The Downtown Greenway's Last Mile Runs Toward the Neighborhoods

In May 2026 the final mile of the Downtown Greenway opened. That mile is the Western Branch, built on the old Atlantic & Yadkin railroad corridor, and it completed the four-mile loop around downtown that had been under construction since the first groundbreaking in 2009.

This fall and winter are the first seasons with the full loop open. The first three miles mostly connected downtown to itself. The Western Branch runs out toward the neighborhoods north and west of the center city, and the next piece the city is designing heads further out.

A Loop That Spent Years With a Gap

Three of the four miles were open by 2021. Back then the project team expected to close the loop in 2025. Construction on the Western Branch ran through all of that year instead: first underground utilities, then paving, fine grading, fencing, intersection work and landscaping.

The loop officially opened on May 16, 2026, with a ribbon cutting at Cairn's Course, 501 Guilford Ave. The opening was part of "GreenMay on the Greenway," a month with 28 events planned and a Full Circle Gala on May 29.

That timeline explains why the trail's busiest numbers are still ahead. Rails to Trails Conservancy, which named the Downtown Greenway its November 2026 Trail of the Month, reports more than 150,000 users in 2025. All of those visits happened on a loop that still had a gap, and the group expects the count to rise now that the trail is continuous.

What the Western Branch Connects

According to the Downtown Greenway's construction update, the Western Branch project covered the stretch from Smith Street to Spring Garden Street. Crews also added a one-block extension to the northwest toward Hill Street, which ties the trail into existing infrastructure and the signalized crossings at Hill and Smith. Part of the work ran under the Friendly Avenue overpass.

That small extension does a lot of the work. A loop works well for a lap. Connections to neighborhood streets make it useful for getting somewhere. The Rails to Trails feature describes Jake Esposito, who lives in Westerwood a few blocks from the new section. He has biked to work almost every day since it opened. "It's been easy for me just to ride down my road and hop on the greenway and go right into downtown," he told the publication, adding that riding the greenway feels much safer than riding on the road.

Esposito is one rider, and his route shows what the earlier three miles couldn't offer. The trail now starts on a residential street and ends at downtown.

Four Stops on the Newest Mile

The Downtown Greenway has more than 50 public artworks along its four miles. Several of the newest are on or near the Western Branch. Walking the branch from south to north, these are the pieces that tell the 2026 story:

1. Morehead Park trailhead, 475 Spring Garden St. Rails to Trails suggests starting a loop here. It's the accessible trailhead parking on the southwestern side, and Spring Garden is where the Western Branch begins. A Western Branch bench sits at Spring Garden Street.
2. College Branch Stream. The NC Land and Water Fund paid for a stream restoration here that was finished in 2025. The landscape design firm HARP planned new plantings along the Western Branch, using Piedmont native plants to replace invasive species and rebuild the canopy that once grew there. Jim Gallucci's Wonder of Water Walk, installed in 2026 in two sections along the stream, is a series of interactive stops about the importance of local waterways.
3. West Market Street crossing. Pete Beeman of Portland, Oregon, built May-Bee and the Bot (in the Uncanny Valley), a 28-foot sculpture of a robot and an insect. A hand crank moves the wings overhead, so it's a piece you can work yourself. The map lists a bench and a parking location at this crossing too.
4. Guilford Avenue. Two Western Branch benches sit here. The gravel lot at 501 Guilford Ave. on the Greensboro College theatre campus was the closest access lot for the grand opening, and the event page warned that it's unpaved.

The 2026 work also added signage, site furnishings, two neighborhood benches, two decorative crosswalks, three bike racks, a mural and a stretching station along the Western Branch.

One more 2026 piece sits on the opposite side of the loop. Brad Oldham Studios' Off We Go at Five Points honors longtime project manager Dabney Sanders. It stands where the greenway broke ground in 2009, so the first mile and the last are now marked by artwork commissioned in the same year.

The City Holds the Keys Now

Finishing construction also changed who runs the trail. In an announcement posted June 29, the city said management of the greenway had officially moved from Action Greensboro to the City of Greensboro. That handoff had been planned since the public-private partnership began. Greensboro Parks and Recreation now handles day-to-day operations, maintenance, programming and future planning, and Transportation, Water Resources and Engineering & Inspections help as needed. Sanders, who had worked on the project since 2007, was set to finish her service on Tuesday, June 30.

"Greensboro Parks and Recreation is honored to continue serving as a steward of this remarkable community asset and looks forward to ensuring it remains a vibrant, welcoming, and well-maintained destination for future generations to enjoy."

Phil Fleischmann, director of Greensboro Parks and Recreation, in the City of Greensboro's June 29 announcement

Community support continues under a new name. At the 17th annual Downtown Run & Block Party in September 2026, Greensboro Downtown Parks Inc. launched Friends of the Downtown Greenway to keep donors and volunteers involved. The city lists Chelsea Phipps, Greenway & Gardens Program Coordinator, as the contact for programs, volunteering and partnerships. Donations to free programming or the maintenance endowment go through downtowngreenway.org/donate.

The Free Calendar Through December

The city's programming continues into the colder months. Here's what the Downtown Greenway calendar lists from late November through the end of the year:

Every listing is free. The Run & Walk Club is tagged for teens, adults and adults 50 and older, and the walking tours are tagged for all ages. Three Run & Walk dates fall on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, so check the city calendar before heading out on those nights.

Where the Next Mile Goes

The greenway has already shown it can draw businesses to its edge. In 2016, the owners of Joymongers opened their brewery right beside the trail and LoFi Park, one of the pocket parks along the route. They told Rails to Trails the landscaped green space was "a key driver" in choosing the site. Business North Carolina counts more than $612 million in completed and planned private investment along the corridor, though that figure includes projects still in planning or under construction. Rails to Trails puts public construction spending at $54 million to date and cites an estimated return of more than $11 for every dollar.

The next project heads outward. Phipps told Rails to Trails that the Greensboro Department of Transportation is about halfway through designing a 2.5-mile connector to the Atlantic & Yadkin Greenway, the city's first rail-trail. Completion is expected by summer 2029. The connector will lead onto a route of nearly 8 miles running northwest through pine and hardwood forest to Lake Brandt.

When that opens, the old railroad corridor under the Western Branch will lead from downtown all the way to Lake Brandt. For now, the four-mile loop is finished, the city maintains it, and a free walking tour on Saturday, Nov. 21 is a good way to see the newest mile.

Thinking about which Greensboro neighborhoods sit closest to the greenway's new connections, or what a short walk to the trail means for a home you own or want to buy? Pam Robbins Real Estate Group knows these streets well and is happy to talk it through over coffee. Schedule a consultation whenever you're ready.