"That opened within the last month," confirmed Matt Phillips, a city park and greenway planner.

"That" is a 1 1/4-mile stretch of standard-issue 10-foot blacktop called the Alleghany Extension. It still has yellow ribbon blocking its main entrances, at Lassiter Mill and to the east at Anderson Drive, but that's only to keep motor vehicles out until stanchions are installed. While a dedication is pending, Phillips says people should feel free to hike, bike or Rollerblade the latest addition to Raleigh's now 42-mile greenway system.

Completion of the Alleghany Extension marks another milestone in turning the greenway from a collection of disjointed segments into a viable transportation network. Not only does it join the 2 1/2-mile Alleghany Trail to the north (after slight jogs on Lassiter Mill and Hertford Street) with the half-mile Fallon Creek Trail to the east (after a slight jog on the sidewalk along Oxford Road), it also means there are now 13 miles of essentially contiguous greenway along the Crabtree Creek corridor.

What does that mean in a practical sense?

Say you live in the Northside neighborhood near Six Forks and Wake Forest roads and want to go to Crabtree Valley Mall. Instead of getting in your car, driving up Six Forks to the Beltline, playing automotive pinball on the Beltline, then dealing with that ugly interchange at the Beltline and Glenwood Avenue, you could simply hop on your bike and take the greenway -- and probably get there faster. You could also take a different route and pedal to Shelley Lake for a class at Sertoma Arts Center, or head even farther north to Longstreet Drive, where a quick connection on neighborhood streets would get you to the shops and restaurants at Celebration at Six Forks.

By this time next year, Phillips says, the Crabtree Creek greenway corridor should be even bigger. "We've got two more projects in the design process right now," he says. One is the 2-mile Middle Crabtree Trail, which would link Fallon Creek Trail to the west with the 2 1/2-mile Buckeye Trail. That would essentially extend the Crabtree Creek greenway corridor east to WakeMed. The other project, Oak Park Trail, would take the existing greenway behind Crabtree Valley mall and extend it a mile north and west to Lindsay Drive.

Safe bike travel in North Raleigh will be further enhanced when the Edwards Mill Road expansion and extension, with its extra-wide, bike-friendly lanes, is completed. Edwards Mill connects with the greenway at Crabtree Valley mall and eventually will go to the Entertainment and Sports Arena. Imagine riding your bike to see the Canes or Wolfpack play.

Likewise, progress is being made on the Walnut Creek greenway corridor, which runs along the city's southern side from Lake Johnson to near the Walnut Creek athletic complex. Phillips says two trail segments in that area are also being designed. The 1 3/4-mile Eliza Pool Trail will run from Lake Wheeler Road east to Wilmington Street, while the 3/4-mile City Farm Road Trail will run from Wilmington east to Garner Road. There, it will connect with the existing 2 1/4-mile Lower Walnut Creek Trail. The latter trail ends at Rose Lane, just shy of the Walnut Creek complex on the greenway corridor's east end.

The west end of the Walnut Creek corridor begins at Lake Johnson, which is encircled by a 3 1/2-mile paved trail and about a mile of natural trail. From Lake Johnson, the 1-mile Upper Walnut Creek Trail heads east. Phillips says a connection between Upper Walnut Creek Trail and the trail being worked on from Lake Wheeler Road to Wilmington Street will be made mostly through N.C. State University's Centennial Campus. Phillips says that connection is being discussed with the school.

The city plans to run both the Crabtree and Walnut Creek greenways to the Neuse River, where they could be linked by a greenway along the riverbanks. "Construction should begin this fall," Phillips says of the four trails in the design phase. "We hope to have them completed by next fall."