July-August 2004

IN MEMORIAM: WENDY OLSON

The Triangle lost a respected environmentalist and
advocate of greenways earlier this year with the
passing of Wendy Olson. Wendy was a landscape
architect who volunteered for many organizations, and
served as a Triangle Greenways Council Board Member.
Before her untimely death, she was best known for her
advocacy of the River Walk, a concept that flowed from
her master’s thesis on the origins, present use, and
future prospects of Hillsborough’s historic paths and
walkways. Wendy helped organize the public interest
group Walkable Hillsborough to promote the idea of a
greenway along the Eno River from Occoneechee Mountain
to the Hillsborough Historic District.

We mourn the loss of Wendy, and offer our condolences
to her family and loved ones. We take to heart the
words of her dear friend Laura Oaks, who said at her
memorial service that “Wendy has laid out many paths
for us, and made sure they are safe and smooth. Our
best gift to her memory, now, is to follow in her
footsteps.”

GREENWAY OFFERS A PATH TO NATURE

EVEN IN THE CITY

(Editor’s Note: Those of us who actively enjoy the
trails and greenways of the Triangle region may
sometimes take them for granted, but the letter below,
published in the Salisbury Post, expresses the joy of
the experience for a recent visitor. Thank you, Mandy
Monath, for reminding us that the simple pleasures of
a greenway stroll are the most powerful expression of
their meaning to our quality of life.)

“On a recent visit to Raleigh, our family stayed at
the Residence Inn behind Crabtree Valley Mall. The
area -- a jumble of roads, beltways, parking lots and
decks -- could serve as the poster child for sprawl.
We figured we'd have to drive to dinner, even though
we could practically see the restaurant from our room.
But the woman at the desk told us we could "take the
path, along the creek."

We were doubtful. My husband had described Crabtree
Creek as "flammable," but we gave it a try. The "path"
was part of Raleigh's extensive greenway system and
ran along the wide creek, five to 25 feet from the
adjacent road.

We could hear the water, clean and banked by river
birch and ferns, tumbling beside us. We saw a pair of
mallards out for a swim. The air felt fresher and
cooler. We could also see the parking deck of the mall
hulking behind the trees on the other side of the
creek, but it didn't matter. We were in our own little
strip of nature, a separate world with its own life.

The next morning I took a longer walk on the greenway.
I marveled at its little road signs -- all the places
I could have gone. It was like a parallel universe.
People jogged, friends walked and talked, people biked
to work.

At one point, the path dipped below the road.
Underneath the bridge, I saw a lovely bird -- small
and sleek -- that looked as if he might be good at
fishing. I would look him up in the bird book when I
got home.”

REGIONAL GREENWAYS UPDATE

East Coast Greenway

East Coast Greenway Announces First Ever Bike Tour:
The East Coast Greenway’s inaugural Bike Tour is
slated to begin on September 12 from Calais, Maine,
and ending on November 3 in Key West, Florida. The
ECG is currently accepting applications for the Tour,
which is limited to 12 cyclists. The Tour will serve
as an organization fundraiser and draw attention to
the 20% of the ECG that is completed. The Tour will
consist of four segments. A traverse of the Triangle
will occur between October 7th and October 19th on the
Washington, DC-to-Charleston, SC leg.

The East Coast Greenway organization will hold its 7th
annual meeting November 12-14 in Jersey City, NJ.
Registration details can be found on the website:
www.greenway.org. Our own Bill Bussey, Triangle
Greenways Council President, is also the NC Chair for
the ECG’s Planning Committee. If you’re interested in
helping the ECG organization, please contact Bill at
billbus@gte.net. For more information about the East
Coast Greenway project, please check out the website.
Use the scroll bar on the left of the page to find the
NC map.

The East Coast Greenway, which aims to link Maine to
Florida via a network of local greenways, has the
overarching theme "A Trail Connecting Cities." While
its exact route through the Triangle has not been
finalized, supporters cite no lack of possibilities,
north to south, and east to west.

Mountains-to-Sea Trail

Successful National Trails Day for NCMST Falls Lake
Task Force: Over 50 people arrived at Falls Lake on
June 5 to lend a helping hand on National Trails Day,
logging nearly 500 hours of work. Charlie Morgan,
Section 1 Task Force leader, and his Scout Troop (31
helpers) arrived to construct a trail kiosk at the
Barton Boat ramp, refurbish another, and install
markers at all the trail heads. This was Charlie's
Eagle Scout project, which reflects his dedication to
the Falls Lake area and the MST. Bruce Wisely and
Michael Willaford led a project to install a 24-foot
bridge on Trail Section 1, with materials donated by
the NC Division of Parks and Recreation. Other
sections along the 26 miles of trail received fresh
paint for blazes and were cleared of overgrowth. You
can view photos of the workday at:
http://www.duke.edu/~dpk/ntd_2004/.
Thanks to all volunteers for a great day of service at
Falls Lake!

The next workday at Falls Lake will be National Public
Lands Day on Sept. 18, 2004.

