Sometimes you just need to stretch your legs — really, really stretch your legs. If you live in the Triangle and love a good, long stretch, you are in luck, because for an urban area it has more than its share of long trails. And varied long trails to boot. Some are paved and suitable for wheeled sports from cycling to rollerblading to stroller pushing. Some are a foot friendly, finally crushed natural surface, especially good for running. Some are the narrow, intimate singletrack perfect for hiking.
We’ve put together snapshots of five such long trails, ranging from the recently 7.1-mile Black Creek Greenway in Cary to the 60-mile section of the Falls Lake portion of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail (which will soon connected to the Eno River section of the MST and does connect to the Neuse River Trail, which will soon run nearly 33 miles into Clayton). Check out the snapshots. If you’re intrigued, click the recommended link for additional information.

Links to the five trails are below. For future reference, you can find these trails on our home page, on the left-hand bar under “Hiking”.

• American Tobacco Trail
• Black Creek Greenway
• Eno River section of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail
• Falls Lake section of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail
• Neuse River Trail

The post Long Trails of the Triangle appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

“Hey,” I said interrupting whatever it was we were talking about. “That’s the Black Creek Greenway, isn’t it?”
Why I hadn’t noticed the bulldozer busy at work just beyond the Cycle Surgeon’s property line, I’m not sure because this was the fifth time in less than a week that I’d been at the Surgeon’s Cary garage as he patiently tried piecing together the bike I was borrowing after I’d broken the frame on mine. “I don’t want to spend a lot to get it running,” I’d say every time I brought the newly broken loaner in. Then, noting I have a race this Sunday, I’d add, “And I need it immediately.”
Matt Lodder, a k a the Cycle Surgeon, confirmed that it was indeed the vital last link in the Black Creek Greenway, a vital link between Umstead State Park and Raleigh’s 69-mile greenway network and Cary’s White Oak Creek Greenway, which is close to connecting to the American Tobacco Trail, which is close to connecting to downtown Durham.
“They sent us a letter in March saying they were going to start construction and that it would be done by the end of the year,” Matt said.
When finished, the Black Creek Greenway will run 5.6 miles, from Lake Crabtree County Park to the northeast to Cary’s Bond Park, just over a half mile to the west. Five miles of the greenway is complete; the remaining 0.6 of a mile is what is currently under construction. That stretch includes, according to the Town of Cary Web site:

• 0.07 mile on N.W. Maynard Road in front of the State Employees Credit Union.
• 0.12 mile on N.W. Maynard in front of the Carolina Car Wash.
• 0.38 mile in the Battery Subdivision, running from High House Road to Castalia Drive.

“Did you know,” I told Matt, “that in about a year, you’ll be able to ride your bike out your back door to a Durham Bulls game?”
Matt’s expression suggested he did not know that he would be able to take the greenway-in-progress west to Bond Park and pick up the White Oak Creek Greenway, which would take him — with one easily skirted interruption — to Green Level Church Road. (For the next month, there is another interruption: just past NC 55 the greenway is closed due to construction of the Western Wake Freeway. That stretch is scheduled to reopen the end of August.)
At Green Level Church Road, there’s a slight hiccup in the eventual connection with the American Tobacco Trail, a hiccup quickly remedied by taking a right on Green Level Church, then a left on Green Level West Road to the ATT. (It’s roughly a mile.) From there, the ATT goes north into Durham, where construction is soon to begin on the long-missing link over I-40 and the connection with 6.5-miles of paved ATT into downtown Durham, at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
“And,” I added, “if you go in the other direction on this greenway, you’ll be able to ride to Lake Crabtree, to Umstead and then connect with the Reedy Creek Trail and miles of connected greenway in Raleigh.
Matt listened politely, nodding and “Wow”-ing at the appropriate times. Fortunately, I remembered my bike was but one of more than a dozen cued up on the Surgeon’s deck awaiting urgent repair for races this weekend, from ORAMM near Asheville to the Lake Placid Ironman. I refrained from adding that, if he’s patient enough he’ll one day be able to take this greenway south to Key West, Fla., or north to Canada, this particular stretch of greenway being part of the East Coast Greenway, a work-in-progress 3,000-mile greenway spanning the East Coast.
As I wheeled my bike away yet again, Matt said, “I hope I don’t see you again before the race this weekend.”

