Thanks to the purchase of 7 acres near Atlanta Hwy, a tract named
the Rowland Natural Area and Preserve will become the keystone for a new greenway stretching from Ben Burton Park off Mitchell Bridge Road to the shops and restaurants in the Beechwood neighborhood.Well played, Clarke county!"It's hugely significant, because that's your entry point," county Commissioner Carl Jordan said. "It's your gateway."
The tract probably would have been developed as apartments if the county had not stepped in to buy it, county Natural Resources Administrator Mike Wharton said.
Now, it will serve as a buffer between the river and surrounding developments, a green gateway for visitors entering Athens and one of the bookends to a new trail to allow westside residents to walk or bike while avoiding the car traffic along the city's busiest road.
not to be a downer, but if this is a trail from Ben Burton to where the river flows under the ATL highway, then isn't it a road to nowhere? I live on the west side and would love to bike to Beechwood and the UGA campus, but I'm not riding a) down Mitchell Bridge or b) up the Atlanta Highway.
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