The city was awarded a $1.6 million grant from the Atlanta Regional Commission to improve a pedestrian section located on North Point Parkway between Mansell and Haynes Bridge Roads, a statement said. The city will add $400,000 to the project.

The final design will include wide sidewalks, bicycle paths, lighting and landscape enhancements.

The plans are part of the North Point Parkway Pedestrian Corridor Enhancements Project and the North Point Activity Center Livable Centers Initiative (LCI), a program that partners with the Atlanta Regional Commission.

The LCI is intended to create walkable, vibrant communities for residents with active lifestyles. Alpharetta officials want to create that type of neighborhood around North Point Mall’s nearly 900-acre landscape.

“This vision relies heavily on a series of pedestrian and multiuse trail connections that are needed to sustain and enhance the North Point District well into the future, and this grant is a big step forward in making that vision a reality,” Alpharetta’s Director of Community Development, Kathi Cook said.