A portion of Ga. Highway 212 just north of the Monastery will be closed on Tuesday, May 14 to allow for the installation of a covered pedestrian bridge as part of the Rockdale River portion of the PATH Trail leading out to the Monastery. 

The road will be closed for one day just south of the intersection of Ga. Highway 212 and Oglesby Bridge Road with Department of Transportation signs directing vehicles to detours.

PATH recently partnered with Georgia State Parks and Rockdale County to construct more than 5 miles of new trails in and around Panola Mountain State Park, funded by Georgia State Parks, Rockdale County SPLOST funds and donations to PATH, a private nonprofit that helps build bicycling and pedestrian trails. 

New construction this year includes this 1.5-mile segment of the Rockdale River Trail, which will go from the South River bridge to the Monastery and will be completed late 2013 or early 2014. The 1.4-mile portion from the South River bridge to the Lorraine trailhead is estimated to be completed around  late 2013.

The nearby Arabia Mountain and South River Trails will continue south and east all the way to South Rockdale Community Park on Fairview Road with future segments continuing to the Monastery of the Holy Spirit's new visitor’s center.

According to Jonathan McCaig with the PATH Foundation, the new PATH trail that includes the bridge over Ga. Highway 212 will be open in four to six months after the bridge is installed May 14.