"At the end of the day, I think people love sidewalks and bike lanes, but they just were not enthusiastic to have the trail go in their front yard."
That's how Greenville City Councilmember John DeWorken explained the change to the Greenville Journal in April 2026. The city had picked a preferred route for a trail through North Main, then dropped it after residents objected.
The new plan does something different. The Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit Trail doesn't cross North Main at all. It arrives at two points on the neighborhood's edges, one on the northwest side and one on the southeast side. The space between them stays streets, sidewalks and bike lanes. If you live here, that changes where your trail access will actually start, and it explains why one of those two entrances depends on a project the city doesn't control.
Today, Every Route Starts Somewhere Else
North Main has no direct connection to the Swamp Rabbit Trail right now. DeWorken said so in the same Greenville Journal report, and he described the two ways residents usually get to it:
- South on Main Street to Falls Park, then onto the trail downtown.
- Across Rutherford Road and Pete Hollis Boulevard to reach the trail near the Amtrak station.
Both routes leave the neighborhood before they reach the trail, and the second crosses two busy roads. That's the problem the city's North Main Connector is meant to solve. Most of the debate over the past year has been about where the solution should go.
The Route the Neighborhood Turned Down
In July 2025, the city presented options at a public meeting for carrying the trail from North Main Street or Summit Drive to the Church Street and Wade Hampton Boulevard intersection. The Greenville Journal reported that the street options included Gallivan Street, Hillcrest Drive and Patewood Drive, and Bennett Street.
A preferred route came out of that feasibility study in fall 2025, based on public feedback. Then residents raised concerns about putting a multi-use trail through the neighborhood, and the city changed course.
So the route through residential streets is off the table. Any map from late 2025 showing a trail along a North Main side street is out of date.
Two Entrances With the Neighborhood in Between
Here is the city's revised proposal, as reported in April 2026:
| Northwest entrance | Southeast entrance | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the trail runs | An Orange Line extension from Worley Road to Rutherford Road | A trail connection from Mohawk Drive to the Wade Hampton Boulevard and North Church Street intersection |
| Crossing work | A new pedestrian crossing on Rutherford Road | Pedestrian crossing improvements at the Wade Hampton and North Church intersection |
| Landmark near the end | Other Lands, near Worley Road | Community Tap, near Mohawk Drive |
| What it depends on | The county's Orange Line segment reaching Worley Road first | City design work and easements |
Getting between the two entrances means riding existing roads. Trail users would take North Main's current sidewalks and bike lanes from Rutherford Road to Mohawk Drive. DeWorken said the city will look at possible sidewalk and bike lane improvements in the neighborhood later, but nothing in the April plan commits to them.
In practice, the nearest trail access will depend on which side of the neighborhood your street is on. Homes toward Rutherford Road would reach the trail through the northwest entrance and the new crossing there. Homes closer to Wade Hampton would use the Mohawk Drive connection. Community Tap's North Main shop at 217 Wade Hampton Blvd would sit near where that southeast trail connection is proposed to begin.
The Northwest Entrance Needs the County Segment First
The northwest connection only works if the trail it meets gets built.
The Orange Line currently branches off the Green Line at West Washington Street and ends at Buncombe Road. Greenville County plans to add about 1.5 miles along an inactive train corridor to reach Worley Road, near Other Lands. The city's proposed piece would then run from Worley Road to Rutherford Road.
That makes it a chain of three parts:
- Existing: West Washington Street to Buncombe Road
- Planned by the county: Buncombe Road to Worley Road, about 1.5 miles on the old rail corridor
- Proposed by the city: Worley Road to Rutherford Road, plus the Rutherford Road crossing
Until the county segment exists, a city segment from Worley Road would have nothing at its far end to connect to. As of this October, our research hasn't found a published construction start or completion date for the county's Buncombe-to-Worley segment. Treat it as planned, not scheduled.
What the Northwest Entrance Would Reach
The existing Orange Line already reaches places worth riding to. Hampton Station in the Water Tower District describes itself as "directly on the newest spur of the Swamp Rabbit Trail." Its directory lists 13 Stripes Brewery, Due South Coffee Roasters, Keipi, Hollowed Earth Pottery, DZN Studio + Home, Escape Artist, Game Show Challenge and Pedego Electric Bikes, along with other tenants.
The Orange Line also joins the Green Line at West Washington Street. From there, the trail toward downtown passes Unity Park, the Children's Garden at Linky Stone Park, Falls Park, Cancer Survivors Park, Cleveland Park and the Greenville Zoo, as summarized by Kidding Around Greenville.
Once all three parts are built, a ride from the northwest side of North Main could start at the Rutherford Road crossing and head west and south on the Orange Line. Today, that same trip starts with the ride down Main Street or the crossings at Rutherford and Pete Hollis.
The Schedule Still Isn't Set
The last detailed public update on the connector was the April 2026 report. At that point, city staff were working with the project's design team on the new connections and planned to work with private property owners on easements "over the next several months."
Here's what came before that update, in order:
- July 2025: Greenville City Council had approved $500,000 for the project in the fiscal year 2026 capital improvement budget. City staff said engineering would take about a year and expected construction bids in late 2026 or early 2027.
- Fall 2025: A preferred route through the neighborhood was identified, then dropped.
- April 2026: The two-entrance plan was announced, with design work and easement discussions to follow.
The late-2026-or-early-2027 bid estimate came out before the redesign, so it was a forecast for a different plan. Our research found no newer public update on design milestones, easements, a construction start or an opening date for the revised connector. The city's North Main Connection project page is the place to check for the next update.
Until there's a construction start, the trip to the Swamp Rabbit Trail from North Main still begins on Main Street or at the Rutherford Road and Pete Hollis Boulevard crossings. When construction does come, the entrances will be on Rutherford Road and near Mohawk Drive, not on the streets in between.
Rossitto Collective follows projects like the North Main Connector street by street, because a trail entrance at one end of the neighborhood matters differently than one at the other end. If you'd like to talk through how the Rutherford Road and Mohawk Drive plans relate to a specific North Main address, Request Representation and we'll go over the details with you.
