Plans for trail linking Atlanta to N. Ga. mountain

Plans for trail linking Atlanta to N. Ga. mountain
March 14, 2011
News Channel 7

LLIJAY, Ga. -- Plans are underway to create a 15-mile bicycling and walking path along old railroad lines linking Ellijay to Blue Ridge in the North Georgia mountains.

Planners for the project say this could be the start of a major trail similar to the Silver Comet, which runs along the western edge of metro Atlanta to the Alabama line. Planners want eventually to link Copperhill, Tenn., to Atlanta on a trail that winds through the mountains.

Planner David Kenemer said he hopes the trail will be on a list of projects the Northwest Georgia Regional Commission sends to the state Department of Transportation this month. If so, the trail could get money from a 1 percent sales tax for transportation -- which voters will decide on next year.