Of our recent greenway coverage (see below), Bob writes: “Great overview! The only section I didn’t see mentioned this week is the missing link of the Crabtree greenway between Lindsay Drive and Umstead. Any good news on this one?”

I asked Sig Hutchinson about this stretch last week. Sig, as many of you may know, is the Triangle’s go-to guy when it comes to making trails happen. Back in the 1990s, he was the driving force behind getting mountain bike trails established at the Beaverdam area of Falls Lake. He moved on to become president of the Triangle Greenways Council, pushing greenway development throughout the Triangle. More recently, he’s been the chairman of the Wake County Open Space and Parks Advisory Committee, spearheading 2007’s successful $50 million Wake County open space bond referendum. Whenever there’s a snag in trail and greenway development, Sig usually is brought in to unsnag things. Such is the case with the aforementioned stretch of the Crabtree Creek Trail.

At present, the Crabtree Creek Trail runs about 12 miles along its namesake tributary, from Lindsay Drive downstream to Milburnie Road. Construction will soon begin on the 4.6 miles of greenway linking the Milburnie end of the trail with the Neuse River Trail, a 28-mile work-in-progress that should be finished in about a year. The two-mile stretch would create a link on the northwest end of Crabtree Creek Trail, from Lindsay Drive into Umstead State Park. The link would help fulfill one of the city of Raleigh’s primary greenway goals: to create an interconnected greenway network. In this case, a completed 18-mile Crabtree Creek Trail would provide a link through east and north Raleigh between the Neuse River Trail and Umstead State Park. From Umstead, greenway users can access Raleigh greenway on the west side of town as well as Cary greenway that is on the brink of connecting with the 22-mile American Tobacco Trail, which is on the brink (in a little over a year) of running into downtown Durham.

Unfortunately, the two-mile stretch of Crabtree Creek greenway-to-be between Lindsay Drive and Umstead has been caught in the crossfire of a dispute between local homeowners and a quarry through which the greenway would pass. The quarry has said it would grant greenway access to its land if the city allows it to expand operations at the site. That expansion would bring blasting closer to the homeowners, which doesn’t make them happy. Thus, a stalemate.

When I asked Sig for an update on the situation last week, he replied, “I can’t talk about it.” That means some sort of negotiation is going on. Often, that’s an encouraging sign: You can’t reach an agreement if you aren’t talking. Unfortunately, the three sides — the quarry, the homeowners, the city — have been “talking” for a dozen years.

An argument could be made that with the impending completion of the 2.9-mile House Creek Greenway, the Crabtree connector becomes less important. When it opens in about a month, House Creek will link the Crabtree Creek Trail at Crabtree Valley Mall with the greenway on Raleigh’s west side (Rocky Branch and Reedy Creek), as well as Umstead and the Cary greenway.

The Crabtree connector, though, is about more than just greenway. While I haven’t explored the two miles between Umstead and Lindsay Drive (it’s on private land, which would be trespassing, which would be illegal), those who have say it’s probably the most scenic stretch along Crabtree Creek from Lake Crabtree all the way to the Neuse. The added exposure of a greenway through this area would, I think, be the catalyst for awakening interest in Crabtree Creek’s long ignored, true recreational attribute: paddling.

Crabtree Creek is the rare, reliably navigable waterway through a major metro area. The creek has its remote stretches (Umstead, the wetlands near Raleigh Boulevard), it’s decidedly suburan stretches (through the back of Crabtree Valley Mall), it’s brushes with the 1 percent (along Allegheny Drive, where John Edwards once lived). Mostly, it’s an intimate passage under a full canopy, navigable year round. Yet there’s not one official put-in along this roughly 24-mile stretch.

There is a less contentious option for the Crabtree connector: a route that would leave Crabtree Creek at Ebenezer Church Road, head up the hill, then work its way though neighborhoods before dropping back down to the creek before heading into Umstead. That would bypass part of the scenic beauty those familiar with the stretch rave about. It would also bypass an abandoned portion of the quarry that could be used during heavy rains to collect flood water — and create what Sig Hutchins says would be the highest waterfall on the East Coast.

That would be cool, no doubt. But at this point, it still, after a dozen years, remains all talk. Perhaps it’s time for that talk to veer away from the creek and quarry and into the less contentious alternate route.

The Quarry Route

View Crabtree Connector to Umstead State Park in a larger map

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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: A Greenway-Connected Triangle.

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The post Talked out? It’s time to reconsider the Crabtree/Umstead connector appeared first on GetGoing NC!.

To follow along with the trails mentioned below, download a copy of the Raleigh greenway map here.

