Information: www.southforkconservancy.org.
Residents of Lindridge/Martin Manor off LaVista Road weren’t thrilled about having a highway ramp soaring over their neighborhood, but in a case of making lemonade out of lemons, they turned the construction into a way to create more community connectivity.
Earlier this week, a new walking trail opened off Cheshire Bridge Road on the edge of the neighborhood that gives residents an outdoor space to stroll, walk their dogs and catch up with each other. The Cheshire Farm Trail is the result of efforts by the neighborhood and members of the South Fork Conservancy to turn a right-of-way into a community asset.
“It’s a mitigation to the neighborhood for having the new Ga. 400/I-85 ramp over their heads,” explained Sally Sears, the Conservancy’s executive director. “When we asked what good could come out of it, we found that under the new ramp is this beautiful creek that was covered with kudzu. The Georgia Department of Transportation owns the land, so we got them to turn it into the what-will-you-do-for-me trail.”
The pathway, named for the Cheshire family whose farm once dominated the area, provides a much-needed outdoor area for a neighborhood that had no communal or green space.
“The neighbors had no park when we began this process,” said Sears. “The only place they could walk their dogs was on the street, yet they were surrounded by publicly-owned green space. We helped them convert this inaccessible space into accessible trails.”
The Cheshire Farm path is one of five the Conservancy has helped create over the last few years. The goal was to reclaim areas along the south fork of Peachtree Creek while establishing passive-use trails for the urban neighborhoods that border the stream. To date, the project has uncovered 31.22 miles of waterfront and opened the Meadow Loop, Cedar Chase, Zonolite and Creekside paths.
“These trails will eventually link up to the Beltline, so we love that we’re a green tendril growing alongside it,” said Sears.
The Lindridge/Martin Manor community also got behind effort to create the trail by raising money for signage and pitching in with weed whackers and rakes to clean up the area.
“We wanted to connect our neighborhood with the others around us and not be so dependent on automobiles and streets,” said Rich Sussman, a member of the neighborhood’s governing board. “We were looking for alternate ways to get around and found these public lands with utility rights of way that had the potential to turn into trails. We then found the Southfork Conservancy, and the timing couldn’t have been better. We started working with one another and immediately realized the benefits.”
The community’s support for the path makes Sears think it will be put to good use. “In fact, we think there will be enough demand to get on it that people will want to build more access points to be a part of it.”
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