The Oklawaha Greenway reopening announcement was celebrated across the Hendersonville community, still reeling from the disaster. It offered a sense of hope, as neighbors expressed a deep need for outdoor recreation opportunities, relaxation, and a return to some semblance of normalcy.
A month later, the greenway continued to serve as a community connector during the difficult early days of recovery. Offered on the Friends of the Oklawaha Blog on October 28, 2024, one resident offered these kudos to town staff for their work to clean up and reopen the greenway for public use.
"My dogs and I walked the middle section of the greenway a couple of days ago from Berkeley Road to the kiosk and back. It's been almost a month since tropical storm Helene devastated a great deal of western North Carolina, and the Oklawaha Greenway was not spared. But the City of Hendersonville deserves kudos for getting it back open quickly. Yes, there are still piles of silt. Yes, there are still tree trunks and limbs stacked alongside the path waiting to be picked up. And yes, you can tell exactly how high the water rose, at least until a heavy rain washes the 'mud line' off the trees and shrubs. But there were a lot of people enjoying beautiful fall weather. Birds were chirping and singing. The trees are changing color and on that day the sky was blue. So come on out and enjoy the greenway!"
Completed in July 2019, the Oklawaha Greenway Phase III project enhances the area’s active transportation system by expanding the Oklawaha Greenway an additional 1.5 miles and completing a city-wide network that connects four parks in Hendersonville. The 10-foot-wide asphalt, multi-use path provides an inviting place for visitors to exercise in nature. The North Main Street sidewalk portion of the project creates a half-mile of sidewalk along a busy corridor where no walkway previously existed. A beautiful, 70-foot pedestrian bridge provides safe passage over Mud Creek and gives the Oklawaha Village direct greenway access.
The City of Hendersonville was honored with multiple awards from the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) Mobi Awards program for the Oklawaha Greenway. The awards honor North Carolina communities that complete multimodal transportation projects contributing to economic growth, improved public health, and community development. Hendersonville’s achievement is notable, with NCDOT staff acknowledging the city’s success in the “Most Voted Project” category, where it outpaced much larger communities, a testament to the enthusiastic support of local residents. Hendersonville staff were invited to attend the Mobi Awards luncheon on October 11 in Raleigh but were unable to attend due to Hurricane Helene recovery activities.
Track recovery progress by visiting the WNC Recovery data dashboard, updated weekly by the Governor’s Recovery Office for Western North Carolina (GROW NC).