Agency collaborating with PATH Foundation to plan 4.4-mile segment.

The northwest portion of the future Atlanta Beltline trail, a complicated but key portion of the path, is expected to be done ahead of schedule.

The Beltline is collaborating with the PATH Foundation on planning the 4.4-mile Northwest Trail, which will run from Huff Road on the Westside to the Northeast Trail at Peachtree

Creek near Lindbergh, the organization announced Wednesday.

Last month, the Beltline put out a call for a qualified engineering consultant to study the northwest portion of the trail. The Beltline has canceled that request and said PATH will manage and fund the planning study.

Recent Beltline documents have said the Northwest Trail is scheduled to be completed by 2029, the last segment of the 22-mile loop set to be done. Partnering with PATH is “expected to significantly shorten the schedule for this phase of work,” the Beltline said in a statement. It has not provided an updated timeline for the competition of the Northwest Trail.

The Beltline still plans to commission a feasibility study for transit along the segment this spring.

“The northwest segment presents unique challenges due to existing active freight rail lines, which may not be feasible options for trail or transit alignment,” the Beltline said in a news release last month. This section of the trail also goes under I-75.

The PATH Foundation and the Beltline have worked together on other trails before, including the West End Trail and Northside Trail.

COURTESY OF ATLANTA BELTLINE INC. The Beltline’s Westside Trail passes under Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard in Atlanta.