The Sandy Springs City Council has given staff the go-ahead to seek a $200,000 state grant to help fund a trail connecting a small city park to a larger, National Park Service parcel along the Chattahoochee River.
The money will be sought from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Recreational Trails Grant Program. Matched by $50,000 from the city, the grant would fund construction of a path from the city’s Crooked Creek Park to the Holcomb Bridge unit of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area.
Sandy Springs purchased the 5-acre Crooked Creek tract at Spalding and River Exchange drives as a possible “pocket park” a little more than two years ago. The Park Service owns the approximately 40-acre Holcomb Bridge parcel nearby.
The city and federal agency are working together to connect their holdings, currently separated by land owned by the Retreat at River Park apartment complex. A Sandy Springs spokesman said the city will work with the Retreat’s owner on acquiring a right-of-way for the trail.