Atlantic & Yadkin Greenway work is on deck, just not on schedule

Imagine being deep into a presidential election cycle.

Imagine the Olympic Games approaching.

By the time all of the work upgrading the Atlantic & Yadkin Greenway is complete, those things could be about to take place – or might have already occurred.

Yes, we're talkin' 2028, possibly, before we'll be able to regain full use of the greenway between Strawberry Road and Lake Brandt Road.

And 2028 would mean that almost all of us, from trestle bridge closure to project completion, would move up an age group.

The project to replace the bridge, across Lake Brandt between Strawberry Road and the Frank Sharpe Jr. Wildlife Education Center at Bur-Mil Park, is already running months behind schedule. And that has put reconstruction of the greenway, from Strawberry Road to Lake Brandt Road, behind as well.

The city, offering just a couple of days' notice, announced that the closure of the bridge would take place Oct. 27. As greenway users, including runners, have noticed, no work has taken place at the site in the eight-plus months that have followed.

"We're doing our best to get it done as soon as we can," Craig McKinney, a transportation planner for the City of Greensboro's Department of Transportation, said in a recent interview. "But like anything in life, there are hurdles in the way. It's going to be a little while, but when it's done, there'll be a structure that will outlive all of us."

Here's what you need to know:

Congestion at the starting line

The study by Volkert Inc. determined that piers beneath the trestle bridge were rotting and recommended its closure. McKinney said the intent was to get the funding in place and then seek authorization for Volkert to begin the engineering work to replace the bridge.

But the Federal Highway Administration raised questions about whether federal funds had been used in the original conversion of the railroad trestle to pedestrian bridge, delaying city approval, McKinney said.

"We were hoping three months ago to have already been through all this," he said.

The bridge project requires approvals from the Greensboro City Council, expected in July, and from the N.C. Department of Transportation, possibly in August.

"The consultant likely will begin work in September with the goal of having the project going out for bids by September 2025," McKinney said.

Getting going

The timbers used to build the support system for the railroad trestle in Lake Brandt will be removed and replaced with concrete. The bridge is expected to be at least 14 feet wide from rail to rail.

And the bridge, for which work could start in late 2025, will be the first of three key phases of the A&Y project.

Building up the miles

Because of the heavy equipment that will be required to reach the bridge site, repairing the Atlantic & Yadkin Greenway itself will have to wait.

And then the greenway work, a full replacement rather than simply a resurfacing, will be carried out in two phases: From Strawberry Road to the wildlife center, and then from the wildlife center to Lake Brandt Road.

Some trees will need to be removed, and some roots will need to be cut away to prevent the surface from buckling.

Replacement of the bridge and the northernmost section is expected to cost $3 million to $4 million, before any escalation in construction material costs, McKinney said. Federal dollars will cover 80% of the cost, he said, with the City of Greensboro funding the remaining 20%.

And the work is expected to require 12-16 months to complete.

McKinney says the second phase of greenway reconstruction, from the wildlife center to Lake Brandt Road, is being designed by city employees, and the hope is that funding will be in place once work on the Strawberry Road-to-wildlife center segment is complete.

"October 1 of 2026: If the plans are ready by that time, early in the (2026-27) fiscal year, then construction (on the second segment) should be completed within 12 to 18 months."

The finish line

Such a timeline would mean completion of all work might arrive in 2028, more than four years after the shutdown of the trestle bridge, McKinney confirmed.

He mentioned 2027 but called that time frame optimistic "based upon all the steps are going to be needed with allocation of funds, getting NCDOT approval and getting the permit."

McKinney knows that the project, to this point, has been mired in process rather than productivity on the greenway.

"Be patient," he urged greenway users. "We're pushing this project as fast as we can."