I do House Creek to Meredith > Gorman > Sullivan Dr which has a greenway trail > Rocky Branch through NC State > Cabarrus St.
Only section I don’t care for is the section of Rocky Branch between Pullen Rd > Ashe Ave. It’s basically a sidewalk in that section. Cabarrus of course gets you to the convention center. No bike lanes but the traffic there is pretty low and slow.
Going through NC State isn’t too bad either. I’ve used Stinson Dr to bypass Hillsborough St. and use the sidepath that runs along Pullen Rd (north of Stinson Dr.). You can then take Hillsborough St down.
A different section I like taking (but isn’t greenway) is Crabtree Creek > Alleghany Dr > Transylvania Ave > Beaufort St. > Scotland/White Oak > Sunset Dr > Duncan St > Fairview Rd > Under Wade Ave bridge > N. West St.
Main point is there is a way to get downtown from Crabtree although there is that one bad section. Not so much from North Hills or Wegmans via the greenway or even separated bike lanes. Would have to use neighborhood streets. Atlantic also needs to have bike lanes extended to the greenway. I tried heading North on the greenway after stopping at Hummingbird (which I came in from East Whitaker Mill). I had to pull over and stop on Atlantic so I could pull my bike on the curb to the greenway trail.