The first 8 miles of the the Neuse Greenway Trail is all but 20-feet finished.

That’s the official word this morning from Raleigh Senior Greenway Planner Vic Lebsock. Officially, there’s only 20 feet left to finish, on a boardwalk a little over two miles south of the northern trailhead (off the old Falls of Neuse Road). A stretch under Capital Boulevard and greenway under the new Falls of Neuse Road — both of which were under construction a month ago — have been completed, Lebsock said. That means you could start from the southern trailhead, at the WRAL/CASL Soccer Complex off Perry Creek Road between Capital Boulevard and Louisburg Road, and travel unencumbered six miles upstream.

Lebsock couldn’t say when the 20-foot gap would be finished. He could say, “We hope to have the official ribbon cutting in November.” He also could say that while the trail officially isn’t open, there sure are a lot of people have discovered the greenway and are using it.

While the 20-foot-gap issue gets resolved, construction on most of the rest of the Neuse Greenway Trail should get underway within the next two weeks. Lebsock says construction should begin from Horseshoe Creek Farm (just across the Neuse River from where the aforementioned 8-mile stretch ends) south to near the Heddingham neighborhood, and from Anderson Point south to the Johnston County Line. Two remaining mile-long stretches are expected to go to bid by January.

Lebsock says the entire 28-mile Neuse Greenway Trail — from Falls of Neuse dam south to the Johnston County line — remains on target to be finished by the end of 2012.

“We’re right on schedule,” says Lebsock

In other Raleigh greenway news:

House Creek Greenway. This much-anticipated 2.9-mile greenway will connect the city’s Reedy Creek Greenway on the west with the 11-mile-long Crabtree Creek Greenway to the east. Lebsock says construction continues all along this stretch, which essentially parallels Raleigh’s Beltline (I-440). He said “unforeseen construction problems” have delayed reopening of Glen Eden Road, under which a pedestrian tunnel has been built (the tunnel, in addition to a tunnel under Lake Boone Trail, are both finished), and work continues on a connector greenway extending from Ridge Road that links into House Creek and the Reedy Creek greenways just east of the pedestrian bridge over the Beltline.

That connector plays a key role in a seemingly unrelated greenway two miles to the west. There, a  greenway less than a mile long has been built along Edwards Mill Road by the N.C. Department of Transportation linking the Reedy Creek Trail with the RBC Center. As part of the House Creek project, the gates on the pedestrian bridge over the Beltline will be removed. Those gates are locked at night to prevent access to the Meredith College campus, through which the southeastern portion of the Reedy Creek Greenway passes (a new gate will be built in the pedestrian tunnel under Wade Avenue, through which the Reedy Creek Greenway passes). Using street connectors and greenways, it will be possible for people living inside the Beltline to take the greenway to Carolina Hurricanes games and other evening events at the RBC Center.

Lebsock says the entire House Creek project should be finished by March 2012.

Crabtree Creek Greenway extension to the Neuse River. Currently, the 11-mile greenway follows its namesake creek from near Duraleigh Road downstream to Milburnie Road. This four-mile project would link the Milburnie end with the Neuse River and Neuse Greenway Trail. Lebsock says stretch will likely go to bid in January or February, with completion targeted for the second quarter of 2013. (On the northwest end, the Crabtree Creek Greenway eventually will run to Umstead State Park and hook into the park’s 18-mile bike and bridle trail network.

Walnut Creek Greenway to New Hope Road. The Walnut Creek Greenway currently runs along the south side of Raleigh, from Lake Wheeler Road east to Worthdale Park. Eventually, greenway to be built through N.C. State’s Centennial Campus will link it with the Lake Johnson Greenway to the west. To the east, four miles remain before the Walnut Creek Greenway taps into the emerging Neuse Greenway Trail. Two of those miles, from Worthdale Park to South New Hope Road, will go out to bid in 30 to 60 days, according to Lebsock. That stretch should open by the end of 2012. Funding for the remaining two miles, from South New Hope to the Neuse, rests in the fate of a $40 million transportation bond that goes before Raleigh voters Oct. 11.

Honeycutt Creek Greenway: The 6-mile Honeycutt Creek Greenway will run from Strickland Road to Falls Lake, where it will connect with the Mountains-to-Sea Trail. Lebsock says a few final approvals and permits are needed for this trail, but that it should go to bid shortly and construction should begin in January. It is expected to be finished by the end of 2012.

The post First 8 miles of Neuse Trail 20 feet from ‘officially’ opening appeared first on GetGoing NC!.