He meant he hoped I didn’t have any more problems with the bike. I’m pretty sure that’s what he meant.

* * *

Cary’s Black Creek Greenway (green represents stretch under construction)

View Cary’s Black Creek Greenway in a larger map

The post Construction begins on final link of Cary’s Black Creek Greenway appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

For the past week, we’ve been looking at the current explosive growth of the Raleigh greenway system: $35 million to add about 45 miles of greenway. By 2014, Raleigh should have about 116 miles of greenway, with new, vital links along the Neuse River, Crabtree Creek, Walnut Creek, House Creek and Honeycutt Creek.

The current construction will basically fulfill the city’s 1976 goal of establishing a greenway network, a secondary, pedestrian transportation system making it possible to get around much of Raleigh with minimal exposure to motorized traffic.

While Raleigh is well on its way toward a greenway network worthy of national envy, what about the rest of the Triangle? How are we coming along to fulfill the Circle the Triangle concept first promoted by the Triangle Greenways Council in the 1990s?

There’s promising news on two fronts.

After innumerable delays, a bridge over I-40 in Durham linking 7.7 miles of the American Tobacco Trail north into downtown Durham with trail on the south side of I-40 extending into Chatham and western Wake County appears ready to become reality. In late February, a $7.5 million contract for the bridge and about 4 miles of connecting trail was received and subsequently approved by both Durham and the N.C. Department of Transportation. Construction is scheduled to begin in about a month, the project is expected to be completed in June 2013.

It’s been an exhaustive wait. The 22-mile American Tobacco Trail was conceived in the 1980s, the first stretch of trail opened in the 1990s and its completion has been eagerly anticipated since.

“All I can say is there are so many people asking about this, anticipating its completion that it’s great that it’s finally happening,” Dale McKeel, Durham’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator said Wednesday.

The American Tobacco Trail is considered the spine of the Circle the Triangle goal: It was envisioned that trails in adjoining municipalities would link into the ATT, making it possible to ride a bike from any municipality in the Triangle to any other. The most coveted connection: From downtown Durham to downtown Raleigh. That leads us to the good news on the second front.

In January, the Wake County Commissioners directed that greenways be added to projects considered for funding through a $50 million open space bond approved by voters in 2007. Previously, the money had been targeted to “lands such as forests, meadows, floodplains and stream corridors,” according to the Wake County Web site. “The top priority is to protect and improve water quality by safeguarding lakes, rivers and streams.”

About half of the $50 million remains, $5 million of which is immediately available, according to Sig Hutchinson, who chairs the county’s Open Space and Parks Advisory Committee. Money would be available in matching funds, meaning the municipality would have to put up as much as the county. And there is a cap on the county’s total outlay per project of $500,000 to $750,000.

Greenway fans couldn’t have a better advocate for making sure the commissioners’ mandate is carried out. Hutchinson was a major backer of the Circle the Triangle concept when he served as president of the Triangle Greenway Council and has been instrumental in pushing greenway development throughout the Triangle. He knows how — and where — the money can best be spent.

“I haven’t been so excited about finding real money in a long time,” Hutchinson said Wednesday.

Here are some areas where Hutchinson thinks the money can be most effective.

Cary: White Oak Creek Greenway connection to the American Tobacco Trail. Currently, Cary’s White Oak Creek Greenway stops a couple miles shy of the ATT. It’s a crucial couple of miles because it would make that vital link between downtown Durham and Raleigh. Here’s the problem: the remaining two miles is actually in Apex, and Apex is more interested in completing it’s Beaver Creek Greenway, which will connect downtown Apex with the American Tobacco Trail.

“We’ve jokingly talked about annexing Apex,” says Hutchinson.

And Cary has been above offering its expertise outside its jurisdiction to get a trail done. The 4.5-mile stretch of the ATT in Chatham County was in limbo until Cary stepped in and had its planners address key design issues.

