For years, walkers on the Crabtree Creek Greenway near North Hills have had to step into car traffic at Lassiter Mill Road, at the crosswalk between Lassiter Mill Park and Marlowe Road, the street that feeds walkers onto the trail. Starting in late November, the City of Raleigh will close that stretch of greenway so the trail can be rebuilt to pass under the road instead.
The City's closure alert says the section near Lassiter Mill will be closed from late November 2026 through Fall 2028. That's about two years in which one of Raleigh's main cross-city greenways stops being a single route. You can still walk to the closure from either side, but you can't walk through it.
The crosswalk the project replaces
The City calls the Crabtree Creek Trail crossing at Lassiter Mill Road a priority project. In an April 2026 story, CBS17 reported neighbors' concerns that drivers on Lassiter Mill Road come into that crosswalk too fast to stop.
The story described a request for a flashing pedestrian beacon, the push-button signal Raleigh added at nearly a dozen crosswalks in 2025 under its Vision Zero plan. The City has a bigger fix in mind. The $2 million project will let greenway users cross under Lassiter Mill Road and avoid traffic entirely. A City presentation on the design describes a grade-separated underpass with a realigned trail as the safer crossing, and notes that the streambank in this section is still eroding.
The spring coverage expected construction to start in June 2026. The City's current project page now puts the start in late November 2026 and estimated completion in Fall 2028. On the day this post goes up, the trail is still open. The alert's own wording says the section "is not currently closed but will be closed starting late November 2026."
Mile 9.5 to 10.25, by the markers
The closure covers greenway mile markers 9.5 through 10.25. On the ground, that's the corridor between Hertford Street and Lassiter Mill Road. Here's where familiar stops along the trail fall relative to the closure, using the City's greenway mile markers:
| Mile marker | Landmark on the trail | Status from late November |
|---|---|---|
| 8.3 | Kiwanis Park | Open, below the closure |
| 9.5 to 10.25 | Closed segment, Hertford Street to Lassiter Mill Road | Closed through Fall 2028 |
| 10.0 | Historic Lassiter Mill | Inside the closed segment |
| 11.5 | North Hills Park | Open, above the closure |
| 11.6 | Mine Creek Trail junction | Open, above the closure |
| 12.5 | House Creek Trail junction | Open, above the closure |
| 12.6 | Crabtree Valley Mall | Open, above the closure |
| 14.5 | Lindsay Drive | Open, above the closure |
The table shows how the corridor splits. Kiwanis Park stays on one side. North Hills Park, the Mine Creek and House Creek connectors, and the Crabtree Valley Mall stretch all stay on the other, and they still connect to each other. Historic Lassiter Mill, one of the landmarks the City lists along this greenway, sits at mile 10.0, inside the closed stretch.
That means the change mostly affects out-and-back routes that cross mile 10. A loop from North Hills Park to Crabtree Valley Mall and back stays entirely on open trail. A run that has always gone from the Kiwanis Park side past the mill toward North Hills will need to turn around or leave the trail. The City's closure map shows the closed segment and the open greenway on both sides of it. The City's systemwide greenway map shows street sidewalk connections in this area at North Raleigh Boulevard, Oxford Road, Lassiter Mill Road and Hertford Street. That map was produced in 2018, so treat it as a general overview and use the closure map for current conditions.
What two years and $2 million buy
The work covers more than the underpass. According to the City's project page, it includes:
- Improvements to the unpaved trail section and streambank just west of Lassiter Mill Road
- Removal of the timber boardwalk and steps along Hertford Street
- Work at the Lassiter Mill Road vehicular bridge, where the trail will be realigned to run beneath the road
- A wider shared-use path in place of the sidewalk on the west side of Lassiter Mill Road, between the greenway crossing and Lassiter Falls Circle, according to CBS17's report on the City's plans
The $2 million budget comes from the 2014 Parks Bond Referendum and CAMPO's Locally Administered Project Program. McAdams is the prime consultant, with Kimley-Horn & Associates and Falcon Engineering as sub-consultants. Fred Smith Company and Volkert are also listed on the project.
The City's reason for the project explains why the closure lasts as long as it does. Raleigh treats Crabtree Creek as a cross-city greenway, one of the main routes of the Capital Area Greenway System. Going east, it connects to the Neuse River Trail, Knightdale and Wake Forest. Going west, it connects to Mine Creek Trail and, with the Crabtree Creek West project complete, to Umstead State Park. The Lassiter Mill crossing is the place on that long route where trail users have to enter car traffic. Once it's fixed, the whole corridor runs without that interruption.
The same winter, other gaps on the network
Lassiter Mill isn't the only greenway closure coming this winter, which matters if your longer weekend rides use other trails that connect to Crabtree. The City's greenway alerts page lists several active closures:
- Turkey Creek Trail at Umstead, closed through December 31, 2026. You can still travel between Umstead, the Crabtree Creek Trail and the 4924 Ebenezer Church Road parking lot, but you can't continue north into Umstead on Turkey Creek.
- Neuse River Trail between Buffaloe Road Athletic Park and River Bend Park, closed through December 31, 2027, with no trail detour available.
- Neuse River Trail between Auburn Knightdale Road and Battle Bridge Road, where Complete 540 construction may stop trail traffic from time to time through September 30, 2028. A temporary detour trail next to the greenway is planned for those stoppages.
Together these change how the whole network works through 2027. Crabtree Creek is the trail that carries North Raleigh users east toward the Neuse, and the Neuse has its own closure. Rides heading west have their own gap at Turkey Creek until the end of this year. One more project is coming. The City's Crabtree Creek West Streambank project lists Spring 2027 for construction and says it will require temporary greenway closures. The nearby Crabtree Creek West Trail section is open to the public.
Before the fences go up
The City is giving notice that the closure will start in late November, not a fixed date. That leaves a few more weeks to walk the full stretch from Hertford Street past historic Lassiter Mill to the current crosswalk before it's fenced off for about two years. When the trail reopens, the underpass will let walkers and cyclists stay on the greenway under Lassiter Mill Road. The Crabtree Creek Greenway Trail page and the live closure alert are the places to check for the actual closing date. The alert lists a City contact for questions about the project.
Living near a greenway affects your daily routine, and it's easier to see that ahead of time than after closing. If you're thinking about a home in North Raleigh or Midtown and want to know how projects like the Lassiter Mill underpass will change daily life on a particular street over the next few years, Irene Higginson and Higginson Realty Group are happy to talk it through with you. Let's Connect.
