The Dirt on PATH400

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

Today is a great day! I have noteworthy news to share…you probably won’t see this in the Business Chronicle headlines, but it is a big darn deal to me!

Loridans to Glenridge

Last week, we had our final field plan review for the next section of PATH400 – from Loridans to the Glenridge Connector. (Final field plan review — that’s FFPR in transportation speak for your witty cocktail party repertoire.) This review is the final chance for EVERY. SINGLE. DEPARTMENT. at GDOT to say they approve of the project design. So…riddle me this –

How many engineers and planners does it take to get PATH400 project approval?

No, come on, it isn’t 254…the answer is only 26. That is how many people took part in this meeting. If that doesn’t give you an idea of the complexity of this project, then I have no clue how to tell you!

The great news is that we got through FFPR with minimal comments for our awesome engineers (Allen and Patrick at Heath & Lineback) to address! Woot Woot!

The even greater news is that we are on track to “let” the City of Atlanta portion of the project (Loridans to the City limits just north of the toll plaza) for construction late this year. “Letting” the project means releasing it to get firms to bid on doing the construction. There are several steps necessary to get from there to actual construction, so it will likely be early 2024 when you see another groundbreaking ceremony. (Note to self: Do NOT ask for the BIGGEST excavator they have for the photo op this time.)  I also should note that the 285/400 project has to move all of their stuff out of the area before we can start construction, which could be a problem…but for now, let’s cross our fingers that they will be done by the end of the year as planned.

Construction

Turning back to our current construction… Astra is keeping things moving along nicely! The first column has reached its full height and we are starting on the second one. That bad boy is way up there – it’s going to be a great view of Mountain Way Common when we get to the top.

Fun Stuff

We had a fun construction tour last week and I have to give a shoutout to those of you who stuck with us for the cliff climb up to the Loridans end. That was a KILLER – I know I needed a few ibuprofens and a glass (or two) of Chardonnay after that one! But hey, some of you can rock a hard hat! We also found that we had an artist amongst us on the tour. Neighbor Kelly Rootes-Murdy is the one who has been painting those adorable Mountain Way Octopi!

For those of you who are interested in putting on your boots and finding muscles you didn’t know existed, we will be setting up a regular schedule for these tours probably starting this summer. Watch here for those to be posted.

Important Reminder

I know I told you this last time, but I want to remind you that Mountain Way between North Ivy Rd. NE and the western side of the GA 400 bridge will be closed to all traffic (including bikers and walkers) starting June 2nd and continuing through the end of the year. I know that totally stinks, but I promise you we are doing everything we can to reopen the road as soon as we can.

Share Your Knowledge

I know it’s fun to be the only person at the party who knows the transportation lingo, but stop keeping it all to yourself and pass it on!  We really are trying to keep everyone as informed as possible – please help us do that by passing this email on to your friends and neighbors so they can sign up to receive it themselves.

That’s all I have for this edition…see you next time!  As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions you might have!

PATH400 will be on TV!

Livable Buckhead was ecstatic when we were invited to be a part of the American Dream: Selling Atlanta tv series. From showcasing Buckhead’s newest micro-transit service to guiding Jeremy Smith on a PATH400 construction tour, we had a great time venturing through Buckhead. Catch me on CW this Saturday, May 20th at 10:30am!