Cary's Black Creek Greenway is open again, and residents walking, running, and biking the corridor are now rolling over a rebuilt 2.5-mile stretch that town officials say finished seven months ahead of schedule. The renovation touched the trail between West Dynasty Drive and Lake Crabtree, widening the pavement and adding a towering new pedestrian bridge along the way.
As reported by WPTF, the town says it used a more efficient construction phasing approach developed with its contractor and avoided slower winter construction conditions, which let crews wrap up early and reduce overall project costs. Cary's Transportation Director, Cassie Schumacher-Georgopoulos, said the reopening “restores an important connection for residents and visitors while making the trail safer and more accessible for everyone.”
Construction began June 4, 2024, on a project originally anticipated to take three years. The Town of Cary confirms the greenway has fully reopened following the roughly 2.5 miles of renovations, saying the improvements enhance safety, accessibility, and connectivity along the corridor.
Wider Trail, Realigned Curves, and Better Drainage
The rebuilt section widened the greenway's pavement to 12 feet, according to a May report from newsobserver.com, which described the town rebuilding about 2.5 miles of trail between West Dynasty Drive and Lake Crabtree. The renovations also realigned curves to improve safety and comfort for trail users and improved the corridor's drainage infrastructure.
Crews coordinated utility infrastructure improvements as part of the work, which officials say allowed Cary to address multiple infrastructure needs while minimizing future disruptions. The project also added a new greenway connection near Dynasty Drive, expanding how the corridor links into the surrounding trail network.
A New Bridge, 50 Feet Above the Creek
The project's most striking addition is a new pedestrian bridge over Cary Parkway that opened earlier in 2026, giving walkers and cyclists a safer crossing along the corridor. The bridge provides an alternative to the narrow Cary Parkway bridge, which the same report from newsobserver.com noted has no shoulder or room for pedestrians and cyclists. That outlet described the structure as a 285-foot weathered steel span passing about 50 feet above Black Creek, calling it the highest pedestrian bridge in Cary — though a Town of Cary news release for the bridge's installation described it as 280 feet long, and the discrepancy between the two figures is not resolved in available records.
The bridge also features public art by Vicki Scuri, who created work incorporating design elements inspired by the surrounding natural environment. At the time of its May report, the newspaper noted the first two construction phases, between West Dynasty Drive and Weston Parkway, were already finished while the trail north of Weston Parkway remained closed, with the town expecting that section to reopen sometime in winter.
Project Costs Vary Across Reports
Figures on the project's price tag differ depending on the source. The town's original construction bid came in at nearly $17.5 million, with estimated final construction costs landing around $17.3 million, according to figures cited in WPTF's report. Separately, newsobserver.com reported in May that the town was spending $16.5 million on the upgrade, including about $12 million in federal grants. Available records don't clarify whether the different totals reflect different scopes, dates, or budget revisions.
Cary's greenway ambitions aren't new. A 2018 update from carycitizenarchive.com estimated that renovating Black Creek Greenway Phases I and II alongside building a new Phase V trail would cost $6.6 million and include seven new bridges upgraded and elevated to reduce stormwater impacts — a far smaller scope than the rebuild that just wrapped. Cary has also seen cost growth on other greenway projects: the Higgins Greenway expansion, first funded in 2018 to help connect people to downtown, saw its cost balloon by nearly $1.6 million before the Town Council unanimously approved additional funding, per cbs17.com. That roughly one-mile trail was slated to open in 2025.
Part of a Growing Trail Network
Black Creek Greenway stretches approximately seven miles from Fred G. Bond Metro Park to Old Reedy Creek Road, connecting neighborhoods, parks, and recreational destinations throughout Cary. It's also part of the East Coast Greenway, a developing trail network intended to link communities from Maine to Florida. Cary's greenways overall now extend more than 100 miles, a milestone the town surpassed in 2026.
Schumacher-Georgopoulos said Cary's greenways connect the community beyond recreation, framing the newly reopened trail as part of that broader network. The town plans to celebrate the reopening as part of the Teen Council's annual First Walk, set to begin at 10 a.m. on January 1, 2027, at North Cary Park.
