The Big Creek GreenwayWeather

Portions of Alpharetta Greenway Under Water

Jeff — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 14:57:49 +0000

Though both greenways remain open today after the heavy rains last night, the Alpharetta website has a warning posted that portions of the trail are under water. Please do not try and cross these portions as the trail can become slick and the water may be moving swift. It may also not be possible to see if submerged portions of the trail have been washed out. No reports of washed out sections have been received though.

Enjoy a beautiful day out on the trails after the rainy Saturday!

Carpooling and Locking Your Car

Jeff — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 03:25:18 +0000

With the exception of the pollen count, we’ve had wonderful weather lately. With the abundance of sunny skies and moderate temperatures, the number of people utilizing the greenways has greatly increased. Here are just a few tips to help keep the parking lots from over flowing, and for protecting your belongings while on the greenway.

When possible, carpool to the parking lots.
If you are within walking distance of the greenways, consider riding your bike or walking to the greenway as opposed to driving.
There are no lines in most of the parking lots, so be sure not to take up more space than needed when parking. Leave enough room for your neighbor to get in and out of their car too.
Be sure to store any valuables out of sight. There has been an increase in break-ins around the greenway parking lots with the increase in use.
Make sure you lock your vehicle while using the trail.
Be courteous to everyone on the greenway during these high use months. If on a bike, yield to those on foot. If traveling by foot, leave space on your left for passing.

Enjoy the weather and have fun on the trails, the hot summer months are right around the corner and who knows when the rainy season will return!

Remember to Lock Your Car Doors!

Trail Open for a Beautiful Weekend

Jeff — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:52:45 +0000

Following a trend of rain, snow, and cold weather, this weekend looks to be sunny and in the mid 50s. With little precipitation this week, it looks like both the Alpharetta and Forsyth trails will be open. Be prepared for larger crowds as spring moves in and the weather gets warmer. Remember to carpool or walk to the trail when possible to reduce congestion in and around the parking areas.

As always, you can check the Alpharetta Greenway website to get the current status of the Alpharetta trail and call the Forsyth County Rain out line (770.886.2851) for the status of the Forsyth trail before heading out.

Greenway Closed Due to Flooding

Jeff — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:45:36 +0000

The Greenway is closed again due to flooding. With nearly 2 inches of rain in the area, the river had reached 8 feet at Kimball Bridge and 7 feet at Hwy 9 when this article was written.

Unfortunately, even with sun and moderate temperatures forecast, the flooding will likely close the Greenway for the weekend. Please check the Alpharetta website for the status of the Greenway and call the Greenway Status Hotline (770.886.2851 extension 5) for the Forsyth Greenway before visiting the trails.

Site Plans and Upcoming Features

Jeff — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:42:41 +0000

Our site is constantly evolving. We’re striving to make this the best site to get information about the Big Creek Greenway in Forsyth and Fulton Counties. To further this effort, we wanted to ask our users what they would like to see on the site, and also give an idea of the features and content currently being developed.

Currently in development:

Current Conditions – This page will give information on the current condition of the Greenway trail in 2 sections, Forsyth and Alpharetta. In addition to the current weather and creek level it will give the status of that segment of the trail. This will come in handy given the amount of rain we have seen recently.
Community Forums – The forums will give a place for our users to talk about the Greenway, plan events, and give feedback about the site.

Ideas not yet in development:

Flickr Photo Pool – A photo pool on Flickr would allow you to share your pictures of the Greenway on the site. We would feature a photo each day or week on the site.

Are there any other features you would like to see on the site? Anything that you would like to see incorporated into the features listed above? We’d love to get some feedback so that the site can keep moving in the right direction. Leave a comment below, or send us an e-mail with your suggestions!

Phase 1 Opening Delayed Until Friday

Jeff — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:30:58 +0000

Forsyth Big Creek Greenway Phase 1

The opening of the Forsyth Big Creek Greenway Phase 1 from Highway 9 to McFarland Parkway has been pushed back due to heavy rains in the area. The new official trail opening will be on Friday December 4th at 10:30am. There will be a ribbon cutting to celebrate the opening of the new 4 mile section of the greenway.

Heavy rains in the area have pushed Big Creek to near flood stage. With additional heavy rain expected in the area, it will likely go over the minor flood stage of 7 feet at Kimball Bridge. At the time of this article it was already at 6.7 feet. Use caution visiting the trails when water levels begin to reach minor flood stage.

We’ll keep you up to date as we find out more about the opening of the trail Friday, including where the ribbon cutting will take place and if the ceremony gets pushed back due to the weather again.

New Feature – Big Creek Greenway Weather Conditions

Jeff — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:27:33 +0000

Big Creek Greenway Weather Conditions Widget

We’ve added a new feature to help determine if the Greenway is usable with the recent rains. Now you can check on the weather and river level in your area at the top of our site. New data, including temperature, humidity, wind, conditions and water level, is updated every half an hour. The river level is usually from 45 minutes to an hour behind current time.

We’ll be enhancing this new feature as time goes on, including adding a method to notify if the river level is currently rising or falling, and if the river level is nearing flood stage. Unfortunately after speaking with the city of Alpharetta, there is no definite way to determine when the trail closes due to flooding, or when it will reopen. You can call the city of Alpharetta to get Big Creek Greenway information at (678) 297-6102 if you are unsure of flooding.

Enjoy, and as always, if there is something you would like to see on this site, shoot us an e-mail or leave a comment. Thanks to the USGS and NOAA.gov for making the data available.