Firm chosen for Chattahoochee River trail

May 11—Nashville-based Gresham Smith will design the first phase of Cobb's Chattahoochee River Trail, the pilot project of a proposed 125-mile riverside park running from Forsyth to Coweta counties.

When complete, the Chattahoochee River Trail will run 2.4 miles between Mableton Parkway and Veterans Memorial Highway and connect to the recently-completed Discovery Park at the River Line. The trail's first phase will be 1.3 miles, and include biking and walking paths and four segments of boardwalk north of Nickajack Creek, according to a news release from Gresham Smith.

The 2.4 mile Chattahoochee River Trail would provide "unprecedented access to the portion of the river south of I-285," according to the county.

The Cobb Board of Commissioners has already set aside at least $4.5 million for the trail, which is expected to cost more than $12 million to complete.

The proposed 125-mile park, dubbed the Chattahoochee RiverLands project, is a collaboration between the county, the city of Atlanta, the Atlanta Regional Commission and the Trust of Public Lands,

A brochure from the cross-jurisdictional team behind the RiverLands project goes into more detail about its pilot project.

The Chattahoochee River Trail will "serve to test and demonstrate goals, design strategies, and material applications developed for the broader (RiverLands project)," the brochure notes. "While grounded in local context, the Pilot Project is also being developed as a regional destination which will showcase the potential of the entire RiverLands Greenway."

About 1.7 miles would be paved and accessible by foot or bike. Another 0.7 miles of "rambles" would be unpaved.

The plan envisions "nooks" scattered along the trail to be used as gathering places for friends, launch points for kayakers and outdoor classrooms.