PATH400 Phase I Grand Opening is Jan. 24

The first phase of a project to build a walking trail along Ga. 400 is nearing completion and should open to the public in four weeks, BuckheadView reports.

Phase I of the PATH400 Trail, which spans between Lenox and Old Ivy roads, will be the subject of two grand opening events on Jan. 9 and Jan. 24. The Jan. 9 event is geared towards the business community and will be held offsite, but the event on Jan. 24 will be held on the trail and is open to the community.

Livable Buckhead Executive Director Denise Starling told BuckheadView that she hopes to reveal some of the art submissions made by local youngsters for decorating the trail during the Jan. 24 grand opening.

Speaking of decorations, you’ve probably noticed the word “Buckhead” sandblasted into the retaining wall on Lenox Loop Road. That decoration will serve as the jumping-off point for a celebratory parade down the length of the trail. The parade is scheduled to kick off at 11 a.m. on Jan. 24, BuckheadView says.

Patch reported last year that this phase of the project was slated to cost around $2 million, with the entire project coming in anywhere between $12 and $14 million. Once complete, the PATH400 trail will wend its way from Loridans Drive south to the Atlanta Beltline’s Peachtree Creek spur trail.

Some 5,133 residents will live within a five-minute walk of the proposed trail.

“This trail is one of the ways to really enhance the Buckhead brand to keep it competitive in the future,” Denise Starling, executive director of Livable Buckhead, said during a 2012 Buckhead Community Improvement District meeting.