The McDowell Creek Greenway This Fall: A Detour, a New Bridge, and the Roundabout That Reconnects It

On a weeknight walk on the McDowell Creek Greenway in Cornelius, you pass under a concrete bridge that no car has crossed yet. A Charlotte Observer photo from a recent community meeting shows people doing exactly that after dark. Over the greenway, the new Northcross Drive Extension is taking shape on the way to a roundabout at Westmoreland Road.

That bridge explains this fall on the trail. The project behind the closed path segment and the orange detour signs near the Westmoreland Athletic Complex was designed to carry its traffic over the greenway, so walkers never have to cross it at street level. Once the roundabout opens, the Westmoreland path reconnects. Every greenway link Cornelius and Mecklenburg County have planned for this side of town also branches off the McDowell Creek trail.

The Bridge Over the Trail

Northcross Drive Extension is NCDOT project U-5108. The Town of Cornelius project page describes it as a new connection from N.C. 73 to Eagle Ridge Way, ending at a new roundabout on Westmoreland Road. The Town lists completion in 2027.

When NCDOT awarded the contract in 2024, it described a 1.75-mile road built by Sealand Contractors for $20.8 million, according to the state's announcement. At the more recent community meeting held at BoatYard LKN on Statesville Road, Town officials described a two-mile, two-lane road running from N.C. 73 near the Huntersville CATS Park and Ride to the Westmoreland roundabout. According to the Observer's account, they put the total at $22.1 million. The speed limit will be 45 mph, dropping to 35 mph near each end where homes and businesses sit. Cornelius Mayor Denis Bilodeau told the Observer the road gives West Catawba Avenue drivers a way to avoid the more congested Interstate 77 Exit 28.

For anyone on foot, the bridge is the key design choice. Because the road goes over the greenway, the walk from Birkdale Village to Magnolia Estates Drive will have no new traffic crossing when the road opens.

How the Detour Works Until Then

The closed piece is short. Cornelius Today reported on June 9 that the multiuse path linking the McDowell Creek Greenway and the Westmoreland Avenue neighborhoods to West Catawba Avenue was closed from the Westmoreland Athletic Complex, known locally as WAC, to the main entrance of Alexander Chase. The Town's greenways page still shows a "section closed for construction" notice with a link to the detour.

The detour depends on which way you are walking:

1. Heading west: NCDOT posted a pedestrian detour through the Alexander Chase neighborhood. It crosses the construction area and comes out at the rear of WAC and the Robbins Park neighborhood.
2. Heading east on Westmoreland Road: There are no detour signs. You reach the same route by walking through the back of the WAC parking lot and crossing Eagle Ridge Way Lane.
3. Starting from Robbins Park: The park's multiuse paths also lead to that WAC route, so you can avoid the Westmoreland Road frontage entirely.

That third option is worth knowing. Robbins Park, at 17738 West Catawba Avenue, has 4.7 miles of park trails and a nature preserve. That makes it a full loop of its own while the frontage path is fenced off.

Two Reopening Dates for One Path

The closed segment reopens when the roundabout does, and the forecast has moved. In June, an NCDOT spokesperson told Cornelius Today the walkway "should open once the roundabout is built, right now expected to be around Thanksgiving." At the later community meeting, Deputy Town Manager Wayne Herron said the roundabout should open in December 2026 and the full extension in June 2027, according to the Observer.

Both are estimates, and they cover the same holiday stretch. The schedule has already shifted once. NCDOT's 2024 contract announcement projected roadway completion in fall 2026, with vegetation establishment running into spring 2027. The road now targets June 2027, so expect to use the Alexander Chase detour for your Thanksgiving-week walk, and maybe your first December one too.

Driving to a trailhead this month has its own small change. Cornelius Today's October issue reported that NCDOT planned to retime the traffic signals along West Catawba Avenue from U.S. 21 to Jetton Road during October, with no completion date given.

