The bamboo is gone. The Town of Waynesville says the trees and bamboo along the new Richland Creek Greenway segment have been removed and the bamboo patch is being treated with herbicide. Structures on the route have been demolished too. All of this happened before the town picked anyone to lay asphalt. The paving request for proposals for the Boyd Ave Greenway Connector closed on October 8, 2026. Respondents were to hear back by October 16. As of this week, the bid page still names no contractor and no completion date.
That sequence explains the whole project. The roughly 1,000 feet that will join Hazelwood and Frog Level is mostly being built by the town itself, and the plan has gotten simpler since council approved it.
A short gap between two business districts
The Mountaineer reported that the new section picks up where an expansion from a few years ago stopped. That earlier segment ran from Hazelwood's Dutch Fisher Park toward the Waynesville Middle School area. The new work adds connectors from neighborhood streets. One ties Dutch Fisher Ballpark to Boyd Avenue. The other improves the link from the path's end at Hickory Hollow Apartments to Killian Street. Together the new pieces run about 1,000 feet, which brings the stretch connected to Dutch Fisher to about half a mile.
Waynesville Land Use Administrator Alex Mumby described what the link is for in the same Mountaineer story. "This greenway segment provides connection between Frog Level and Hazelwood, two of the core business districts in Waynesville," he said. "It provides far safer access for families to walk and go to dinner in Hazelwood and Frog Level."
It's a walking route between two places to eat, and it's one more piece of a goal the Mountaineer called long-held: a continuous greenway through the heart of town all the way to Lake Junaluska.
How the town covers its half
The money explains why the clearing came first. According to the Mountaineer, a $127,500 grant from the Haywood County Tourism Development Authority covers half of an estimated $255,000 project. Council voted unanimously to proceed after the grant came through. The town had to match the other half. It is doing that without new cash:
- $20,000 the town had already spent on property easements, which counts toward the match
- $35,000 donated by Haywood Waterways
- About $72,000 in town employees and equipment, counted as in-kind work
Those three pieces add up to roughly $127,000, which matches the grant almost exactly. Because more than half of the town's share is its own crews' labor, Public Works does a large part of the physical work. The paving request reflects that. The contractor's job is the subbase, paving, fine grading and site finishing. The town keeps the rough clearing, the bollards, the concrete driveway connection along Boyd Avenue and the new crosswalk on Killian Street.
So the work you can already see on the ground isn't a sign that a contractor has started. It's the town's share, done ahead of time.
What changed between the vote and the bid
The version council approved and the version now out for paving are not the same. The Mountaineer's account described the plan at approval. The town's bid FAQ, answering contractors' questions, describes the plan that's actually being priced.
| Detail | At council approval, per the Mountaineer | In the town's paving bid FAQ |
|---|---|---|
| Surface | Asphalt, matching the existing greenway | Asphalt paving by contractor |
| Lighting | Would match existing greenway lighting | "Light poles will not be installed" |
| Manholes | Two covers about two feet above grade, to be lowered | "The manholes will not be lowered," path routes around them |
| Amenities | Benches and signage | Bollards and Killian Street crosswalk by the town |
Asked about lighting, the town said poles "were considered, but we ultimately decided against." The bid spec is the newer document, so it's the better guide to what will actually be built. Plan on an unlit path that curves around two raised manhole covers instead of one with lamps along it. If you're walking back from Frog Level after an early fall sunset, carry a light.
What's at each end
Mumby framed this as a route to dinner, so it helps to know what's waiting at each end.
Hazelwood, along Hazelwood Avenue
- Beach Mountain Diner at 429 Hazelwood Avenue posts daily hours of 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and takes online orders.
- Smoky Mountain Coffee Roasters & Cafe, listed at 444 Hazelwood Avenue, serves coffee, tea, pastries and bagels and is listed with Monday through Saturday hours.
- Hazelwood Soap Company, listed at 452 Hazelwood Avenue, sells handmade bath, body and home goods.
Frog Level, around Commerce Street
- Frog Level Brewing at 56 Commerce Street describes itself as a working brewery with a beer garden, live music and pub food.
- Astro Record Store, listed at 24 Commerce Street, opens Thursday through Saturday.
- Visit Haywood also lists Cornerstone Mercantile, Rocks and Knots, and Corner Station Olive Oil Company & Cathey Bolton Clayworks nearby.
Hours change with the season, so check with each business before you go. The point stands either way. Hazelwood's end of the path leans toward breakfast and lunch, and Frog Level's end leans toward the evening. When the connector is finished, a morning stop at one end and an evening stop at the other become a single walk.
The rest of the greenway, open now
The finished stretch already goes a long way. Visit Haywood describes a 4.8-mile greenway between Waynesville Recreation Park and Lake Junaluska, good for walking or biking, with restrooms along the way. The town's greenway page says most of the system follows Richland Creek through city parkland. It then follows US 23/Asheville Highway through Industrial Park Drive and ends near South Lakeshore Drive by Lake Junaluska. The town counts 1.2 miles inside Vance and Recreation Park. Parks & Recreation is based at 550 Vance Street. At the Junaluska end, Visit Haywood points walkers to a parking area just past Holston Village Road, then across the highway at a crosswalk to the trail.
Pending paving, the new connector closes one of the gaps in that system. It doesn't finish the full route through town.
Around the path between now and December
While the paving contract is pending, the town calendar keeps the downtown end of the greenway busy:
- Leaf season. Waynesville's leaf-vacuum pickup was scheduled to begin Monday, October 26. Rake loose leaves to the curb. Regular brush and yard-waste collection is paused through the end of January, and the town lists White Oak Landfill as an alternative. Town notice.
- Saturday, October 31. Treats on the Street brings trick-or-treating and activities to Main Street from 5 to 7 p.m. Earlier that day, the Saturday live music series plays on North Main Street starting at 10:30 a.m. The series runs 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
- Saturday, November 7. The free Energy Fair runs at Vance St. Park, at the Recreation Park end of the greenway, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. It has EV, solar and home-energy demonstrations, with parking at the Pavilion or Recreation Center lots. Saturday music plays on North Main that day and again on November 14.
- Friday, November 20. Light the Night lights the tree in front of Town Hall at 16 S Main St from 5:30 to 7 p.m., with music, cocoa, cookies and caroling.
- December 7 and 12. The Hometown Heritage Christmas Parade runs on North Main Street from 6 to 8 p.m. on December 7. A Smoky Mountain Christmas Celebration follows on December 12 from 6 to 9 p.m., with luminaries, wagon rides and Santa.
The next public sign of progress on the connector will be a contract award and a timeline from the town. Until then, the cleared ground between Boyd Avenue and Killian Street is the best evidence of where things stand.
Kim Gentry Justus follows projects like the Boyd Avenue connector because they change how a home on either side of it fits into daily life in Waynesville. If you'd like to talk through what the Hazelwood to Frog Level link could mean for a property near it, Asheville Land & Luxury welcomes you to connect for a curated consultation.
