The Cross-City Trail will be a 10-mile long off-road, multi-use trail connecting Wade Park to the Heide-Trask Drawbridge at the Intracoastal Waterway. It will provide bicycle and pedestrian access to numerous shopping facilities and recreational, cultural and educational destinations.
The first piece of the Cross-City Trail along Eastwood Road between Military Cutoff Road and Cardinal Drive is open. The next portion of the trail to be constructed will be a multi-use path along South 17th Street between John D. Barry Drive, Halyburton Park and the Cameron Art Museum.
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Once complete, the Cross-City Trail will connect Wade Park, Halyburton Park, Cameron Art Museum, the future Independence Park, Alderman Elementary School, Independence Mall, Hanover Center, Empie Park, McCrary Park, UNCW, Autumn Hall and the Summers Rest Trail. The Cross-City Trail is expected to be completed in 5-7 years.
Collaborative agreements with Cameron Company, the Cameron Art Museum, Oleander Company, Inc., UNCW and Cape Fear Commercial, along with Parks and Greenspace Bond funds, federal stimulus funds and connections with existing or funded trail facilities make this project possible. The Cross-City Trail is a core trail in a developing City-wide Trails and Greenways System which makes alternative transportation in Wilmington a safer, more convenient option for every citizen. It will also make up part of the East Coast Greenway, a multi-use path that will run all the way from Maine to Florida and will be like an "urban Appalachian Trail."
The Cross-City Trail received $1 million of the $35.5 million 2006 Parks Bond funds. For more information on the 2006 Parks and Greenspace Bond, click here.
See the WWAY blurb and video on the Cross-City Trail (click to play):