While Durham officials circle their wagons and privately mull how to come up with another $2 million to build a pivotal pedestrian bridge over I-40, thereby completing the 22-mile American Tobacco Trail, others outside the city are more candid with possible solutions. Durham discovered the shortfall in July when it opened bids from eight contractors on the project, which also calls for about 4 miles of paved trail. The lowest…

Monday is never an easy time for the outdoors enthusiast, especially come summer. After a weekend of adventure, returning to the humdrum work-a-day world can make one melancholy. To help ease this trying transition from out-in-the-Sun-day to Mon-I-wish-I-were-back-in-the-sun-day, we’re running a new feature every Monday, at least during the summer, called 90-Second Escape. Essentially, it’s a 90-second mini-movie of a place you’d probably rather be: a trail, a park, a…

The first 8-mile stretch of the Neuse River Greenway in Raleigh is on target to open this September, Raleigh senior greenway planner Vic Lebsock said Thursday. “Yes, I am,” he replied when asked if he was confident of the late summer opening. The 8-mile stretch, from Falls of Neuse Road just below the Falls Lake dam south to the WRAL Soccer Complex, is part of the Neuse River Greenway, which…

Last week, we published a list of municipalities in North Carolina that we knew had greenways. Turns out there was a lot we didn’t know. Since we published that list we’ve heard from an additional 14 municipalities with greenways, from Whiteville’s four greenways totaling a mile in length to Rocky Mount’s 7-mile system to Pinehurst’s 11-mile. Not only we’re we pleasantly surprised that so many municipalities in North Carolina have…

For a while now, I’ve been mentioning that GetGoingNC.com will be growing, with an expanded presence focusing on North Carolina’s greenways. Specifically, our plan is to look at the state’s so-called “destination greenways.” “So-called” and the term itself in quotes because its definition is rather squishy. A destination greenway is one that people will put their bikes on the roof rack and drive to, in the hopes of spending at…

The Triangle’s greenway system is a tiny step closer to becoming a complete network. Joe Godfrey, parks planner with the Town of Cary, tells GGNC that a 1.3-mile missing link of the Black Creek Greenway should be finished mid-April. The stretch would extend the existing 5.6 miles of Black Creek Greenway running south from Lake Crabtree to Chapel Hill Road on to Maynard Road. A short stretch of the sidewalk/greenway…

Sunday, one of the kids asked how Daylight Saving Time came to be (a disgruntled kid, I should add, since she’d be waking for school an hour earlier the next morning). I spared her my discourse on a subject I’m peculiarly fascinated by and gave her the short version: Several countries adopted it in World War I as a way to save coal for the war effort. Most dropped it…

For years, Raleigh’s Neuse River Greenway consisted of a three-and-a-half-mile stretch of dirt trail from Old Milburnie Road just above U.S. 64 downstream to Anderson Point. Raleigh’s greenway master plan called for paved greenway running from just below the Falls Lake dam to the Johnston County line, and the topic would occasionally come up in greenway discussions, but it wasn’t a priority with the city. In 2008, though, Raleigh Mayor…

It may seem not right to suggest that Thanksgiving won’t be complete without the trots and runs, but it’s true. Imagine going out for a nice run — a 5K, an 8K, a 10K or even a half marathon —before settling in for a day of Thanksgiving feasting. Perhaps you’re thinking, “Hmm, I run 5 miles I can eat guilt-free for the rest of the day. Maybe this guy is…

Wanna do something more fun than work tomorrow? Wanna do something … epic? Like ride your bike from Raleigh to Durham, mostly on greenways? Friday at noon, 40 bikers/greenway enthusiasts will set forth from the N.C. Museum of Art on a 39-mile bike ride that will wind up five hours later in downtown Durham, at the American Tobacco Complex/Durham Bulls Athletic Park. It’s part of an effort to boost support…