National trail group to open headquarters in Durham

The East Coast Greenway Alliance, which built a 3,000-mile urban trail from Maine's border with Canada to Key West, will open its headquarters office May 2 in Durham.

"We want to give a special focus to the beautiful route throughout the South, especially in North Carolina," said Dennis Markatos-Soriano, director of the national biking and walking group.

To do that, the group plans to build a segment of East Coast Greenway, Cross Triangle Greenway, that will connect Triangle communities by setting up major destinations in schools and neighborhoods.

Markatos-Soriano said the construction of the trail would create local job opportunities in design, construction and maintenance.

To celebrate their move to Triangle, the group is hosting a 28-mile Durham Greenways Bike Tour on May 7. The tour will start and end on the lawn between the Durham Performing Arts Center and the American Tobacco Campus.

The 3,000-mile greenway along the east coast has only 26 percent of its path separated from car traffic. The group is working on putting the whole greenway off the road.