Construction of long-planned Raleigh pedestrian bridge begins. When it will open
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- Crews begin installing steel frame for new pedestrian bridge over Wade Avenue.
- Bridge complements 10-foot-wide path extending from NC Art Museum to Trinity Road.
- Project aims for fall 2026 completion after delays from utilities and materials.
A long-planned bridge to carry cyclists and pedestrians over Wade Avenue in West Raleigh will soon begin to take shape.
If all goes as planned, crews with a big crane will hoist into place the steel frame of half of the new bridge beside Blue Ridge Road next weekend. The other half is scheduled to be erected later in the month.
The bridge is the most visible part of a new 10-foot-wide path the city is building along Blue Ridge from the N.C. Museum of Art Park south toward Trinity Road. When it’s completed next year, the path will be the first accommodations for pedestrians along this busy stretch of five-lane road near the Lenovo Center and the State Fairgrounds.
Each of the two spans of the bridge consist of three pieces. The pieces of the span that will cross eastbound Wade Avenue were delivered this week and assembled in the median of Wade. It was scheduled to be lifted into place in the pre-dawn hours of Saturday, but that has been postponed a week because of the forecasted rain, according to city spokesperson Tiffanie Mazanek.
Eastbound Wade will be closed while the span is hoisted onto concrete supports; traffic will be directed up the Blue Ridge Road off-ramp and back on the other side. Blue Ridge Road will remain open.
The bridge span over westbound Wade Avenue is scheduled to be set Oct. 10, weather permitting.
A project plagued by delays
There will still be plenty of work to do after the steel frames are in place, including pouring the concrete deck. The bridge and the path aren’t expected to be completed and open until the fall of 2026.
The $5.5 million project has been plagued by delays. The path was conceived more than a decade ago, and preliminary plans were first introduced to the public in early 2020. The city began acquiring right of way and easements in the spring of 2021, and construction was set to begin in the summer of 2022 so the path could open in time for the 2023 State Fair.
But problems related to water utilities and the state’s nearby Beltline and Blue Ridge Road construction projects led to delays, Mazanek said.
“The city decided to upgrade a major water service line within the project, and this design had to be integrated into our project plan and coordinated with adjacent NCDOT projects,” she wrote.
Bridge will be safer for cyclists, pedestrians
The bridge will parallel Blue Ridge Road on the west side. City officials say a separate bridge is easier to build than widening the existing one and will be safer for cyclists and pedestrians.
The city’s path will tie into one near Trinity Road being built by the N.C. Department of Transportation. The state’s path will continue south through a new underpass that will carry Blue Ridge Road under Hillsborough Street next to the fairgrounds.
The city’s project will also include what’s known as a “protected intersection” at Blue Ridge and Reedy Creek Road, at the main entrance to the art museum and the new headquarters for the state Department of Health and Human Services.
The intersection will include more distinct crosswalks and islands on each corner to protect cyclists and pedestrians. The islands also create wider, sharper turns for cars, forcing drivers to slow down and making it easier for them to see pedestrians or cyclists.
This story was originally published September 26, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