Knightdale: As part of the developing Neuse River Trail, a $630,000 suspension bridge (the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in the state, according to Hutchinson) will be built over Mingo Creek. The goal is to build three miles of greenway connecting the Neuse River Trail to Knightdale. “The [open space] money wouldn’t get the greenway all the way to Knightdale, but it’s a good start,” Hutchinson.

Wake Forest: Already under construction where Smith Creek dumps into the Neuse River is what Hutchinson says will be the longest pedestrian bridge in the state. The goal: link the Neuse River Trail with the town of Wake Forest. Again, says Hutchinson, the county contribution wouldn’t be quite enough to make the entire connection, but it’s close.

Hutchinson says Holly Springs and Morrisville have also expressed interest in applying for open space matching funds.

This much appears nearly certain for the Triangle’s greenway system:

• In about a month, Raleigh’s House Creek Greenway will link the 12-mile Crabtree Creek Trail with the Reedy Creek and Rocky Branch greenways, a total distance of about 9 miles (with connections to the south with the Walnut Creek Trail and to the north with Umstead State Park and Cary’s Black Creek Greenway).
• By summer 2013, the 22-mile American Tobacco Trail will be completed, linking downtown Durham with western Wake County.
• By summer 2013, Raleigh’s 28-mile Neuse River Trail will be done, running from Falls Lake dam south to the Wake County line, where it will meet with five more miles in Johnston County, into Clayton.
• By fall 2013, Raleigh’s Walnut Creek Greenway will be complete from the Farmer’s Market off Lake Wheeler Road east to the Neuse River Trail, a distance of about 12 miles. (From there, it will join with a little under three miles of greenway planned through N.C. State’s Centennial Campus, then connected with existing greenway linking with and running around Lake Johnson.)
• By early 2014, Raleigh’s Walnut Creek Greenway will be done from near Ebenezer Church Road downstream to the Neuse River Trail, a distance of 16.7 miles.

The Triangle may not be circled with greenway, but within two years much of it will be connected.

* * *

A week(plus) of greenways

Our week(plus) of greenways:

Thursday, April 12: House Creek Greenway to Open June 25 (Read: Memorial Day)
Monday: 90 Second Escape: Raleigh’s Growing Greenway System
Tuesday: Raleigh’s Neuse River Trail: Another 3.5 miles by August, 16.1 miles by November.
Wednesday: Raleigh’s Greenway: 2014 and Beyond.
Today: The big picture: A look at how the Triangle’s greenway network will look in less than two years.

* * *
Like us on Facebook and get health, fitness and outdoors news throughout the day.

GetGoingNC.com

Promote Your Page Too
 

The post A greenway-connected Triangle appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Within two years, here’s how your day on the Raleigh greenways might look.

You start out on a bike ride at Lake Johnson. Park at the boathouse and take a leisurely (except for the hills on the lake’s south side) lap around the lake before heading down Walnut Creek through N.C. State’s Centennial Campus taking note of all the new construction. Stop at the Farmer’s Market to see if the strawberries are in yet, then continue downstream on some of Raleigh’s oldest greenway. Pass the abandoned E.B. Bain water treatment plant, swing by the Walnut Creek Wetland Center, pass through Worthdale and Walnut Creek parks and head on down to the Neuse River.

Here, with about 15 miles already under your belt, you pause to catch your breath and make a decision: north or south? It dawns on you that you haven’t been to Clayton for a while, so you head south along a sylvan stretch of the new Neuse River Trail. After nearly 14 miles you satisfy your Clayton itch, turn around and become so caught up in riding 33 miles of uninterrupted greenway (no street crossings to deal with) that before you know it you’re at the base of Falls Lake dam, the Neuse River Trail finally exhausted. You turn and retreat 17 miles back down the Neuse to the Crabtree Creek Trail. Like the Walnut Creek Trail you started the day on, Crabtree Creek runs west from the Neuse River Trail, about 17 miles into North Raleigh.

