Clayton greenway trail extension involves a temporary detour to build a tunnel
O’Neil Street is scheduled to close to thru traffic for up to eight weeks starting Monday as workers build a tunnel under the road for the Sam’s Branch Greenway trail.
The tunnel is part of a 1.4-mile extension of the trail from O’Neil Street to Legend Park. From there, cyclists will be able to follow City Road toward the center of town.
The Sam’s Branch trail connects with the Clayton River Walk on the Neuse trail, which becomes the Neuse River Trail when it crosses into Wake County. The Neuse River trails are part of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail, which stretches nearly 1,200 miles from Great Smoky Mountains National Park to Jockey’s Ridge State Park in Nags Head.
Sam’s Branch now ends at a parking lot at O’Neil Street, more than a mile from downtown Clayton. The tunnel will allow the town to extend the trail to Legend Park, without forcing people to cross O’Neil, where the speed limit is 55 mph.
At Legend Park, the trail will cross City Road at a new crosswalk into the Parkview subdivision, where it will end. In the future, the town plans to extend the Parkview greenway into Municipal Park, off Stallings Street, creating a safer path in and out of center of town.
During construction, O’Neil Street will remain open on either side of the tunnel site, including to the Ashcroft subdivision. A detour for thru traffic will direct drivers to use City Road and Covered Bridge Road to get in and out of downtown Clayton.
Legend Park, including the ball fields and mountain biking trails, will be closed during the greenway construction. The Sam’s Branch Greenway extension is expected to open sometime this fall, said town spokeswoman Stacy Beard. It’s not clear yet when the rest of Legend Park will reopen, Beard said.
The Sam’s Branch tunnel and trail are expected to cost about $3.5 million. The town is putting up about $714,000, and the rest is coming from the Federal Highway Administration.
This story was originally published June 17, 2020 at 5:51 PM with the headline "Clayton greenway trail extension involves a temporary detour to build a tunnel."
