Come out of the Lenox MARTA station at East Paces Ferry Road and head along Lenox Road. For the first time, there is a raised walkway 10 to 12 feet wide, with pedestrian lighting and some tree shade, running 0.44 miles to Peachtree Road. On September 29, Buckhead Community Improvement District said every part of the $15.6 million Lenox Boardwalk was finished and open. It said the same of a new roundabout up the road at Wieuca Road and Phipps Boulevard.
The boardwalk is the first finished piece of a three-part, $82 million plan. Buckhead CID has worked on this Complete Streets effort for about nine years, and construction was pushed back from late 2023 and again from spring 2024. Walking it this fall shows what the first phase was built to do, and where the car-free route still runs out.
What the Boardwalk Was Built to Connect
Buckhead CID describes the boardwalk as a "safer, more direct connection between the Lenox MARTA station, Lenox Square, and the surrounding retail, hospitality and business community." The district's project page frames it the same way. It presents the boardwalk as a link from the station to the mall and nearby businesses, not as a trail connection.
That framing matters for how you use it. The boardwalk works best for short, practical trips: getting off a train and walking to Lenox Square at 3393 Peachtree Road, or heading toward Phipps Plaza at 3500 Peachtree Road. Buckhead CID also says the boardwalk "sets the design standard for the two sections still to come," so its width, lighting and raised path show what the rest of Lenox Road is supposed to become.
The second project now open sits at Wieuca Road and Phipps Boulevard. According to Buckhead CID, it is Atlanta's first multi-lane roundabout. The intersection, described as one of Buckhead's busiest, now has bike lanes, crosswalks, placemaking signage and a multi-use pathway. An 85-foot landscaped island replaced a stretch of asphalt about the size of a small parking lot. The City of Atlanta and Buckhead CID split the $4 million cost.
What Sits at the End of the Walk This Fall
Since this first phase serves trips to the malls, its real value this season depends on what is happening at Lenox Square and Phipps Plaza. As of early October, the mall calendars include:
- October 17: The 44th Annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, listed on Lenox Square's event calendar.
- October 28, 4 to 8 p.m.: Boo Bash 2026 at Food Hall at Phipps and The Green. Expect a screening of Coco, a DJ, games, raffles and food, with part of the Food Hall's sales going to Friends Helping Friends.
- Through December 19: Gameday on The Green at Food Hall at Phipps.
- Through December 31: Buckhead Run Club at Food Hall at Phipps, and Mahjong at Alon's Bakery & Market.
New tenants are on the way at both malls. CVI.CHE 105, the Peruvian restaurant led by chef-founder Juan Chipoco, is planned for Phipps Plaza at 3500 Peachtree Road NE with a fall 2026 opening. As of early October, the mall still lists it as "Coming Soon." At Lenox Square, Dolce & Gabbana is listed as coming soon and Vietvana Pho Noodle House as "headed your way," with no dates for either. Birkenstock is seeking a 1,891-square-foot store near Macy's. A What Now Atlanta report from October 1 described that plan as early-stage, with no opening timeline.
Where the Line Stops
The boardwalk ends at Peachtree Road. The next section east, between Peachtree Road and Phipps Boulevard, includes the entrance to Alliance Center, and it is phase two. That roughly $10 million segment is in final engineering. Right-of-way purchases and permitting come next, with groundbreaking expected sometime in 2027. Plans call for wider sidewalks, upgraded ramps and staircases, more lighting, and changes to traffic flow and the streetscape.
The bigger gap is west of the station, where Lenox Road crosses Georgia 400. At one point the Buckhead Loop is 10 lanes wide there. Phase three is a 0.62-mile elevated pedestrian and bicycle bridge that would connect to PATH400 and the future highway-capping park. Buckhead CID describes the crossing this way:
"One of Buckhead's hardest gaps for anyone not in a car."
The September update says the bridge is in active design, will cost between $40 million and $56 million, and is partly funded by a $10 million federal grant. Groundbreaking is now expected in 2028. Earlier projections had construction starting in 2027.
Livable Buckhead's executive director, Denise Starling, described another missing link in an August 19 column. She said the first priority for anchoring PATH400 in the commercial core is "determining the best way to connect Lenox Road at the BUCKHEAD wall to Peachtree Road." She also wrote that the area has changed enough since the original plans that the job needs "a fresh vision" developed with Buckhead CID and the commercial property owners along the route. That planning work is set to start next.
In practice, the new boardwalk and Buckhead's main trail sit near each other without connecting. The pieces that would join them are still in design or have not been planned yet.
The Trail Is Reaching Sandy Springs First
PATH400 is still growing, mostly to the north and south. Starling wrote in August that nearly 5 miles of the trail are now open in Buckhead, connecting neighborhoods, parks and four MARTA stations. The most recent major addition was the Wieuca Road to Loridans Drive section, which opened in September 2025 with an 80-foot bridge at Mountain Way Common.
North of Loridans Drive, crews are building the section to the Atlanta–Sandy Springs city limits. Concrete is being poured, and handrails and final grading are expected this fall, with planting saved for cooler weather. The Atlanta portion should be finished in the first quarter of 2027. The public opening depends on inspections, landscaping and timing with Sandy Springs, which is putting its stretch to Windsor Parkway first so the two cities can open together. Once both are open, PATH400 will run about 7.4 continuous miles toward the Perimeter area.
To the south, two projects are in city procurement, and both are expected to start construction in early 2027. One is the Peachtree Park connection, which would run from Peachtree Road between the InterContinental Buckhead Atlanta and Embassy Suites, briefly through the Peachtree Park neighborhood, to the Gordon Bynum Bridge. The other widens sidewalks at the trail's southern end into a full pedestrian and bike connection to the Atlanta Beltline.
Starling summed up the order of work in one line: "Apparently, we had to build the regional network before we could finish the neighborhood one." That puts the Lenox Boardwalk in context. It is the first finished piece of the neighborhood network in Buckhead's shopping core, and it went in before the trail can reach it.
The Calendar, Piece by Piece
| Segment | Status as of early October 2026 | Next milestone |
|---|---|---|
| Lenox Boardwalk, Lenox MARTA to Peachtree Road | Finished and open | Design standard for phases two and three |
| Wieuca Road at Phipps Boulevard roundabout | Finished and open | None reported |
| Lenox Road phase two, Peachtree Road to Phipps Boulevard | Final engineering | Groundbreaking expected in 2027 |
| PATH400 north of Loridans Drive | Under construction | Atlanta portion targeted for Q1 2027, opening with Sandy Springs |
| PATH400 Peachtree Park connection | In city procurement | Construction expected to start in early 2027 |
| Lenox Road at the BUCKHEAD wall to Peachtree Road | Not yet planned | Fresh planning effort with Buckhead CID to begin |
| Lenox Road bridge over Georgia 400 | Active design | Groundbreaking expected in 2028 |
For now, the finished part covers about half a mile, from the Lenox station to Peachtree Road. The next construction on Lenox Road is expected to start in 2027, and the bridge over Georgia 400 is scheduled to break ground in 2028.
Projects like the Lenox Road phases and PATH400 extensions slowly change how a street works, long before they show up on a map. If you'd like to talk about how changes like these affect a specific Buckhead address, Marc Castillo can help. Schedule a private consultation.
