Active transportation and recreation

Catawba Creek Greenway Southeast Extension

Catawba Creek near the Robinwood Road trailhead and Warlick Family YMCA


Preliminary design or environmental reviewUncertain

Verified Project Information

Summary

The Catawba Creek Greenway Southeast Extension is a City of Gastonia greenway project in southeastern Gastonia. It is planned to extend the existing trail from the Robinwood Road trailhead near the Warlick Family YMCA, cross Catawba Creek, and connect nearby neighborhoods, recreation facilities and future trail links.

Current stage: Preliminary design or environmental review.

Current condition: Uncertain.

Key Facts

Estimated Cost

$3.19 million

as of 2025

Latest Progress

2026: The current City project page describes the Southeast Extension as being in conceptual design and says the City is applying for a Recreational Trails Program grant. This conflicts with the adopted budget's Fall 2025 completion estimate and an independent construction record, so completion is not recorded as verified.

Project Leaders

City of Gastonia
Project owner, Project sponsor

North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management
Project sponsor

Project Funding

Funding type: Mixed public private ยท Status: Allocated

City of Gastonia: $1.23 million (2025)

North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management: $1.45 million (2025)

Robinson Oaks Development LLC: $507,020 (2025)

Timeline

  1. Current City page retains conceptual-design language

    The current City project page describes the Southeast Extension as being in conceptual design and says the City is applying for a Recreational Trails Program grant. This conflicts with the adopted budget's Fall 2025 completion estimate and an independent construction record, so completion is not recorded as verified.

    Stage after event: Preliminary design or environmental review
  2. Adopted budget updates cost and funding mix

    The FY 2026 adopted budget listed an estimated total of $3,190,817 and an estimated Fall 2025 completion, funded through a developer payment in lieu of greenway, State Capital Infrastructure Fund grant, Water/Sewer CIP and 2023 GO Bonds.

    Stage after event: Preliminary design or environmental review
  3. Survey and design work reported underway

    A City budget-retreat presentation reported that survey work was underway for the Southeast Extension, followed by engineering design, with construction anticipated in Fall 2025.

    Stage after event: Preliminary design or environmental review
  4. State capital funding appears in project budget

    The City's FY 2023 proposed budget listed an estimated $1.85 million project and a State Capital Infrastructure Fund grant, alongside a developer payment in lieu of greenway.

    Stage after event: Funded or programmed
  5. Greenway corridor appears in City plan

    The City identifies the Catawba Creek Greenway Southeast Extension as a section of the Catawba Creek Greenway Corridor that has been on the City of Gastonia Greenway Plan since 2006.

    Stage after event: Planning or feasibility

Geography

Project site / location

  • Gastonia, NC
  • Gaston County, NC

Affected / impact geography

  • Gastonia, NC
  • Gaston County, NC

Map

ExactApproximate

Solid geometry is exact. Dotted geometry and dotted-outline markers are approximate. Multiple markers may show independently verified locations; they are not connected and do not establish a route or alignment.