So I came across this tidbit the other day “Atlanta has over 100 miles of off-street [bike] trails already built or funded for construction”. That reminded me the City of Raleigh already has 117 miles of off-street bikeways, with more to come. Take that Atlanta! I feel like sometimes we don’t give ourselves enough credit for things that Raleigh does right. Granted, some of those 117 miles are just walkways through parks or random segments that don’t connect to anything, so we’ll call it 100 even. Even so, we have about .0002 miles of multi-use trail per capita, or more than 1 foot of trail for every city resident. Did a little digging and couldn’t find any mid-size cities with a more extensive network (Minneapolis comes close). Our greenway system might not be the most scenic, or the best maintained, or the most useful, but in terms of sheer miles, we’re hard to top.
The greenway system really is an unappreciated gem.
As someone who bikes in this area a lot and would use this all the time, I wish the timeframe wasn’t so long!
Edit: Some college towns likely have a higher ratio of greenway miles to resident. Boulder claims 84 miles of multi-use trails but it looks like that figure include a lot of glorified sidewalk paths – not true greenways. Davis, CA is a world famous bike mecca with a very small population but doesn’t really have many off-street paths either. Cities have different definitions of greenway, bike path, bike trail, bikeway, multi-use path, so these stats are tough to parse. Still, Raleigh undoubtedly stacks up high.
i went to boulder and brought my bike this summer, they have such a great greenway system. planning to go back in the spring and ride a lot more. but yes raleigh is pretty much the best city i can think of in terms of mileage and variety of greenways!
Cary is considered to be a mid sized city. Raleigh technically may not be a mid sized city now. Cary has 95 miles of greenways.
Yeah, I’m curious how midsized is measured these days. One day or another, Cary is going to have to figure out that they are now a city.
I love our Greenways here. It is the most extensive network mileage wise that I have seen. I ride or jog on them at least weekly or more.
However, there are a number of things that can be done to level up the greenways.
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Biggest issue is that they don’t really seem to go anywhere, like downtown. The lack of a Greenway that connects into downtown is a big hole in the system that needs to be addressed.
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Lighting on certain key greenway sections to extend their usage time into the evenings this time of year when it’s dark by 5:30pm.
idk you can get into downtown easily from greenways from east south and west. i just wish there was easier connections to north but seems like they are working on it
I believe only the south has the “easy” connection with Little Rock Trail. Once you’re to John Winters Park, there’s really no good west/east connection without road riding. I also mainly mention this as “easy” would be for all ages and experience.
In saying that, I’ve ridden a lot around downtown and I tend to do ok, but I also have a lot of miles downtown. Cabarrus is a decent connection, but there are no actual bike lanes and you are going up the hill especially when heading west.
The few key points the greenway goes is:
- NC State, however we know that the lanes on Hillsborough are terrible if you are trying to ride there from the greenway.
- Dorothea Dix and the nearby Rockway development
- Pullen Park
- Meredith College and the shops across (Brickhouse, Raleigh Brewing, etc)
- Whole Foods (although the connection needs work into and out of the shopping center)
- NCMA
- Crabtree & Glenwood Place
- Umstead
- Wegman’s (which they do have bike lanes that do go all the way up)
There are places it goes to, but I think some of those places aren’t really taking advantage of being close to the greenway.
I would like to see a better connection down Lake Boone Trail so the greenway can connect all the way to the hospital and medical offices. I am constantly checking on the Blue Ridge Rd sidepath project. I’m excited for that to be completed.
To add to this, having the section around Meredith College open way longer (unless that’s the section you’re talking about).
Separately, I did see the flyer below near Glen Eden park while riding on my way home promoting running on the greenway after dark. I think Raleigh would do well to open up a section of greenway with lights for the holidays. I’m sure it would draw quite a few visitors.
I guess saying “it doesn’t go anywhere” is an over-excageration.
There are Greenways that get you close to downtown. Rocky Branch and the Spur up through Chavis Park from Walnut. But both of these have a “last mile problem” in that you need to get on the streets to get into downtown proper. Not an issue for me, but not a route I would do with kids.
NCMA integrates really well with the Greenway. We need to see more of that. Rocky Branch goes through NCState. Dix and Pullen park are Greenway adjacent, and I would expect Dix to incorporate it better as the park is built out. The trail skirts around Pullen, but then it just dumps you onto a very narrow sidewalk for the last bit.
I’m not trying to 
on our greenway system. I love it and it’s very extensive, but it could be so much more. The backbones are there. It just needs more focus and integration with points of interest & destinations. Improve the last mile problem to destinations, and create more spurs into neighborhoods. This could really take our greenways up to the next level.
100% agree. I talk and say good things about the greenway. There are some good and some bad. I’m all about improving it. I definitely try to avoid the Pullen part with the sidewalk.
They kind of have figured this out recently and are focusing on their downtown more than ever.
However, “officially” becoming a city instead of a town would be a fantastic waste of energy. The NCGA would have to pass a bill changing the wording of its charter. Not sure why a municipality would wish such an unnecessary interaction with the s**tshow at NCGA, when there is literally zero legal difference between “town” and “city” in North Carolina. So, for the forseeable future, “Town of Cary” it is.
In my non-objective opinion, the Triangle has the best greenway system on the East Coast. “Best” is subjective, certainly, and depends on how its measured, but when you factor in the total miles (270 including Umstead and rising), the amount of things you can do with the greenways (coffee shop tour, brewery tour, mural tour, parks tour, for instance) and the fact you can ride between Raleigh, Cary and Durham almost exclusively on the greenways, that adds up to a great system.
Can it be improved, certainly!!
Here is a map of all greenways in the triangle-
www.bit.ly/ncgreenway
Here is doc that has info on riding your bike to/from Raleigh, Durham, Cary and taking the train back-
bit.ly/bikeamtrak
Happy cycling- ping if any questions about above links.
Farmer’s Market as well is a good one you left out - but I agree with your points. Would be awesome to see more built near and along the greenway, and positioned as things to stop at and visit while using the greenways - a bar, restaurant, coffee shop - that sort of thing.
Yes, to quote North Carolina General Statutes 160A-1(2): ”City” is interchangeable with the terms “town” and “village,” is used throughout this Chapter in preference to those terms, and shall mean any city as defined in this subdivision without regard to the terminology employed in charters, local acts, other portions of the General Statutes, or local customary usage.
In theory, Raleigh could get the General Assembly to rename it a Village, Rolesville a City, and Charlotte a Town. Nothing would change.
You know that my comment was tongue in cheek, right? 
Raleigh’s greenway network is mostly streamside, so the required wetlands/flood buffers mean that the mainline trails won’t go directly to the sights. But a couple of short connector trails could help a lot, and there are a couple of chances to really lean into the greenway as a pedestrian-centered street frontage: Crabtree mall, Hodges St., Centennial Campus
Rail-trails like the ATT often go directly into downtowns, but kind of by definition said downtowns grew up around now-abandoned rail lines – so they’re not necessarily where the action is today.
Livable Raleigh is back at it again with Is the city lying about the Big Branch Greenway? Why can’t these people just let it go?
Maybe I’m misunderstanding the riparian buffer rules, but those seem to imply a greenway is an acceptable use. As for the 1976 greenway plan, it very clearly mentions Big Branch.
