PATH400's Last Buckhead Gaps Are Short, and Each Runs on Its Own Clock

Nearly five of PATH400's 5.2 miles are now open. Over the next year, though, most of the construction will happen at the trail's two ends. One crew is building north from Loridans Drive toward Sandy Springs. Two more projects will close the gaps at the south end, near Peachtree Park and the Atlanta BeltLine. The links that would change how the trail works inside Buckhead are on a slower schedule. Those include the stretch from Lenox Road into the commercial core, the routes west to Blue Heron and Chastain, and the improvements at Mountain Way Common.

The spine came first, on purpose

PATH400 was planned in this order. In an August 19, 2026 column on Buckhead.com, Livable Buckhead executive director Denise Starling explains that the trail began as a route through Buckhead. It then grew into the backbone of a regional network reaching north into Sandy Springs and south to the BeltLine and the Peachtree Creek Greenway. To get there, "the regional spine had to come first."

"Apparently, we had to build the regional network before we could finish the neighborhood one. Classic PATH400."

The last big piece of that spine inside Buckhead shows how long these pieces take. The Wieuca Road to Loridans Drive segment is only 0.75 miles. Building it took three years and $13.4 million. Its ribbon-cutting on September 26, 2025 included a bike parade and a pet parade across the new 80-foot-high bridge above Mountain Way Common. The segment linked nearly three contiguous miles of greenway, and crews planted almost 500 native trees along it. Starling's column says nearly five miles are now open, connecting neighborhoods, businesses, parks and four MARTA stations.

North of Loridans, the opening date depends on Sandy Springs

The construction fencing north of Loridans Drive covers the new section to the Atlanta–Sandy Springs city limits. Starling calls it "trail building on hard mode," with enormous retaining walls, steep grades and a large switchback. Concrete was being poured in August. This fall, the remaining work is final grading, more concrete, handrail installation and preparation for landscaping. Planting will wait for cooler weather.

Crews expect to finish the Atlanta portion in the first quarter of 2027. The public opening is a separate question. It depends on final inspections, landscaping and coordination with Sandy Springs. Sandy Springs is putting its section between the Atlanta city limits and Windsor Parkway first so both pieces can open together. That way the new trail leads somewhere instead of stopping at a fence line. When both sections open, PATH400 will run about 7.4 continuous miles toward the Perimeter area, and the Sandy Springs side will add a bridge of its own. A joint celebration is being planned, with details to come once the construction schedule is firm.

Sandy Springs' full extension goes farther than that first stretch, and its schedule runs longer. The city's project page describes a trail from Loridans Drive north to the GA 400/I-285 interchange, built mostly in Georgia Department of Transportation right-of-way along GA 400. The page also says it will connect to proposed multiuse paths on Peachtree Dunwoody Road and Mount Vernon Highway. According to the city's Summer 2026 status, Segments 1 and 3 are under construction and expected to finish in early 2028. Segment 2 received an $18 million investment from the Atlanta Regional Commission in 2025. A contractor has been selected, and construction is expected to start this fall and take about three years. The 7.4-mile figure is the first milestone. The full route to I-285 comes later.

At the south end, two short links are slated for 2027

The southern work covers less ground but closes gaps that have been frustrating trail users. Both projects are in the City of Atlanta's procurement process, with construction expected to start in early 2027 and wrap up later that year.

The Peachtree Park connection is short. From Peachtree Road, it will pass between the InterContinental Buckhead Atlanta and the Embassy Suites, run briefly through the Peachtree Park neighborhood, and meet the Gordon Bynum Bridge, where the existing southern section begins. Today the commercial core and that southern trail are close together but not connected. Once this link is built, a walker could go from Peachtree Road past the "Great Blue" mural and on toward Miami Circle without leaving the trail.

The second project is at PATH400's southernmost end. There, existing sidewalks will be widened into a full pedestrian and bicycle facility, with new signs and pavement markings leading to the BeltLine. This is also where PATH400 will eventually meet the Peachtree Creek Greenway, at a spot Livable Buckhead calls the "angel hair junction."

Here is the schedule for each remaining piece, based on the most recent public updates.

The pieces that would change a weekday walk are the slowest

The links on the bottom rows of that table are the ones that would make PATH400 part of everyday errands inside Buckhead. Starling says the first challenge is connecting Lenox Road at the BUCKHEAD wall to Peachtree Road. The area has changed since the original plans were drawn, so the route needs a fresh design developed with the Buckhead Community Improvement District and commercial property owners along it. That planning starts next.

To the west, Livable Buckhead is exploring a connection to Blue Heron Nature Preserve and eventually Chastain Park. The plan there is a lighter-touch trail that works around streams, wetlands, wildlife habitat and tree canopy. Future routes along Lenox Road and Piedmont Road are still at the stage of evaluating routes, working through property issues, assembling partners and identifying funding.

The parks along the trail show the same gap between plans and construction. Mountain Way Common, at 4124 N Ivy Road NE, sits beneath the treetop bridge. In February 2026, Livable Buckhead announced a $160,000 Park Pride grant toward a roughly $450,000 Creekside Connection Trail, with the rest coming from City bond funding. The trail would be a five-foot-wide, ADA-accessible crushed-slate loop linking Mountain Way, North Ivy Road and PATH400, with creek access and erosion control. At the time, the first phase was scheduled to start in late spring 2026 and finish by mid-2027. By August, the park was still going through a stream-buffer variance process and would likely need more fundraising once final costs are known. In the same update, Loridans Park was in City procurement, with contractors expected to mobilize as the northern trail section wraps up. The City has also funded design work for an expanded Old Ivy Park, with improvements on its east and north sides.

Using the trail this fall

Existing sections stay open during construction, but Livable Buckhead says to watch for construction signs and temporary closures near active work areas. The official FAQ lists four main access points and several free parking options:

1. Mile 0 at Garson Drive and Piedmont Road. Free on-street parking is available along Adina Drive.
2. GA 400 and Lenox Road, at the BUCKHEAD wall. The Prominence in Buckhead, 3475 Piedmont Road NE, offers free parking in its covered garage during trail hours. Pull a visitor's ticket when you enter, then tell the attendant at the visitor's exit that you are a PATH400 patron.
3. Old Ivy Road at GA 400. Dedicated parking is under the GA 400 bridge next to Old Ivy Park, and Sarah Smith Elementary's Old Ivy campus allows parking outside school hours.
4. Wieuca Road at GA 400. Sarah Smith Elementary's Wieuca campus allows parking outside school hours.

Two stops are worth planning around. Garden 684, next to Mountain Way Common, is open to the public from dawn to dusk. It has five artist-painted picnic tables, bee hives and a pollinator garden. On the southern section, the trail passes the "Great Blue" mural on its way to Miami Circle, where Eclipse di Luna sits right along the route. The restaurant is at 764 Miami Circle NE. It hosted this year's Party on the PATH on October 4. Before the party, a VIP reception at Johnson Lowe Gallery brought together leaders from Atlanta, Brookhaven, Dunwoody and Sandy Springs for a discussion titled "One Path, Four Cities, A Region Connected."

Cathy LaMon follows PATH400 closely because its schedule affects how different Buckhead streets connect to parks, MARTA and the commercial core. If you want to know how a link planned for 2027, or one still in planning, might affect your street, the team at The LaMon Team will walk through it with you. Let's Connect.