Raleigh to Upgrade Bailey Drive Gateway at Walnut Creek, Joins Lights Out

The City of Raleigh announced March 4 that City Council approved the construction contract for the Bailey Drive Gateway at the south entrance of Walnut Creek Wetland Park along Bailey Drive, moving the long-planned gateway from design to construction. Harrod and Associates Constructors Inc. will lead the build, with the city saying construction will begin in 2026 and finish by Winter 2027.

City materials describe the Bailey Drive Gateway as a new plaza and pavilion designed to improve access and visitor experience at Walnut Creek Wetland Park in Southeast Raleigh. The project will include walking and biking trails, educational installations, and areas for community gathering and storytelling, and the city framed it as a "transformative community project" that honors the cultural heritage of Rochester Heights and Biltmore Hills. "It’s official: a great new community space is coming to Walnut Creek Wetland Park along Bailey Drive," the city wrote in its March 4 news post.

Funding and partnerships for the Gateway bring together municipal and nonprofit resources. Raleigh Parks is listed among primary funders along with The Conservation Fund, Raleigh Department of Transportation, and the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership. City departments named as partners include Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources; Stormwater; Planning; and Raleigh Arts. Local and academic partners cited on project pages include the NC Water Resources Research Institute, NC Sea Grant at NC State University, Partners for Environmental Justice, and the Walnut Creek Wetland Community Partnership.

The Gateway grew out of community-led planning under earlier Parks with Purpose work and now sits within The Conservation Fund’s Resilient Communities Urban Conservation program. Community engagement has included a July 2021 celebration that revealed a temporary art installation of three life-sized portraits composed of glass panels, complete with spoken word, interactive art and family portrait sessions. Project partners say the next public art phase will install five new art panels in the planned pavilion. The city also noted a Celebrate Juneteenth event at the Bailey Drive Gateway on June 22, 2024, from 10 am to 1 pm with drumming lessons, storytelling, games and food from Chef Netta.

The Gateway also plugs into broader watershed restoration work. The Walnut Creek watershed covers 46 square miles, originates in the Town of Cary and flows through Southeast Raleigh, and the creek remains listed on the EPA 303(d) impaired waters list for pollution and flash flooding challenges. Raleigh marked the watershed’s April 21, 2023 designation as the 21st site in the EPA’s Urban Waters Federal Partnership with an event at the Walnut Creek Wetland Center that drew more than 100 attendees and included a keynote from EPA Regional Administrator Daniel Blackman. EPA materials list the Bailey Drive Gateway as Focus Area 2, Green Infrastructure Project 1 in a program scheduled to launch in Spring 2026.

The municipal posts also confirmed Raleigh’s participation in the national Lights Out for Bird Migration campaign, though the March 4 materials provide no operational details about dates or participating buildings. The city page includes a "Contact Walnut Creek Wetland Park" link and a "Learn more: Walnut Creek Wetland Park Bailey Drive Gateway" prompt for readers seeking additional information. "The Bailey Drive Gateway will make the park easier to access and more inviting for the community," the city said, positioning the project as both an environmental and neighborhood investment slated to arrive by Winter 2027.