Where the Trail Starts, Ends and Parks

Sources give different lengths for the trail. Mecklenburg County lists the McDowell Creek Greenway at 2.82 miles, from Magnolia Estates Drive to Highway 73 at Birkdale Village, connecting to 2.18 miles of urban trails. The Carolina Thread Trail calls it a 3.1-mile, one-way paved route serving Birkdale Village, Robbins Park, WAC and Magnolia Estates Drive. The Town's own page uses a 3.1-mile heading but describes a 2.1-mile stretch. The figures likely measure different boundaries. Whichever you use, an out-and-back from end to end comes to roughly five to six miles.

At the south end, the newest stop at Magnolia Plaza is Chicken Salad Chick. Cornelius Today reported that it held its grand opening on March 10, 2026. Publix sits at 8315 Magnolia Estates Drive, a few doors from the trailhead parking. At the north end, the Birkdale Village dining directory offers coffee or a pint on the same block as the Cranlyn Road lot.

The Next Links Also Start From McDowell Creek

The roundabout reconnects one stretch of path. The bigger shift is how many planned additions begin at this greenway.

Stratford Forest. The 2024 park bond priorities include a 0.4-mile Stratford Forest Greenway connection between the McDowell Creek Greenway and the Northcross Drive Extension, Cornelius Today reported in January. The Town's park bond page says an environmental study is underway to choose where the trail will cross McDowell Creek. A Mecklenburg County project page describes an access trail and bridge from the greenway, between Westmoreland Road and Sam Furr Road, into Stratford Forest. It lists the project as funded with design started, which comes before construction. The Town expects the first bond sale, $9.94 million, in early 2027.

McDowell Creek East. The Town's parks projects page lists this segment as under design. It is a proposed 1.6-mile greenway paired with a 0.7-mile Westmoreland Road multiuse path and restoration work on Upper McDowell Creek. The County's FY 2026–2030 capital plan runs the segment from Catawba Avenue at Smithville Park to Westmoreland Road at J.V. Washam Elementary, approved for fiscal year 2029, with design funded through Cornelius. Smithville Park already hosts the Cornelius Jazz Festival, which drew a record crowd of about 4,750 this summer, Cornelius Today reported.

Alexander Farms. The roundabout sits near Alexander Farms, a roughly 54-acre mixed-use project off Westmoreland Road and West Catawba Avenue, but is not part of it. The Observer reports the plans include 126,000 square feet of commercial and retail space, with a community of 142 apartment homes due to open in summer 2027. When River Rock Development and an investment group took over the commercial acreage in December 2025, Cornelius Today reported they were seeking a marquee grocer and a medical tenant, with no opening dates set for the first commercial spaces.

Together, these plans make McDowell Creek the trail that new connections branch off. If the scheduled work goes ahead, the next several years would add a bridge into Stratford Forest, a creekside route toward Smithville Park and downtown, and a reconnected Westmoreland frontage that leads to new storefronts at Alexander Farms.

A Department Planning Around Its Trails

Cornelius Parks and Recreation spent September marking its 30th anniversary with "30 for 30," a lineup of 30 programs in 30 days that included a 30 Mile Challenge for walking, running, biking or rolling. Director Troy Fitzsimmons listed "our amazing greenways" among the parts of the department the month was meant to highlight, Cornelius Today reported. The department has grown from a handful of programs in 1996 to about 1,150 a year. As the projects above advance, more of those programs could start or finish on a paved path that reaches more Cornelius neighborhoods each year.

For now, the practical plan for late October and November is simple. Park at Birkdale or Magnolia Estates Drive, walk under the new bridge, and take the Alexander Chase detour or the Robbins Park paths around the closed frontage until the roundabout opens.

If you're curious how the new roundabout, the Stratford Forest link or the Alexander Farms storefronts could change daily life around the Westmoreland corridor, I'm always happy to talk through what I'm seeing on the west side of Cornelius. Reach out to Erin Ficenec. Let's Connect.