An expansion of the South Peachtree Creek Trail, which will connect Emory’s Clairmont Campus to Mason Mill Park in Decatur, Ga., is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2018.
The 12-feet-wide biking, walking and running trail will run from the front gate of Clairmont Campus to the DeKalb Tennis Center in North Decatur and serve as an extension of the South Peachtree Creek Trail, which currently links Medlock Park to Mason Mill Park to North Druid Hills Road. Construction on the trail first began last March.
PATH is a nonprofit organization that has helped construct the Atlanta BeltLine and seeks to “encourage health and well-being, promote public safety, increase real estate values and spur economic developments; and neighborhood revitalization” through the construction of public, off-road trails, according to the foundation’s website.
The trail also works toward Emory’s 2025 Sustainability Vision, which seeks to create an on-campus trail network that links to other trails in the Metropolitan Atlanta area.
PATH Foundation Executive Director Ed McBrayer said that the trail could address the isolation of Emory’s Clairmont Campus and difficulties faced by Mason Mill community members attempting to reach the campus.
“We hope to provide a seamless route with which people in neighboring areas can interact with the campus but also give people on campus a chance to enjoy what the parks have to offer,” McBrayer said.
The trail will also offer the Emory community access to various amenities in Mason Mill Park, including a public dog park, fitness center and baseball field.
Most of the funding for the trail came from private sector contributors, such as Cox Enterprises and the James M. Cox Foundation, according to McBrayer, and the PATH Foundation’s own fundraising efforts. Emory also contributed to the project, and the government provided subsidies, McBrayer said.
McBrayer hopes to continue collaborating with Emory on future trails.
The PATH Foundation is tentatively beginning plans on another trail that will connect Emory Village to the Stone Mountain Trail.
Correction (2/9/18 at 11:30 a.m.): The article incorrectly stated that PATH Foundation operated the BeltLine. It is a partner of Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. and helped construct the BeltLine.
