The bridge over Northside Drive got the rendering. The schedule that determines how useful it becomes stretches several miles beyond the frame.
When ATL Vibes & Views first covered Northwest Trail Segment 3B, the groundbreaking had not happened. It has now. Atlanta Beltline Inc. began construction Sept. 10 on the nearly one-mile connection from Northside Drive to Tanyard Creek Park, with completion expected in late fall 2028.
That gives the bridge a construction schedule. It does not give the entire Northwest Trail an opening date.
The bridge connects to a trail that still ends behind it
The completed Segment 3A runs from Trabert Avenue to Northside Drive. Segment 3B will pick up there, cross Northside from above and continue through the Atlanta Technology Center and beneath I-75.
But getting to Trabert continuously from the Westside Trail depends on Segment 4.
That 0.9-mile section runs between English and Culpepper streets and Monday Night Brewing’s parking lot. It has been divided into 4A and 4B, partly to give a smaller construction firm an opportunity to compete for the latter section.
The Beltline’s September construction update says a small portion of 4A between English, Culpepper and Boyd is expected to open in November. The full section is targeted for summer 2027.
Segment 4B is fully permitted and its bid drawings are complete. A June update projected completion in the third quarter of 2028, but the September update did not repeat that date.
So late fall 2028 is the first reasonable target for a continuous connection from the western approach through Northside Drive and into Tanyard Creek Park. That assumes 4B holds close to its earlier schedule and 3B finishes on time.
That still is not the entire Northwest Trail
The full Northwest Trail is planned to run 4.3 miles between the Westside Trail and the beginning of the Northeast Trail. Two more segments sit north of Tanyard Creek.
Segment 1 includes the Peachtree Creek suspension bridge that must be removed and rebuilt after an engineering problem. Three tiers of elevated trail also have to come out and go back in. Its current target is mid-2028.
Segment 2 runs 0.7 miles east from the Bobby Jones Golf Course area. It has been divided into three sections, including a crossing beneath Peachtree Road that is tied to the Georgia Department of Transportation’s planned replacement of the road bridge.
Hasbun Construction has been selected for Segment 2A, with a notice to proceed signed Sept. 21. Segment 2C was expected to go out for bids this fall. Segment 2B remains linked to GDOT’s bridge work.
That makes the Northwest Trail less like one construction project and more like a chain. Segment 3B can finish on schedule and the larger route can still remain incomplete somewhere else.
The land question is finished
The northwest route was always harder because it lacked the abandoned railroad corridor that carried most of the Beltline around Atlanta. The alignment had to be assembled through active properties and around major roads.
That part of the problem is now resolved.
Atlanta Beltline Inc. announced in 2026 that it had secured the land rights required for the entire 22-mile mainline trail. The organization says 16.7 miles are open, with completion of the loop still targeted for 2030.
The remaining risk is execution. Bridges have to be rebuilt, contracts awarded and four Northwest Trail segments completed in an order that eventually connects.
The Northside Drive bridge is no longer a proposal, and that matters. But I would not treat late fall 2028 as the opening date for the entire Northwest Trail. Watch Segment 4B first. It is the missing link between the existing Westside approach and the trail already open at Trabert Avenue. Then watch the replacement bridge in Segment 1 and the GDOT-dependent crossing in Segment 2. The Beltline now controls the full route. Whether the northwest quadrant functions as one continuous trail before 2030 depends on how those four schedules move together.
