Bike, pedestrian trail coming to Proctor Creek Greenway

Mayor Kasim Reed broke ground recently on the new Proctor Creek Greenway. This will serve as the first project funded by TSPLOST. CONTRIBUTED

Mayor Kasim Reed broke ground recently on the new Proctor Creek Greenway. This will serve as the first project funded by TSPLOST. CONTRIBUTED

Mayor Kasim Reed and several city officials broke ground Friday on the $11.5 million Proctor Creek Greenway, a seven-mile bike and pedestrian trail spanning from Maddox Park to the Chattahoochee River.

The completed Proctor Creek Greenway will feature 50 acres of linear park and 400 acres of greenspace and will offer connectivity to the Bankhead MARTA Station and the Atlanta BeltLine Westside Trail.

In February, Reed announced that $3 million in TSPLOST revenue would fund the first segment of the Proctor Creek Greenway. The initial phase of Proctor Creek Greenway will cost approximately $4 million, and the Mayor’s Office of Resilience, Department of Watershed Management, PATH Foundation and the Atlanta BeltLine Inc. will help fund the project.

The PATH Foundation completed the Master Plan for the trail in April. The Master Plan divides trail construction into six segments. The initial phase is approximately two miles from the Bankhead MARTA Station through the future Westside Quarry Park to the existing River Park Trail, and includes a connector spur to the Grove Park neighborhood.

In November 2015, Mayor Reed signed an agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers authorizing a three-year environmental feasibility study to address the water quality, flood risks, ecological habitat restoration and stream bank remediation of the Proctor Creek Watershed. Other federal partners who have agreed to share resources to restore the environmental and economic quality of the creek include the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The Proctor Creek Greenway is a partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Resilience, TSPLOST, Department of Watershed Management, Department of Parks and Recreation, PATH Foundation, Atlanta BeltLine, Inc., Proctor Creek Stewardship Council and the Emerald Corridor Foundation.