This story has been updated. 

Greater Decatur, GA — Commissioners Jeff Rader and Steve Bradshaw announced Tuesday that they are earmarking $499,000 for a trail that will lengthen the South Peachtree Creek Trail from Medlock Park to North DeKalb Mall.

The news comes as the mall is slated for a massive redevelopment project. The county commission signed off on the project in May. Edens is the developer.

“Following the completion of the planning and public engagement effort led by the PATH Foundation, my district and District 4 funding will now complete the design and engineering phase of these critical bike and pedestrian connections to the revitalizing North DeKalb Mall and surrounding schools and homes,” Commissioner Rader said in a press release. “Within a year, these shovel-ready plans will be ready to receive available construction funding fulfilling an important commitment by DeKalb County to area residents who supported the rezoning of the aging mall.”

Bradshaw said the project will boost the county’s trail system.

“This path connection will be a tremendous addition to DeKalb County’s trail system,” Commissioner Bradshaw said in the press release. “I am pleased to have partnered with Commissioner Rader to provide funding to get this much-needed trail in place.”

The PATH Foundation will provide landscape architecture, engineering, permitting, bidding and contract administration for the three proposed trail segments.

The three segments are standalone projects with separate timelines and deliverables, the press release says. Here are the projects under consideration:

– Segment 1 – Medlock Park to North DeKalb Mall/Orion Drive (2 miles)

– Segment 2 – Orion Drive to Valley Brook Road (1.2 miles)

– Segment 3 – North Druid Hills Road to Druid Hills Middle School (1.2 miles)

As previously reported on Decaturish, Edens is throwing its weight behind expanding a public trail through the property.

Edens plans to create a mixed-use development with retail, a hotel, apartments, and townhomes. Plans call for about 300,000 square feet of retail space, 200,000 square feet of office space, a 150-room hotel, 1,700 apartment units and 100 townhomes. The project’s estimated completion date is 2028. The plan also shows nearly 50,000 square feet allocated for a grocery store, but doesn’t name the store. To see previous renderings of the plan obtained by Decaturish, click here. The project will set aside 10% units for workforce housing and will include a retail incubator. The developer is not asking for anything in exchange for providing the affordable units.

Editor’s note: The press release from the county says that Segment 3 will connect to Druid Hills High, but residents of the neighborhood say that’s incorrect, and it will connect to Druid Hills Middle. Decaturish asked the county to clarify, and the county confirmed the school in question is the Druid Hills Middle School. This story has been updated with the correct information. 

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