LISTEN: GPB's Amanda Andrews reports on the city's first bike park, a development under construction at Shirley C. Franklin Park on the west side of Atlanta. 

a map with bike trails labeled skills course, jump lines, bicycle playground, asphalt pump tracks, start area / overlook

The first phase of the bike park will include five different areas for riders of varying skill levels.

Credit: Atlanta Beltline Inc.

Atlanta leaders recently broke ground on the city’s first bike park. The project will be part of Shirley C. Franklin Park on the west side of the city.

The bike park will include an asphalt pump track, a bicycle playground, and a skills course. It’s designed for road and mountain bikers as well as people just learning to ride bicycles. 

The track will offer 2.25 miles of bike trail and be accessible via the 22-mile Beltline trail loop around Atlanta. 

Councilmember Dustin Hillis represents the area. He said projects like this are about accessibility.

"World-class recreation shouldn't require a long drive or membership," Hillis said. "It should be in or within a safe 10-minute walk from our neighborhoods, whether it's Grove Park, West Highlands, and beyond, and open to everyone." 

The project is a collaboration between Atlanta Department of Parks and Recreation, Atlanta Beltline Inc., Fulton County, and philanthropic groups. So far, organizers have raised half of the $18 million needed to complete the bike park.

Dickens said these types of developments prove Atlanta is a city built for the future.

"People can become professional mountain bikers in our city by what we're gonna start, which is a well-known sports city that we have," he said, "And so they can join that organization and get off to their first start here. So the Beltline is delivering on that and making new connections, new chances for our residents."

The first phase of construction is scheduled for completion this fall. 

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