Construction Moves Ahead

Denise Starling, executive director of Livable Buckhead, gives us the dirt on PATH400 progress.

Earlier this week I dusted off my construction boots and took one of those awesome spring days to get out on our construction site with our partners Pete Pelligrini with PATH Foundation and Steve Sanchez with HGOR.

New rock bridge facing south towards Miami Circle

Technically it was a landscape walk, but what it really was…. AWESOME FUN! I was even busted by one of my employees on MARTA headed to a meeting downtown – apparently, I was looking “a little too excited” flailing my arms and stuff while out there. Whew – at least he didn’t see me spinning in circles yelling, “It’s so fluffy!” (Edith, Despicable Me).

Why am I so excited? The whole thing has totally taken shape. The rough grading is mostly completed the whole way, so you can walk it all now and really start to see what it is becoming. There are visions of Buckhead skylines that I had no clue existed and opportunities for murals and public art everywhere. That little brick building by the side of the highway – yeah, I am coming for ya with a bunch of cans of paint you bad boy. And the coolest part – JB – our foreman – has built the most beautiful stone bridge by stacking all of the boulders he has uncovered while doing his grading. So, we are really re-using our resources which is totally what Livable Buckhead is all about, so that is pretty awesome.

Bridge construction under the Norkfolk Southern rail line looking north

Oh, but wait, there is an even cooler part (sorry JB). They have started building the bridge under the railroad bridge. This part is one of my funniest memories of this project so far. We were walking with the contractor and engineers before we finalized our plans to see what changes were needed, with the contractor (Kevin) was standing under the bridge looking at the plans. He then looked up at the bridge, and then back at the plans before saying, “This don’t make no sense!” Here is a picture of the engineering/construction feat so you can see if you agree. Let’s hope he figured it out.

Oh, but wait again – there is another super cool part (sorry Kevin) …the detention pond. We are now able to fully experience the pond, so we can start thinking about ways we can turn this forgotten part into an asset. We are thinking about an overlook, or a boardwalk or something cool to make sure you can really enjoy it. For all of you Lenox Road people who were hoping to use the drainage culvert as an access point – that isn’t going to happen – it is in the middle of the pond.

Finally, we are still on track for an October opening…that is assuming it quits raining of course.