Brookhaven parkgoers will soon be able to walk, jog or bike across a wooden boardwalk as part of Murphey Candler Park’s growing multi-use trail.
On Tuesday, the City Council agreed to pay Woodwind Construction Company about $1.1 million to build the boardwalk, which will run along West Nancy Creek Drive. The trail will be tied to a dam that’s north of the road, which stops Murphey Candler Lake from flooding the park’s sports fields and greenspace. Construction is expected to finish by the end of 2022.
The boardwalk, which will span about a quarter mile, will join the park’s trail network. A concrete path in the southern part of the park opened last year, and all of the park’s trails are the result of a $40 million park bond referendum that passed in 2018. Murphey Candler Park will receive nearly $9 million in improvements as part of the bond project.
The boardwalk wasn’t the only trail-related item the council voted on Tuesday.
The city also agreed to pay nearly $2 million to purchase roughly 13 acres of vacant property along Johnson Ferry Road for future conversion into multi-use trails and public greenspace. The land surrounds Nancy Creek.
The property purchase isn’t using funds from the bond referendum and required an adjustment to the city’s general fund. During the meeting, City Attorney Chris Balch said the city reached an agreement with the property owners, adding that the sale agreement is more than the appraised value of the land. DeKalb County property records show the land is appraised to be worth about $359,000.
Balch told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the Johnson Ferry property and the dam boardwalk are currently unrelated projects, but they could connect in the future as the city’s trail network expands.