You stop about three miles shy of the end, though, and head south on the House Creek Greenway, which parallels the Beltline for 2.9 miles before T-ing into the Reedy Creek Trail. You hang a right, which takes you onto the pedestrian bridge over the Beltline into the N.C. Museum of Art, where you take a moment to contemplate Thomas Sayer’s onionringesque handiwork. Then it’s on to Umstead State Park. Now, you could continue through Umstead and hook up on the other side at Lake Crabtree with Cary’s Black Creek Greenway, which meets up with the White Oak Creek Greenway in Bond Park, which takes you almost to the American Tobacco Trail. A glance at the mid-afternoon sun tells you you haven’t time for this 16-mile detour. You turn around and head back down the Reedy Creek Trail, back over the Beltline and through the Meredith College campus (but not before a quick hop across Hillsborough to Ben & Jerry’s).

Where Reedy Creek ends at Hillsborough and Gorman streets, there’s a slightly inconvenient 1/3-mile connection you must make on Gorman to reach the Rocky Branch Greenway. More good sightseeing as Rocky Branch takes you through the N.C. State Campus, past the newly renovated Pullen Park and by Central Prison and Dorthea Dix. At Dix, you pause under a lovely gazebo just off the trail, but not for long because you notice you’re starting to lose daylight. Fortunately, you’re back to the Walnut Creek Trail: Hang a right and it’s only about 7 miles back to Lake Johnson.

You get back to your car, unclip and suddenly realize how incredibly tired you are. Little wonder: You just rode 116 miles.

All on greenway in the city of Raleigh.

Two years hence

Within two years, the core of a massive greenway system envisioned for Raleigh in the 1970s will be in place. It’s a little tardy: early on, it was expected that the network would reach the 200-mile mark by 2000. Come 2014, Raleigh should have about 106 miles of paved greenway systemwide, a large percentage of which will be interconnected. The main elements of the greenway, which are expected to come together in the next two years:

• Neuse River Trail, 28 miles, 6.5 of which is open. The greenway will run from the base of Falls dam south along its namesake river to the Johnston County line (where it will connect with five additional miles heading south into Clayton).
• Walnut Creek Trail, 17 miles, 12.3 of which is open. Runs around and south from Lake Johnson, along Walnut Creek, through N.C. State’s Centennial Campus, then through southeast Raleigh before meeting the Neuse River Trail south of Poole Road.
• Crabtree Creek Trail, 16.7 miles, 12.1 of which is open. Runs from just shy of Ebenezer Church Road southeast to the Neuse River Trail.
• Reedy Creek/Rocky Branch greenways, 9 miles. Runs from the Walnut Creek Trail north through N.C. State, Meredith College and the N.C. Museum of Art to Umstead State Park. (There, you can take a finely-crushed, tire-friendly trail 5 miles through the park to Lake Crabtree, where you can pick up Cary’s Black Creek and White Oak Creek greenways, which run 11.7 miles total, ending just shy of the 22-mile American Tobacco Trail.
• House Creek Greenway, 2.9 miles, expected to open within a month. A short but vital stretch, linking the Crabtree Creek Trail with the Reedy Creek Trail.
• Mine Creek/Honeycutt Creek greenways, 12 miles. This trail eventually will link the Crabtree Creek Trail with Falls Lake. Currently, the lower 6.55 miles, from Crabtree Creek north to near Six Forks Road, is down; the remaining 5.7 miles to Falls Lake should begin construction this summer.

And beyond 2014?

So what happens when the core of the Raleigh greenway system is in place come 2014 and the current $35 million greenway construction boom is completed?

“There are a couple things developing in the next year that we’ll need to look at carefully,” Vic Lebsock, Raleigh’s greenway planner, said last week. “The city is redoing its parks plan and that will include an update of the Capital Area Greenway system, which hasn’t been done in 20 years.”

For instance, with a growing greenway system comes increased use — and an increase in user conflicts. And it’s not just growing numbers: the paths are popular with a variety of uses, from strollers, to fitness walkers to skateboarders to inline skaters to families out for a leisurely bike ride to fitness-oriented cyclists looking to get in a long workout. Not to mention the fact that as the greenway network takes you to more places, more people use it as a secondary transportation network, taking it to work, to the store, to school. That’s a lot of diverse activity on a strip of asphalt just 10 feet wide.

