On the Salem Creek Greenway in Washington Park on the south side of the bridge crossing Salem Creek, the approach to the bridge has been redesigned. Before, the bridge's entrance/exit was directly onto the greenway with limited visibility on the western side. Now, as you exit the bridge, the greenway extends southward to a three-way interchange that lets foot and bike traffic move safely. Kudos to the city.
Greenways look nice
The Salem Creem Greenway looks the best it has looked in a year. The grass on the sides of the greenway has been mowed much further back and much of the brush has been cut back or killed. Graffiti has been painted over. Fallen limbs and trees have not just been pushed to the sides of the trail, they have been removed. It was a pleasant surprise; it looks the way the Granite City Greenway in Mount Airy looks all the time. And then I remembered that the annual Gears & Guitars cycling event is coming soon so the city wants to give a good (but false) impression to visitors. Get out and enjoy the greenway while you can because it will not look this nice again until next August.
Yippee!
The city just learned it is getting $809,600 in federal money, to go with $202,400 of local matching funds, to fix the low-lying stretch of concrete sidewalk and a ford on the Salem Creek Greenway about a half-mile west of the Salem Lake dam; an area that is usually flooded. There is no timetable yet for the work; the project has to be engineered and then the job put out for bids.
Bad ride/good ride
I drove to Armstrong Park in High Point to ride the High Point Greenway and Bicentennial Greenway to Greensboro (a 20-mile out and back ride). A mile into the ride, at the entrance to High Point University, the greenway was closed between North Centennial Street and North Univerity Parkway for maintenance; it was due to open in mid-September but it is still closed. I attempted to find my way through the university to the other side but the university was holding its Fall Family Weekend and it was a mass of cars everywhere and hordes of people swarming everywhere. Finally, I got pissed off, gave up, drove back to Winston-Salem, ate at Mr. Barbeque, and rode the Salem Creek Greenway/Salem Lake Trail loop (a 16-mile ride).
