This section then is about the ‘doors’ to the world beyond the beltline. Some are obvious structures incorporated into the greenway system, while others are less obvious bridges and underpasses on roads which carry less traffic than the main crossings.
To the south of town, three street connectors cross the highway. The bridge on Trailwood Drive makes a good link between the NC State Centennial Campus and the neighborhoods around Tryon Rd. The underpass on State St. makes a safe linkage between the Biltmore Hills Park area and downtown neighborhoods while also linking to the Walnut Creek Trail and the Little Rock Trail at the Wetlands center. Garner Rd. is a wide, but sometimes busy artery that passes below the beltline.
To the east of town, Raleigh Blvd. crosses under 440 as it turns into Skycrest Blvd. Both the Crabtree Creek and the Walnut Creek Trails pass under the highway without fuss. Further east, Buffalo Rd. is a busy crossing over I-540. The Neuse River Trail intersects here for connections going the north and south. On the Neuse River Trail there is a greenway bridge just south of the Old Milburnie dam site. On the east side of the river, Old Milburnie road crosses 540, opening up rides to some nice rural roads, and the towns of Knightdale and Wendell.
To the west, many connections are bike friendly. The Reedy Creek Pedestrian Bridge is the crown jewel of the greenway system, and links the west side or Raleigh with the Art Museum Park, Umstead Park, and ultimately, the Cary greenway system. Bike friendly bridges at Glen Eden, Melbourne, Athens all provide stress free links over the highway. One of my favorite connections is the tunnel at Ligon St., an old one-lane tunnel that links the light industrial area around Beryl Rd. with the Method neighborhood.
To the north, the Crabtree Creek Trail passes under I 440 linking the area around North Hills Park to the Country Club Hills neighborhood. Yadkin St. crosses under 440 nearby, but leads to the eastern side of the above neighborhoods. Lassiter Mill crosses the beltline, but, unless one were going to the North Hills area, that isn’t a recreational destination. Further north, the Honeycutt Trail features a bike/ped tunnel under 540, which opens the door to many of the nice rides up around Falls Lake. The real gem here is the bridge on Chander St. just north of Baileywick Rd. Park which leads to hilly, but rideable neighborhood streets north of 540.
Four other noteworthy connections around the triangle include the bridge over Old Reedy Creek Rd. which ties the Cary greenway system to the trails in Umstead – and on to Raleigh. The bridge over 40 on the American Tobacco Trail near Southpoint, which makes a link between the area of western Cary and downtown Durham. In the southern part of Cary, near the Cary Parkway the HInshaw Greenway bridge over US 1/64 facilitates rides from south western Raleigh into Cary. Trenton Rd. connects the Umstead Park area with the SAS campus and Medfield neighborhood, both of which are good ways of connecting with the Cary Greenway system.