Little Rock Greenway

Raleigh recently completed an extension to the Little Rock Greenway that creates 25.5 miles of interconnected trails with access to downtown Raleigh. On Thursday, February 18th, the city dedicated a half-mile extension of trail that begins just across the street from the awesome new Walnut Creek Wetlands Center and travels north through historic Chavis Park to Martin Street. This is a short trail, but it connects downtown Raleigh to the extensive Walnut Creek Greenway, making it possible to travel via greenway from downtown Raleigh west to NC State’s Centennial Campus and east to Worthdale Park  (near the Walnut Creek Ampitheater).

Raleigh recently broke ground on the Neuse River Greenway which will eventually travel from the dam at Falls Lake, south 28 miles along the Neuse to the Johnston County line. This route will connect to the Walnut Creek trail’s west end, further increasing the range of continuous greenway travel available to folks living downtown. Joe Miller has a good overview of the Neuse River Greenway project posted on his blog. I’ll be posting more about the NRG in the future.

This is an exciting time for parks and greenways in Raleigh. In the past eight months, there have been eight dedications of new trails and parks and one ground-breaking. Also – a special shout out to Vic Lebsock, this week’s Tarheel of the Week. Vic points out that he has the support of an awesome parks department, but Vic has been an important voice in the movement to connect Raleigh’s various trails. Congrats, Vic!