, 2018 – During a public ceremony last night, the Atlanta Urban Design Commission announced the winners of the 41st Awards of Excellence. Fourteen projects were honored in categories ranging from public art to historic preservation. PATH400 was named an Award of Excellence winner in the parks, landscape design and connectivity category, and three additional Buckhead projects took home honors as well. Read more
Visioning Work Set to Begin for Park on Site of Former McClatchey School
Five-acre site along PATH400 in north Buckhead to be shaped through public engagement
ATLANTA – April 24, 2018 – The site of a former public school and one of Atlanta’s oldest family cemeteries is one step closer to becoming the newest park along PATH400. Park Pride has selected the site of the Lowery-Stevens Cemetery and the former home of D.F. McClatchey Elementary School – now known as Loridans Park — for its 2018 park visioning program. The nonprofit organization will now engage the local community in developing a master plan for the park, aiming to maximize its unique features and to reclaim the unused parcel for much-needed public greenspace in Buckhead.
Livable Buckhead, which applied to Park Pride for the Loridans Park visioning grant, worked with the City of Atlanta Parks Department and Atlanta Public Schools to acquire the school parcel in 2016. The site is being combined with the adjacent cemetery, which had previously been acquired by the City from Fulton County. The end result is a five-acre site near Loridans Dr. and GA 400 in north Buckhead that offers a unique opportunity to uncover a piece of local history and bring it to life within the community.
“We’re really excited to have Park Pride do this work,” said Denise Starling, executive director of Livable Buckhead. “As a neutral party with extensive visioning expertise they will be able to balance the various needs of the neighborhood. Their leadership will be invaluable and I have every confidence that they will bring out the best in this process.”
A 22-member steering committee has been formed that includes community residents and representatives of nearby Sarah Smith Elementary, NPU-B, Buckhead Heritage and the Buckhead Garden Club. Atlanta City Councilmember Howard Shook, who was instrumental in acquiring the land, is also a member of the steering committee.
“Each year Park Pride selects two parks in the City of Atlanta for visioning through an application process,” said Andrew White, Director of Park Visioning at Park Pride. “The many layers of history on this site coupled with the strong community interest in how the park is developed made Loridans Park a great candidate for the community visioning process. We look forward to working with the Buckhead community on a plan that will meet the needs of the neighborhood and address concerns.”
Need a fitness boost? Join BuckheadWALKS!
Get fit, win prizes by putting in as many steps as possible during May
ATLANTA – April 12, 2018 – If your Fitbit is a greater source of guilt than pride these days, give your fitness routine a boost with BuckheadWALKS! This month-long competition challenges people to take as many steps as they can during the month of May, and gives extra credit for commuting on foot or for attending a BuckheadWALKS! event. Registration is now open on the Livable Buckhead website.
“This is the perfect time of year to get outside and become more active,” said Denise Starling, executive director of Livable Buckhead. “BuckheadWALKS! provides a little extra incentive to do that. We want people to discover just how walkable Buckhead is by getting out on two feet and giving it a try.”
Construction Update
The construction report is usually the most fun part of writing this, but we aren’t underway right now. With this next segment going right under Norfolk Southern’s main freight line, we have to make sure all of the details are completely nailed down before we step foot on their property.
And of course what happens when you get an engineer and a contractor together in a room? Let’s just say I am making popcorn for the next meeting. In all seriousness, we are almost there and we hope to get underway in the next two months. But YES, we are behind schedule by a few months at this point.
The good news is that with all of this rain we have had, we wouldn’t have wanted to be under construction anyway…
McClatchey/Lowrey Stevens Park
I am extremely excited that Park Pride has agreed to work with the Community to develop the vision for what used to be McClatchey School and Lowrey Stevens family cemetery. This five-acre area is immediately adjacent to PATH400 and has GREAT potential to be a really cool neighborhood park and interpretive history installation. There I go getting excited about history again. A steering committee has been formed and work will get underway in the coming months to get input. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for announcements about upcoming neighborhood meetings.
PATH400 Sandy Springs Extension Update
We have a plan for heading on up to Sandy Springs! Over the last few months, designers met with a bunch of people who live right around the Loridans area of PATH400 and NPU-B to figure out what they wanted PATH400 to look like going forward.
Aside from excitement about the continuation, we heard a few things that we took into consideration in the design. The most important part – (Denise and LeeAnne this is for you) – is that the trail will remain on the highway side of the sound wall and there will be no breaks in the wall all the way up to the top of the toll plaza. We also heard a very strong desire to slow down traffic on Loridans, to screen the adjacent property, to minimize tree loss and to turn the highway bridge and old toll plaza into notable amenities.
Here is a concept to show you what it may look like and a very exciting (not) plan view of the alignment.
The Tree Fairy Strikes Again
The tree fairy has struck again! And of course, by tree fairy, I mean our awesome city arborist Jasen Johns and his trusty tree gnomes at Tri Scapes. This time, they have sprinkled their fairy dust (not to be confused with pollen) on PATH400 between Miami Circle and Sidney Marcus. This part needed some landscaping love to help hide that sound wall. Sorry GDOT peeps. I know it’s functional but it’s not that pretty, so we are covering it up one tree at a time.
Art Walls on the Greenway
Thanks to Kaiser Permanente we have new art on PATH400! Yep – those awesome art 
walls up by Wieuca Road have been transformed into walls of inspiration. Whether it is in support of mental health awareness or you just need some inspiration to keep you going on your workout, our local artists have done some great work. Artists Meg Mitchell, Jessi Queen, Chelsea Austin, Cathryn Bozone and Katie Bush have outdone themselves yet again.
The azaleas and wisteria are in bloom, so take a walk and check out their work!
New Murals on PATH400 Inspire Mental Wellness
Kaiser Permanente sponsors art to promote encouraging, hopeful messages on Buckhead trail
ATLANTA – March 29, 2018 – Research has shown that spending time in nature can be emotionally and mentally restorative. For people on PATH400SM in Buckhead, their next walk may be even more so, thanks to inspiring new murals. Local artists have created five works of art on large panels along the trail, sharing inspirational messages with everyone walking or jogging between Old Ivy Rd. and Wieuca Rd.
The temporary art installations are part of Kaiser Permanente’s sponsorship of PATH400, and are the latest in a series of changing exhibits designed to make the trail experience more engaging. “Livable Buckhead works with Kaiser Permanente to provide commute solutions for its employees, but this is our first PATH400 partnership and we’re very excited about it,” said Denise Starling, executive director of Livable Buckhead.