Brighton Rail Trail pedestrian bridge officially opens

Cars passing under the pedestrian bridge

Brighton Trail Bridge | Photo by @thelextoday

Table of Contents

Grand Opening

ICYMI the Brighton East Rail Trail bridge officially opened on Monday morning — allowing pedestrians + cyclists to quickly and safely cross Man O’ War Blvd. and giving them full access to 3.8 miles of shared-use greenway.

The mayor and community members cut the ribbon to officially open the bridge.

The mayor and community members officially open the bridge. | photo by @thelextoday

The Brighton East Rail Trail bridge now connects Liberty Park with Deer Haven Park and provides local residents with easy accessibility to Brighton Place Shops + Hamburg commercial areas.

While the greenway is located on the SE side of Lexington, multiple opportunities exist for all Lexingtonians to utilize the trail — no matter which section of the wagon wheel you live in.

A map of the Brighton Rail Trail greenway

Brighton East Rail Trail Map | photo by lexingtonky.gov

Explore

Load up your bikes and use Pleasant Ridge Park as your starting point. The greenway passes right through this park. From the parking lot, you can choose to venture west or east — head west to check out the Hamburg shopping district or head east to explore the more secluded tree-lined section of the greenway. 🚲

Eat + Drink

Grab a burger + a beer at Drake’s or brunch at Wild Eggs before heading out on an exploratory bike ride — both spots are only .6 miles from trail access at Pleasant Ridge Park.🍔

Sunday Funday

A section of this trail passes right by the Hamburg Liquor Barn — which sells some of the best local wines, meats + cheeses in town. Load up your picnic baskets and use the greenway to have a picnic in the more secluded Deer Haven Park.🍇

The city currently has ~$53 million dollars in trail projects in various phases of development + hopes to one day connect all of Lexington via greenway. You can read the city’s master plan for full details on greenway project development.

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