Wake Forest recently began construction on a new pedestrian pathway connecting its Reynolda campus to The Grounds development. The university aims to improve safety, accessibility and connectivity for students, faculty and the surrounding community with the project. 

Jane Duncan, the director of marketing at Front Street Capital, the firm behind The Grounds, said the pathway will foster strong connections between the Reynolda campus, The Grounds and the broader Winston-Salem community.

“The pathway will truly help to extend the feeling of the campus community beyond the gates,” Duncan said. “We didn’t want this to feel like just another strip shop center or mall, but instead provide a walkable space with pedestrian activity. We really aim to create a sense of place without being a stand-alone area, connecting to the Wake Forest campus and the neighborhoods surrounding The Grounds.” 

The Grounds is a 100-acre residential and commercial development currently under construction along Deacon Boulevard, adjacent to the University’s baseball, football and basketball stadiums. Set to open in Fall 2027, the project will hold dining options and retail and office space, along with residential options for Wake Forest students who want to live off campus during their junior year.  

“We found this project to be such a transformational step and provides residential, dining, entertainment and retail options for Wake Forest students, faculty and staff, as well as the city of Winston-Salem,” Front Street Capital Director of Marketing Jane Duncan said. 

One of the ways this vision will take shape is through the new pedestrian pathway, designed to improve how people move between campus and The Grounds. 

Currently, N. Cherry Street splits from University Parkway in a one-way northbound lane just before the traffic signal and University Parkway and southbound Cherry Street, creating several fast-moving traffic patterns for northbound vehicles. The construction engineering team leading the initiative in association with the North Carolina Department of Transportation, Kimley-Horn, seeks to align the northbound and southbound lanes of Cherry Street side by side. 

The intersection will be positioned over a newly marked pedestrian crosswalk, creating a single, fully signaled intersection with a dedicated pedestrian signal phase that allows walkers to stop traffic in all directions for safe crossing. Removing the Cherry Street northbound lane will help slow traffic, improve vehicle safety and expand the surrounding greenway area and multi-use trail. 

Furthermore, with the new multi-use path, a new five-to-six-foot sidewalk will run alongside the northbound Cherry Street lane, offering walkers or bikers access to Whitaker Park. The construction will also redo the intersection at Faculty Drive. 

The Wake Forest community and residents will be able to access The Grounds through Faculty Drive with their DeaconOne cards. This pathway and intersection further increase safety and accessibility for students, reducing the risk of accidents in one of the busiest areas near campus. 

“A good amount of the pull that brings students to Wake Forest is the sense of safety as a full-gated campus,” freshman and Student Government Physical Planning Committee member Katelyn Van Dusen said. “Having something like this pathway be implemented will only further this, and I think it is very important. It can be hard to just walk off campus and have anywhere to go, so having this pathway and The Grounds gives students an easier way to access downtown.” 

Students are not the only ones who are excited about the changes. Many faculty members who use the intersection daily or live near The Grounds support the redesign, which will make the area safer and less stressful to navigate.

“I have always felt the stretch on University Parkway to be a bit dangerous,” Journalism Professor Ivan Weiss said. “It would be nice to make that space more livable and connect with that part of town.” 

The redesigned intersection and pathway will make it easier for students to move between sports stadiums, campus and housing. This will help to enhance the overall flow and accessibility of the campus community. 

“Students and faculty will have safer ways to get places, but also have various options to walk around and hang out while enjoying being outside,” Duncan said. 

“The project will strengthen the connection between campus and the broader community,” Van Dusen said. “Having more social and calming daily interactions for students with the community is very important because we have so many great organizations that help outreach with the broader Winston-Salem area.”