news-record.com

GREENSBORO — Make way for the greenway.

That’s the process that has started along Murrow Boulevard , a short, six-lane highway on downtown’s eastern boundary.

Built in 1970-71 , Murrow ranks as one of the city’s most over-designed and under-utilized roadways.

Originally intended as a downtown bypass, Murrow was supposed to connect to Freeman Mill Road , but the road never got completed.

“That project was basically derailed by community opposition,” said Tyler Meyer , planning division manager for the Greensboro Department of Transportation . “There may have been a reconsideration of whether it was needed.”

Today, Murrow runs from Lee Street  to the Church Street  overpass, covers 24  acres and handles about 11,000  cars a day, less than one-fourth  of its potential.

Soon, city transportation officials want to reclaim up to two  lanes of the roadway.

They plan to convert a portion of it into the downtown greenway, the $26 million,  4.2-mile  recreational loop around the center city. The project will be the only one of its kind in the state.

Plans call for this section of the greenway — the second  of four  phases — to run along Murrow’s eastern edge.

“There’s a good space that can be remade,” Meyer said.

Past Murrow, phase two will also run along Fisher Avenue  to North Eugene Street  a combined distance of 1.5 miles .

The Murrow section offers greenway planners three  options, ranging in price from $9 million  to $12.8 million .

“We feel like these estimates are on the high side,” said Dabney Sanders , a consultant for Action Greensboro , the organization overseeing the project. “It’s always better to estimate high than low.”

The greenway, which could take five  to 10  years to build, will be paid for using $7 million  in street improvement bonds as well as private funds.

Each concept uses Murrow’s easternmost lane for the greenway. Depending on the option and location, the paved trail will range from 10 feet  to 14 feet  wide.

In concept one , the least expensive plan, the road will have two  lanes going north and three  running south.

Concept two  will eliminate the easternmost and westernmost lanes, using the latter as space for a sidewalk.

Concept three , the most expensive option, will eliminate both the easternmost and westernmost lanes and move a portion of the median to the west.

“Concept three  allows the greatest space for the greenway,” Sanders said. “The whole section would essentially be a linear park.”

Regardless of the option selected, the greenway will require significant changes at the Lee-Murrow  intersection. The on-off lanes will be eliminated and a major piece of art, called a cornerstone, will be erected on the east  side of Murrow.

Option three  would allow space for a private development on the western side of the intersection.

Farther north , the Murrow-Summit Avenue  interchange also would be altered, with the ramps on the east  side realigned and those on the west  removed. 

Planners hope to decide on a concept for the Murrow section by late January . Detailed design work could begin in February  or March . Construction could start in the spring of 2011 .

“There’s a lot of very positive interest,” Meyer said of public response. “We’re hearing a lot of enthusiasm for a lot of aspects of the project.”
 

Contact Donald W. Patterson at 373-7027 or don.patterson@news-record.com