Website details Statesville Greenway

By: Preston Spencer | Statesville Record & Landmark
Published: February 05, 2012

Many Iredell County residents are unaware of what a gem the Statesville Greenway can be for walkers, runners and bicyclists.

After having a difficult time finding online info about the Greenway, Bill Day created a website, statesvillegreenways.org, about a month ago as a resource center for the trails.

“I was looking around for stuff about the greenway and it was almost impossible to find,” said Day. “I found some things on the City of Statesville site, but I thought people needed a place that was easier to find and navigate through.”

Day started the site without any prompting from the city and used his own money to do it because he said he enjoys the trails and wants more people to take advantage.

“It’s almost like being out of the city,” Day said. “It’s our own piece of wilderness right in town. You’re out there. You don’t hear cars. It’s like going to the mountains, but it’s right in the backyard.”

The Greenway is currently a combination of four separate sections of paths, both paved and unpaved, covering about six miles total. Construction began around 2000.

Statesvillegreenways.org contains maps and descriptions of the trails and pictures Day takes of the wildlife and landscape surrounding the paths. Day started a Facebook page as well called Statesville Greenways, where he updates the status of the culvert under the Davie Avenue bridge that leads toward the Statesville Soccer Complex. The culvert often floods the path when there is heavy rain.

Day said he runs on the Greenway often during his lunch break. His favorite stretch is the Gregory Creek section, which snakes through the woods in-between Museum Road and Pump Station Road.

“Gregory Creek is a little more secluded,” Day said. “There’s a ton of wildlife out there.”

Iredell County recently received a grant from the Carolina Thread Trail to complete a corridor design study for a new section of trail that would connect Fort Dobbs to the Gregory Creek section. The county is in the process of selecting an engineering firm to design plans and give an estimate of construction cost.

Day said he hoped statesvillegreenways.org would eventually turn into a way to raise funds for future expansions of the trail system. He said he knows governments are strapped for cash at the moment, and that the Greenway will need the support of the community.

“The only way the city can justify spending money on it is if it’s getting used,” Day said.

Website details Statesville Greenway

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