Officials open final phase of Bob Callan Trail, completing 4-mile Cumberland greenway

At a ribbon-cutting at the Windy Hill Trailhead in Cumberland, officials from the Cumberland Community Improvement District and Cobb County celebrated the opening of the final phase of the Bob Callan Trail, completing a continuous 4-mile multiuse path from Terrell Mill Road to the Chattahoochee River.

The final phase cost $7.4 million, officials said, and joins earlier work that began in the 1990s. The project’s earliest segment opened in February 2007 at a reported cost of $3.6 million, with most construction funding for that phase coming from the Federal Highway Administration. A later $9.1 million extension finished in July 2019, and the newly opened section closes the gap between Windy Hill Road and Rottenwood Creek, creating a north–south spine for pedestrians and cyclists in the Cumberland area.

“Today is a milestone for our CID,” Bob Boyles, chair of the Cumberland CID board of directors, said at the ceremony. He credited decades of planning and public–private partnership in the district for bringing the trail to completion. “This trail is a critical piece of the northern part of our district,” Boyles added.

Lisa Cupid, chairwoman of the Cobb County Board of Commissioners, called the trailhead “a natural gateway to the Chattahoochee National Recreation Area” and noted the county’s support for the project. “This final $7,400,000 investment at this Windy Hill Road intersection is critical as it completes the final connected 4-mile multiuse trail from Terrell Mill to the Chattahoochee River at Pace’s Mill,” Cupid said.

Eric Allen, Cobb County commissioner for District 2, said the trail supports mobility, recreation and equity and linked the project to broader plans for the Cumberland area’s connectivity. Joanne Burrell, another county commissioner, highlighted the trail’s economic role, saying it connects the Cumberland business district — home to tens of thousands of jobs and residents — to outdoor amenities that attract workers and visitors.

Drew Ressler, Cobb County director of transportation, said the county has opened about 12 miles of trails in the past four years and that the new section helps close gaps in the county’s multimodal network. He thanked project partners including the Cumberland CID, CobbDOT staff, the Atlanta Regional Commission and Georgia DOT for oversight and funding support.

Speakers credited multiple public and private partners and named design and construction teams involved in the work. The CID’s remarks recognized design teams Heath & Lineback and Site Solutions, engineering firm Jacobs, and construction contractors referenced during remarks as Exelaire Construction and Acceler Construction; project staff named included Megan Wiel (director of planning and projects at the CID), Karen Matthews (project manager at CobbDOT) and Michael Neu (on-site construction engineer). Officials also noted that Bob Callan, the trail’s namesake and a retired Georgia division administrator for the Federal Highway Administration, played a significant role in advancing the project.

The trail follows Rottenwood Creek for much of its route, includes ADA-compliant pathways, integrated boardwalks, native plantings, stormwater-management features and new trailhead amenities such as accessible parking, shaded seating, fitness stations and bike-repair facilities. Officials said the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area that the trail connects to is about 840 acres.

Speakers described the trail as supporting recreation, alternate transportation options, first-and-last-mile connections to future transit and regional trail networks that link Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park to the river. Officials said funding came from a mix of federal, regional and local sources, with the Federal Highway Administration, the Atlanta Regional Commission, the Cumberland CID and Cobb County among the funders mentioned; exact funding shares were not specified at the ceremony.

No ordinances, votes or formal county actions were taken at the event; the ceremony marked project completion and public access. Officials encouraged use of the trail and acknowledged long-term collaboration between agencies and private contractors that spanned roughly 37 years of planning and phased construction.

The ribbon-cutting concluded with officials saying the trail is intended as both a recreational asset and a transportation corridor that will be integrated into broader regional trail plans.