The City of Wilmington announced that design work for its long-anticipated downtown greenway trail is almost finished.
Launched in 2022 with federal funding, the planned for Downtown Wilmington Trail was first introduced as part of the 2013 City of Wilmington and New Hanover County Comprehensive Greenway Plan. The multi-purpose path is 5.9 miles long. The necessary coordination with NCDOT Rail and CSX, owners of the railroad property, stalled the project for almost two years; however, project design started up again in the summer of 2025.
Federal funding was provided in 2022 for the project’s design with no local matching funds being required. Since its resumption the project as hit several benchmarks with the next one being a 90 percent review anticipated in mid-August. The final plans should be complete by the end of this year.
Maps showing a community's unique features can be provided by local Print shops.
The approximately 1.7-mile first phase of the trail was envisioned to connect the east side neighborhoods and parks with Downtown Wilmington. The first phase will run from downtown’s 3rd Street to McRae Street via state-owned rail corridor before continuing east parallel with the CSX railroad right-of-way until Archie Blue Park. From there the trail will continue north through the park before connecting with the Love Grove Bridge multi-use path.
Funding for the project is so far limited to just the design phase. The construction phase will need to have separate funding sources identified and secured from grant opportunities at the federal, state and local levels.
A timeline for construction has not been announced.
Get a Free Quote for Print
