Fresh Atlanta BeltLine segment is knocking at Piedmont Park's door

A year and ½ after breaking ground, a fresh Atlanta BeltLine segment that will link the city’s centerpiece park to many points north has entered the homestretch of construction.

The final sections of concrete are being installed to bring the Northeast Trail’s Segment 2 from the top of Piedmont Park to near the Lindbergh area in southern Buckhead, according to a BeltLine construction update.

As visitors to the Piedmont Park section near Ansley Mall may have noticed, the new trail has been poured nearly to Westminster Drive, a northern gateway to the park.

A concrete ramp has also been installed between the Northeast Trail and Piedmont Avenue.

Segment 2 will extend the current paved multi-use Northeast Trail in both directions, including the Piedmont Park connection at the southern terminus. On the opposite end, the trail will be extended to Mayson Street in an industrial district near SweetWater Brewing Company that’s come to life with offices and eateries just north of Interstate 85.

According to BeltLine officials, the Northeast Trail’s next pieces remain on schedule to open for public use sometime this fall. Final landscaping touches are planned to be installed later this year and early next.

Construction, however, hasn’t been without speed bumps.

BeltLine officials note that a sidewalk related to the project north of Mason Street “will be in construction after the trail is opened to the public ... due to delayed [Georgia Department of Transportation] approvals.” Meanwhile, “a late change to the project included the addition of a retaining wall under the Piedmont Road bridge, and that work is expected to be complete by the end of the year,” per the Aug. 31 update.  

Once finished, the Northeast Trail promises to be a useful, off-street link between Midtown and the Lindbergh (aka Uptown) area, in addition to places like the Cheshire Bridge Road corridor. Along the way, it passes the 1960s-era mall, Ansley Golf Course, and a tunnel under I-85.

According to BeltLine officials, a bridge project connecting the backside of Ansley Mall to the Northeast Trail is “in progress” now, as proposed last year by mall owner Selig Enterprises.

Meanwhile, on the Northeast Trail’s first finished segment opened in 2021, an “instant forest” recently planted by Trees Atlanta continues to take root.