In the News

Segment with Radcliffe Bailey and Adron McCann with WABE-90.1FM Atlanta’s hub for culture, news and conversation

Posted on

Atlanta artist Radcliffe Bailey explores themes of ancestry, race and collective memory in new commissions with Adron McCann with Atlanta's WABE -90.1FM. Radcliffe Bailey has two commissions underway--one at the Cascade Springs Nature Preserve in Atlanta and the other on the Downtown Greenway. Click here to listen to the interview. Radcliffe and his team have submitted design plans to the TRC Review Committee and anticipate installation of the Freedom Cornerstone later this spring at the corner of Gate City Blvd and Murrow Blvd.

Final Mile Campaign Kick-Off & Glow on the Greenway Event

Posted on

We are kicking off the Final Mile Campaign in September! Join us for our Glow on the Greenway kick-off event on September 8 from 7-8:30pm; click here for more info. You can be part of helping us complete the 'final mile' of the Downtown Greenway as we get ready to start construction on the western side along the railroad corridor.  There are a number of naming opportunities available at various levels. Click here for more info and here to make a donation on-line.

Summer Pop-Up Fitness Classes with the YMCA of Greensboro

Posted on

Join us for FREE fitness classes on the Downtown Greenway!  Classes located at LoFi Park (500 N. Eugene St) and Historic Magnolia House (442 Gorrell Street). Want to order a Shoe Box Meal from The Historic Magnolia House for dinner to take home after class on July 28?  Click here for the menu. To place an order, please email info@magnoliahousegso.org or order when you arrive to class at 5:45pm.  Shoe Box Meals will be ready for pick-up at the end of class.      

Opening Celebration of Cairn’s Course at Westwoods

Posted on

May 22 marked the official opening of Thomas Sayre's piece called Cairn's Course at WestWoods along the railroad corridor on the western side of the Downtown Greenway. We also celebrated the soon to start construction of the final 1 mile of the 4 mile loop of the Downtown Greenway that will start later this year.  If you were unable to attend, click here to watch the Facebook Live event. Read recent article about the project by Dawn Kane in the News & Record.  

Update on design and construction

Posted on

2020 was a busy year for construction with work continuing on the Murrow Boulevard section running from Gate City Boulevard north and then west to Fisher Avenue and Greene Street.  Work is almost complete with some final landscaping, site furnishings, and signage to be finished.  An assessment is ongoing of the recent repaving of Murrow Boulevard – so you may see cones on the roadway for a bit longer. The bridges along Fisher Avenue that go over the railroad tracks and Church Street are in need of repair and that work will take place in 2021.  The trail will be open and a safe route provided during that construction. This whole section is a dramatic change from a 6-lane divided highway unsafe for pedestrians and cyclists with no landscaping to what you see today – a roadway suitable for vehicular traffic, a 12 foot wide greenway with enhanced landscaping and lots of trees, and a protected bike lane for southbound traffic. The Downtown Greenway is another step closer after City Council approved an agreement with NC Department of Transportation for construction of Phase 4 and the Atlantic and Yadkin Greenway Phase 1. Eighty percent of the $3.4 million project will come from federal funds with a 20 percent local match, using funds from the 2016 Parks and Recreation Bond and Transportation Bond accounts. The former railroad corridor on the west side will go out to bid in summer 2021 with an anticipated fall start date.  This section should be complete in 2023 and will not only close the four-mile loop of the Downtown Greenway and complete it, but will also build the Atlantic & Yadkin Greenway north to Benjamin Parkway. Artist Radcliffe Bailey was selected in early 2020 to design and fabricate the last of the 4 cornerstones – Freedom at the intersection of Murrow and Gate City Boulevards (click here for more info on Radcliffe Bailey).  We anticipate construction to begin in fall 2021. Removal of railroad tracks along the railroad corridor along Phase 4: Completed greenway trail along the eastern section from Gate City Blvd to Fisher to Greene Street along Murrow Blvd: A renovation of LoFi Park at the corner of Smith and Eugene Streets was completed in the spring and the new design by David Mudd and Justin Vettel, Permaculture Gardeners includes berms with boulders and new trees, and a rain garden in addition to an open lawn space.  The grass is greener than it ever has been before with the addition of astroturf. Click here for map of Open Sections.  

