Goodnight Raleigh - a look at the art, architecture, history, and people of the city at night

The Reedy Creek Pedestrian Bridge

The Reedy Creek Pedestrian Bridge stretches across the 440 Beltline carrying the House Creek Greenway. The three steel arches join the trail network on the grounds of the North Carolina Museum of Art with the rest of the greenway, which follows the outer perimeter of the Meredith College campus.

At night the structure is beautifully lit with white spotlights, which run along each side of the pathway, and blue lights that give a glow to the tops of each stone abutment. Sadly, the trail and the bridge are closed after dark, likely due to the safety risk caused by the lack of adequate lighting along the rest of the greenway.

On April 16, 2005, the North Carolina Museum of Art celebrated the opening of the new Reedy Creek Pedestrian Bridge, which links the Museum Park to the Capital Area Greenway System. The new bicycle and pedestrian bridge serves as a tangible symbol of the Museum’s bond to the community. Spanning I-440, it is the longest pedestrian bridge in North Carolina. Its design was inspired by the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Sydney, Australia. The bridge features triple steel arches, and will feature dramatic lighting in the near future. The bridge is 660 feet long and 55 feet high at its highest point.

— National Recreation Trails

With its curving, grey steel arches and downright beautiful lighting scheme the Reedy Creek Bridge is arguably the largest piece of three dimensional art that Raleigh has to offer.