Already, Sharon Caldwell and her girlfriends have a routine -- Mondays and Wednesdays, they take aerobics at the YMCA. Tuesdays and Thursdays, they head outdoors.

"When we don't have aerobics, we walk," she said.

Conveniently, Caldwell and her friends have a close-to-home path for their cardio -- the newly completed Lick Run Greenway, which runs from Valley View Boulevard in front of Target to Hotel Roanoke.

The three-mile path was dedicated Sunday with a ceremony that included a ribbon cutting, as well as group walks, runs and bike rides.

The completed linear park, which travels through woods and includes a picture-like view of the Mill Mountain Star, is the longest uninterrupted section of greenway in the Roanoke Valley. Its dedication also signals the end of a project that was nearly a century in the making.

According to Roanoke Valley Greenway Coordinator Liz Belcher, a greenway system appeared in 1907 in the first city plan. The Lick Run Greenway specifically was shown in city plans dating to 1928.

The project started becoming reality in 1997. The city began talking about building an interchange to lead drivers to and from Valley View Mall, and the newly formed Greenway Commission had enough in its budget to fund a project.

The first section of the pathway was built in 2002, and stretched about a mile from the Valley View interchange to Court Street at a cost of $632,000. Phase two -- from Court Street to the Hotel Roanoke -- took longer, Belcher said, because of right-of-way acquisition.

During public input meetings, she said, residents wanted the path to follow the creek as closely as possible, a request that required land acquisition. Construction of the $1 million second phase took place this calendar year, Belcher said.

Although the city is still putting finishing touches on the greenway -- such as planting trees -- the pathway is finished and people have been putting it to use.

The greenway can be used for biking, running, skateboarding, walking dogs and pushing baby carriages. Belcher said she also expects the path to be used by children walking to school because it runs close to Addison Middle School and Roanoke Catholic School.

Barbara Duerk, a member of the Greenway Commission, spent Sunday afternoon riding her bike along the new trail.

She has already tested the greenway several times, seeing foxes and deer along the route. But she also likes that the greenway is close to modern conveniences. She said she has ridden her bike from her South Roanoke home to the movies or Starbucks, which are located near the trailhead.

"You know we're going to use it all the time," she said of the greenway.

Others who tried the path Sunday, like Jeff Howard, said he and others concerned about greenways are pushing local governments -- Roanoke County and the cities of Roanoke, Vinton and Salem -- to complete a greenway system within five years running from Dixie Caverns to Explore Park -- a distance of about 26 miles.

In the meantime, he said, he's happy to have the new Lick Run path.

"What a nice resource to be able to bike from downtown to the mall," he said.