“We may end up putting a center stripe on some greenways,” said Lebsock. “Or maybe we establish commuter routes. Maybe during certain hours of operation, we change the speed limit.”

The speed limit on Raleigh greenway, by the way, is 10 miles per hour. Probably not what your typical commuter or fitness rider is clocking on their cycle computer.

“Maybe the hours of operation need to be extended in certain situations,” he added.

Again, fyi, the greenways are officially open sunrise to sunset. That’s the case for most Triangle greenways, though in the case of greenways used for commuting and transportation in general, hours have been extended. The American Tobacco Trail in Durham, for instance, is officially open until 10 p.m.

A case in point in Raleigh: the pedestrian bridge over the Beltline, which is gated every evening at sunset. Especially in the lesser daylight months, getting home before the gate closes can be a challenge for commuters.

“I still see the greenway as being primarily for recreational use,” Lebsock said. “Bike use for commuting or for exercise, in my opinion, should be on the streets.”

One area where the greenways’ growing popularity has already been acknowledged is along the pavement’s shoulders. They’re now 6 feet wide on both sides, including two feet on both sides of finely crushed stone over-planted with grass, a foot-friendly surface that will siphon most runners off the pavement.

More directional signs need to go up as well. For the new greenways, signs and maps to help you find your way are standard, as are mileage markers every quarter mile. (Existing trails being retrofitted with mile markers get them every half mile.) Installing directional signs on existing trail will likely require another bond issue, as will new asphalt.

And, of course, there’s the need for more paths, especially in lightly served North Raleigh.

Lebsock has more ideas on what he thinks the system needs, but he’s reluctant to share them. He wants to wait and see what the public wants. A public comment period will begin soon as part of the parks and greenway update, a public comment period Lebsock said, “will be the most complete public process you’re gonna get anywhere.” That process is expected to begin mid-summer and take 18 months.

The timing is good, wrapping up about the time the current greenway construction frenzy wraps up. Based on what the public wants, Lebsock said they can get to work on the next phase of improving Raleigh’s greenway.

“I’m going to be fully open to what today’s modern, urban Raleigh wants,” said Lebsock, compared to what the large town of the 1980s needed it to be.”

* * *

A week(plus) of greenways

Our week(plus) of greenways:

Thursday, April 12: House Creek Greenway to Open June 25 (Read: Memorial Day)
Monday: 90 Second Escape: Raleigh’s Growing Greenway System
Tuesday: Raleigh’s Neuse River Trail: Another 3.5 miles by August, 16.1 miles by November.
Today: Raleigh’s Greenway: 2014 and Beyond.
Friday: The big picture: A look at how the Triangle’s greenway network will look in less than two years.

* * *

View Raleigh Greenways in a larger map

* * *

Like us on Facebook and get health, fitness and outdoors news throughout the day.

GetGoingNC.com
Raleigh’s greenway system: 2014 and beyond appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

Today’s 90-Second Escape: The Triangle’s Growing Greenways.

Today, we kick off a week of greenway coverage with a 90-Second Escape, this time in slideshow form. Today’s escape focuses on the $35 million in greenway construction projects working in Raleigh, and how those projects will drastically alter the face of Raleigh’s — and the Triangle’s — greenway network.

Also this week:

Tuesday: A construction update on Raleigh’s Neuse River Trail and other major greenway projects.

Wednesday: After the aforementioned projects are completed and the core of Raleigh’s greenway system is in place, then what? A conversation with Raleigh greenway planner Vic Lebsock.

Thursday: Weekend plans — with a focus on greenways.

Friday: The big picture: A look at how the Triangle’s greenway network will look in less than two years.

* * *

Like us on Facebook and get health, fitness and outdoors news throughout the day.

GetGoingNC.com

Promote Your Page Too

The post 90 Second Escape: The Triangle’s Growing Greenway System appeared first on GetGoing NC!.