From Rough Grade to Poured Concrete

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

Wow – things are moving fast on PATH400 right now!  In the blink of an eye we went from a rough graded construction site to a completely poured concrete path –  Holy cow!  It is so much fun seeing it take shape – in fact nearly every picture on my phone is of the construction…how nerdy is that? (Don’t answer that question – it was rhetorical!)  So for a little insiders peak into my phone content – we have created a nifty little video to show you some before and after views so far…take a look!

Faces of PATH400

So last month I told you about JB and Kevin –  the guys leading the show on all of the land shaping and earth moving and major structure supporting PATH400.  This month we are shifting into more of the detail work, so there are some new faces to highlight. Would you believe that the bridge and canopy going in under the Norfolk Southern railroad are all being built by hand?  Yep – because of the complexity of the site, we couldn’t use a prefabricated bridge, so every single beam and post on that baby is being individually measured, cut by hand and welded in place by one of the most talented builders I have seen.  His name is Joe and everyone likes to say he must be a cat with nine lives because of some of the scrapes he has gotten out of. Joe is also responsible for those beautiful cable railings on the existing parts of PATH400 up along Old Ivy and Wieuca. Those too were hand built!

Wildlife on PATH400

So you all have figured out by now that I love to play in the dirt, but I have to admit that I am a bit of a city kid when it comes to wildlife –  especially the slithery kind!  As you Peachtree Park neighbors know – there has been a “little issue” on Dale Drive where the street caved in due to a sink hole several weeks ago. Well all the dirt that was once holding up your street ended up in the detention pond on GA 400. Long story short – they had to drain the pond and now the snakes don’t know what to do. So it is pretty cool to see them all wound up sunning themselves under our rock bridge. But that isn’t the only wildlife we have been seeing – we have active beaver dams in the detention pond, ducks having babies and teaching them how to play basketball and a Blue Heron (I think) as well.

Safety on PATH400

Zone 2 of the Atlanta Police Department is a key partner in PATH400 and as you can see, they have discovered that the construction site is pretty amazing too. All kidding aside, they have been fabulous and are very responsive any time we have any concerns that need to be addressed.  Recently, Buckhead in general has been seeing in influx of homeless and Zone 2 is helping us make sure that their presence does not negatively impact the trail user experience.

Support Livable Buckhead and PATH400

We invite you to support the vision of Livable Buckhead and our work to improve and enhance the Buckhead community, through Environmental Sustainability, Mobility Options, and Community and Economic Development.

There are many way to show your support:

• Donate: Livable Buckhead is a nonprofit 501 (c)3 organization. All donations are tax deductible to the full extent provided by the IRS.
• Membership: Become a member of Livable Buckhead today and help us bring more of what you love to the neighborhood.
• Sponsorship: If you want to support our mission and get some name recognition for your organization, Livable Buckhead offers sponsorship opportunities.
• Volunteer: Volunteer activities include clean-up days for invasive species, help at events like PARK(ing) Day and Trail, Tales and Ales, plantings and eventually ambassadors for Livable Buckhead and PATH400.