Artist Radcliffe Bailey shares plans for Freedom Cornerstone

Posted on

Artist Radcliffe Bailey who was selected to design and fabricate the Freedom Cornerstone shares plans for the last of four cornerstones located on the Downtown Greenway. Click here to read recent article in the News & Record. Click here to watch Action Greensboro's The More You Know GSO Facebook Live event with Radcliffe Bailey and learn about his vision and plans for the cornerstone. We anticipate construction to begin on the cornerstone this summer.    

Downtown Greenway receives $15,000 grant to complete the final mile

Posted on

Project is one of eleven in the country to awardees of the highly competitive Rails-to-Trails Conservancy’s 2021 Trail Grants Program totaling $145,000.  The Downtown Greenway received a $15,000 grant from the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy 2021 Trail Grants Program. The RTC Trail Grants program awarded $145,000 in total to fill critical trail gaps, with an emphasis on regional and community development goals. Among the awards included $60,000 in Doppelt Family Trail Development Fund Grants to bring forward the vision for the cross-country Great American Rail-Trail™, a developing 3,700-mile trail that connects across 12 states between Washington, D.C., and Washington State. The 2021 Doppelt Family Trail Development Fund Grants winners will contribute to the development and maintenance of the gaps along the Great American Rail-Trail. Recipients include the following: Cedar Trails Partnership (Iowa), receiving a $10,000 Doppelt Fund matching grant to help rehabilitate a 1.5-mile section of trail closed due to flood damage Yellowstone Historic Center (Montana), receiving a $10,000 Doppelt Fund grant for the conversion of a 9-mile abandonment along the Yellowstone Shortline Trail into a multi-use path from the Montana–Idaho border Headwaters Trail System (Montana), receiving a $10,000 Doppelt Fund matching grant to support the development of the 0.8 mile remaining to complete a 12-mile network in Gallatin County to connect the Headwaters Trail, as part of the preferred route of the Great American Rail-Trail Northwest Nebraska Trails Association (Nebraska), receiving a $10,000 Doppelt Fund grant for the Cowboy Trail Connection’s development of engineering documents for construction of the first miles of Cowboy Trail Connection into Chadron in Dawes County Rails-to-Trails of Wayne County (Ohio), receiving a $10,000 Doppelt Fund matching grant to complete a 1.6-mile gap between two sections of the Heartland Trail Peninsula Trails Coalition (Washington), receiving a $10,000 Doppelt Fund grant to support a consultant for the Olympic Discovery Trail, as part of the preferred route of the Great American Rail-Trail in Jefferson and Clallam counties. The 2021 Trail Grants Program recipient list emphasizes investments in projects with the potential to strengthen or connect trails in five communities nationwide. The recipients include: Downtown Greenway (North Carolina), receiving a $15,000 RTC Trail Grant to support the completion of a final 1-mile rail-trail section Friends of the Salem Bike-Ped Corridor (New Hampshire), receiving a $10,000 RTC Trail Grant to construct a trail segment, trailhead and amenities New Jersey Rail-Trail Projects, receiving $60,000 in RTC Trail Grants, including $20,000 to the New Jersey Bike-Walk Coalition to advance community engagement for the Essex-Hudson Greenway trail and $10,000 to the Embankment Preservation Coalition to advance the proposed 1-mile trail along the Harsimus Stem Embankment “The RTC Trail Grants Program offers support to projects that are often not funded otherwise and are left out of traditional funding streams. These grants often fill critical gaps—both in trail development and funding—delivering returns on investment that bring lasting benefit to communities,” said Ryan Chao, president of RTC.