Marietta breaks ground on $17M Rottenwood Creek Trail

Marietta will break ground Friday, Sept. 18, on a $17 million trail segment that will help connect Kennesaw Mountain to the Chattahoochee River by linking two existing trail networks.

Phase 1 of the Rottenwood Creek Trail covers three miles of multiuse path from Kennesaw State University's Marietta campus at Alumni Drive to the Franklin Gateway Sports Complex, according to the Cobb County Courier. The groundbreaking ceremony begins at 10:30 a.m. at Aviation Sports Complex, 455 Aviation Road.

The project is a joint effort among Marietta, Cobb County and Smyrna. It fills a gap between two trail systems: the 13.5-mile Mountain to River Trail, a north-south route from Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park to the Chattahoochee River National Recreational Area that passes through downtown Marietta, and the Bob Callan Trail in the Cumberland area, which reaches the river at Paces Mill. The Rottenwood Creek Trail creates an east-west link between them.

The Bob Callan Trail's Terrell Mill Road trailhead sits near East Cobb, and the completed connection would give area cyclists and pedestrians a continuous route west to Kennesaw Mountain.

The Bob Callan Trail completed its own final phase with a ribbon-cutting Sept. 11, one week before the Rottenwood Creek groundbreaking. That $7.4 million segment added a trailhead at Windy Hill Road and a 0.3-mile extension creating a fully connected four-mile path from Terrell Mill Road to the river, according to Cobb County. The Cumberland Community Improvement District (CID), Cobb County and the Atlanta Regional Commission partnered on the project, built in three segments dating to 2005.

Bob Voyles, chair of the Cumberland CID Board of Directors, said at the Sept. 11 ceremony that the trail "… caps a more than 25-year project and is more than just a trail; it's Cumberland's natural escape to a national park and the Chattahoochee River."

Marietta said in its announcement Aug. 26 that the Rottenwood Creek Trail supports the city's goal of expanding and connecting its trail system with neighboring trails.

Phase 2 would continue from Franklin Gateway south and east across I-75, ending at Delk and Bentley roads and tying into the Bob Callan trailhead at Terrell Mill Road, according to the city's trail planning page. The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) has approved a concept report for Phase 2. Engineering and design are the next step.