Greenway planners have been working since 1995 to extend the Roanoke River Greenway through as many communities as possible. Three construction projects are underway now, stretching the network farther west and to Explore Park to the east by early 2025.
Frank Maguire and his team at the Roanoke Valley Greenway Commission have a vision where the greenway extends even farther west, all the way to Green Hill Park in Salem — which Maguire said is a major trip generator with trailhead facilities such as parking, restrooms and shelters.
This vision for what they call Phase 2 is proving to be challenging, and the commission has worked to create a plan for years.
A few factors are at play: cost and homeowner negotiations.
Though the section is just 0.8 miles long, it’s an expensive one.
Two options have been discussed for continuing this section of the greenway, which stretches from Kingsmill Drive to Green Hill Park. It would connect the park with a proposed trailhead parking lot on West Riverside Drive, which should be completed by next summer.
Option 1 is to build two bridges across the Roanoke River and a separate grade crossing under Diuguids Lane. Maguire estimates this would cost around $10 million.
“That’s a really hard pill to swallow,” Maguire said. He said it’s harder to get funding when a section doesn’t connect to a school or neighborhood like this section does. But, he said, it’s a “critical step in the process to get to Green Hill Park.”
Option 2 would allow the greenway to remain on the same side of the river, at half the price, Maguire said. But it would require homeowners to agree to the trail being built across their property.
Twenty parcels could be affected, said Lindsay Webb, the county’s parks, planning and development manager, including homes, one vacant property and Riverside Nursery.
The greenway story
Read more about the history and future of the Roanoke River Greenway:
In April and May, Roanoke County surveyed public opinion on greenway expansion and the options for Phase 2. A survey followed a community meeting on April 11, which 95 people attended. Of 188 survey respondents, most were excited about greenway improvements and extensions and many encouraged negotiations with homeowners.
Of 185 respondents, over 80% said they walk or ride bikes here. About 27% of these respondents live in the area of the proposed extension.
Almost all said they would like to have a greenway adjacent to the river or through the woods.
About half of respondents said they would like a greenway within walking distance, but no closer than a quarter-mile from their own property. Among the concerns they listed: increased trash, drugs and violence, safety in secluded portions and a right to privacy.
No schedule, no funding yet
Travis Jenkins bought his childhood home on West Riverside Drive three years ago. His opinions differ from some of his neighbors, he said.
He said he’d love to see the greenway extend across his property. He’s legally blind, and he said it would help local amenities become more accessible to him, as he doesn’t drive. He also said he would no longer have to pay taxes on the property if it were sold to the county.
There is no schedule set for this phase and no funding.
According to Maguire, 20 years ago, a promise was made by county supervisors to the property owners on West Riverside Drive that the county would not build a greenway on their side of the river.
Maguire said that it would save millions of dollars to buy the land and stay on the same side of the river. He said eminent domain is not being considered, but the county has tried to negotiate with homeowners. He said hypothetically, with the homeowners’ agreement, the commission could pay the property owners the values of their homes and allow them to stay there, just to use a part of the property by the river to build.
“The reality is, we could pay them all, their entire property value, and still come out cheaper than paying to build the bridges,” Maguire said. “We have to have that conversation with the community.” He estimated being able to buy the necessary land for $4 million.
But he said it would be hard to round up funding for this plan. “You can get money for construction because you can prove you’re doing something. The purchases, it’s more difficult,” Maguire said.
According to Webb, the plan that involves building bridges at this point might be the most feasible, but no concrete plans are set for this section. There’s no money attached to this project yet.
Maguire said the federal grants that would typically fund this kind of project generally require a 20% contribution from the locality.
“One of the hardest things to prove is that you’ve got a viable project,” Maguire said. “And if you don’t have willing landowners, you don’t have a viable project.”
For some homeowners, safety is their main concern.
Battling a perception of crime
McGuire said analyses have shown that crime is low on the greenways, but “the perceptions are there” of crime, and some homeowners are worried that the project will “bring crime to their backyard.”
Cronise compiled crime data from all greenways in the region to find that 10 criminal offenses occurred from October 2021 to September 2024 around the following greenways: Green Hill, Hinchee, Mud Lick, Tinker Creek, Wolf Creek, Catawba and Highland. The Green Hill section had the majority of the offenses listed, which were mostly theft from motor vehicles and vandalism of property.
Using a 50-foot buffer zone to measure calls taken near or on the greenways, Kinga Roszak from the Roanoke Police Department found higher numbers on the Roanoke River Greenway specifically.
From 2020 to 2024, she recorded 17 instances of vandalism, 11 instances of disorderly conduct, 13 instances of drug or narcotic violations, 24 instances of drunkenness, and 26 hit-and-run reports.
Instances such as purse snatchings, assaults and fondling proved to be much less frequent.
Brandy Campbell lives in a house along the Roanoke River Greenway and hasn’t been immune to crime.
The shed behind her house, painted to mimic a Campbell’s Soup can, has been broken into twice since 2007, and her water hose was stolen.
However, Campbell said she doesn’t think the crime she’s experienced is related to the greenway.
She sees the greenways as a “family space,” but she can understand where the West Riverside Drive neighbors’ hesitations and concerns come from.
“I would say their concerns are valid. Change is hard,” Campbell said. “But also, change is needed for the community to grow and for the continuity of the greenway.”
Not all residents who live along the greenway see it like Campbell does.
Tina Guilliams bought her house in Southeast Roanoke in the late 1990s, before the city broke ground on the Roanoke River Greenway. She said she was “forced” to sell a portion of her backyard to the city to allow for the greenway to be extended through the area.
She’s had concerns about homelessness on the greenways and concerns about greenway maintenance that would affect her home. She said it took the city eight months to respond after she asked it to remove a tree branch that was hitting her house.
Guilliams said she appreciates the benefits the greenway provides but has concerns about homelessness and has called the police on occasions when she has seen individuals “in distress.”
As of right now, Phase 2 is a waiting game, Maguire said. He’s confident that it can get done in seven to 10 years — which he said, in this line of work, “that’s next week.” He hopes people will realize the greenway is a “community benefit.”
“The reality is,” Maguire said, “these are community-wide decisions.”
