The construction at the intersection of N.W. Maynard Road and High House Road marks a big step for the town’s greenway system.

Crews are finishing the last month of work on the Black Creek Greenway, a 20-year project that will stretch seven miles across Cary when it’s complete.

“This is a milestone,” said Joe Godfrey, a landscape architect for the town of Cary.

What’s under construction is only a 0.6-mile snip of the trail, but it will fill a gap that disrupts bicyclists and pedestrians’ journeys. The new stretch begins just east of Bond Park, then runs alongside N.W. Maynard Road, past the Maynard Crossing shopping center and on to the rest of the trail.

The stretch will complete about seven miles of trail that connects neighborhoods, schools and parks, Godfrey said.

Once finished, the greenway will run almost uninterrupted through north central Cary, beginning at Umstead State Park and winding down to Bond Lake.

The fun won’t stop there – eventually, pedestrians will be able to transfer on to the White Oak Greenway and travel several miles farther west, out to the American Tobacco Trail.

However, completion of the White Oak Greenway will take several years more, with some sections periodically closed for road construction.

Godfrey anticipates the new Black Creek section will open to the public in mid-January, with a ribbon cutting scheduled for later in 2013. The final 0.6 mile segment’s $545,000 cost was partially covered by about $354,000 of federal funding.