Two pieces of Beltline news this week, one for the long game and one for next Saturday night.
The trail. City and Beltline leaders held a formal groundbreaking Sept. 10 for Northwest Trail Segment 3B, a winding one-mile stretch that will connect Monday Night Brewing's The Grove area to the finished trails in Collier Hills and around Bobby Jones Golf Course. It ties together Ardmore, Berkeley Park, Brookwood, Collier Hills, and Loring Heights, according to Urbanize Atlanta.
This is the one part of the loop with no old rail corridor to convert. "We have to bob and weave through streets over Northside Drive," Atlanta Beltline Inc. CEO Clyde Higgs told SaportaReport. Planners originally floated a crosswalk across Northside, then chose a pedestrian bridge instead. "It blew the budget for sure, but it was the right thing to do for our community," Higgs said. A second bridge will dip under I-75. Once it opens, roughly 17 of the Beltline's 22 miles will be built.
The parade. The Atlanta Beltline Lantern Parade is back after skipping 2025.
- When: Saturday, Sept. 19. Lineup at 7:15 p.m., stepping off at 8 p.m.
- Where: Starts near Beulah Colbert Park, winds through neighborhood streets, joins the Southwest Trail at Allene Avenue, and heads north to Lee + White in West End
- New this year: A route almost half a mile longer, more art installations, and pre-parade family programming
Moving the parade to the Westside was a smart call. That stretch of trail deserves the crowd.