For a donation of $10.00 or more you can be a Patron
Member of the Friends of the Mountains-to-Sea Trail.
2004 Patron Members are listed on the NCMST website at
http://www.ncmst.org/ in appreciation of their
donation. (Submitted by Jeff Brewer)

American Tobacco Trail

In August 2002, the Town of Cary and Wake County
co-purchased the 114-acre Raftery tract, which is
located west of Cary. The Raftery parcel was purchased
for its size, the quality of its natural features and
its location adjacent to the American Tobacco Trail,
which bisects the parcel for a distance of 0.45 miles.

In 2003 Wake County completed its first 3.75-mile
section of the ATT, from New Hill-Olive Chapel Road to
Wimberly Road, and is completing plans for the final
2.75 miles of the ATT that remain in Wake. An
important aspect of trail development is the
construction of trailheads, and Wake County has
completed plans for the construction of a trailhead to
be located on 4 acres of the Raftery tract.

This trailhead, located off of White Oak Church Road,
will include a gravel drive and parking lot with 45
vehicle spaces and 10 horse trailer parking spaces.
Unique to this trailhead will be a waterless restroom.
The restroom will be handicapped-accessible and will
be constructed of concrete block with a metal roof.
Trail information will be posted at the restrooms.
(This same type of restroom will be built at a second
trailhead to be located at New Hill-Olive Chapel
Road.) The estimated cost for the trailhead is
$200,000 to $250,000.

Construction begins this month with completion of the
trailhead and remaining segments of trail in March
2005. Wake County will construct, manage and maintain
the trailhead. The remaining 110 acres of the Raftery
tract will be master-planned jointly between Cary and
Wake County at a future date.

(Editor’s Note: The American Tobacco Trail (ATT) is a
recreational rail-trail located on an abandoned
railroad corridor of the Norfolk Southern Railroad.
When completed, the ATT will be a 23-mile long,
multi-use recreational trail that will traverse rural,
suburban and urban areas of the Triangle. It will
extend from downtown Durham to Chatham County. For
more information, please go to
http://www.ncrail-trails.org/trtc/ATT.HTM)

TRIANGLE GREENWAYS UPDATE

Raleigh

The Bicycle & Pedestrians Stakeholders Group of the
Capitol Area Metropolitan Planning Organization
(CAMPO) is organizing a Greenways Conference this fall
with planners from area counties and municipalities to
give everyone an opportunity to discuss their current
plans and projects. They are working with the Triangle
J Council of Governments on this effort.

Construction of the pedestrian bridge from the North
Carolina Museum of Art to Meredith College is well
underway with the ribbon-cutting ceremony expected in
November or December.

Since the first phase of the Raleigh Parks and
Greenway Bond was not in the Raleigh city budget, the
Raleigh City Council will take another look at sales
tax revenues in September to possibly fund the first
phase of the bonds ($20 million of the $47.5 million
Parks Bond). One of those projects will be the House
Creek Greenway that will connect the Museum of Art
bridge to Crabtree Valley Mall. The CAMPO group is
working with the council to proceed with the planning
phase of the House Creek Greenway prior to selling the
first-phase bonds. They want the citizens of Raleigh
to understand the Museum of Art Bridge in the largest
scope possible - of which the House Creek greenway is
a major part.

Work is underway on the design phase of Old Reedy
Creek Road from the Museum of Art to Umstead Park for
a greenway to be incorporated into the paving of the
road. Not only would this provide a major link of a
future Circle-the-Triangle greenway, it would also
provide an aesthetically-pleasing entrance into the
park from the museum for cars, bikes and pedestrians.
(Submitted by Sig Hutchinson, Chair, Bicycle
Pedestrian Stakeholders Group, CAMPO.)

Chapel Hill

The Chapel Hill Town Council has agreed to sell
$300,000 in Parks bonds for greenways this calendar
year. The remainder of the $5,000,000 bond issue will
be sold in 2006 and 2008. The 2004 funds will go to 3
projects: (1) $100,000 for design of Phase 3 of the
Bolin Creek Trail; (2) $75,000 for design of the
Morgan Creek Trail; and (3) $125,000 for construction
of a portion of the Dry Creek Trail.

Orange County has agreed to provide $1,000,000 from
its 2001 Parks Bond for development of Phase 3 of
Chapel Hill's Bolin Creek Trail. This amount will
likely be combined with additional Town funds in 2006.
Phase 3 will extend the trail west from Airport Road.
The length of Phase 3
will be determined by the ultimate budget although the
goal is to extend the trail to the Carrboro line. For
more information, contact Bill Webster at
bwebster@townofchapelhill.org. (Submitted by Bill
Webster.)

Durham

New Trails and Greenways Planner for Durham: Kim
Douglass was hired last month as the Trail and
Greenway Planner for the City of Durham, working under
Beth Timson, who held the position since 1996. Beth
has been promoted to Assistant Director for the Parks
and Recreation Department, heading up the Park
Planning and Development Division. Newsletter readers
may be familiar with Kim, who led Wake County’s Open
Space Plan development in 1999-2000. Welcome, Kim;
and Beth, congratulations!

In other Durham news, the latest section of the
Stadium Trail has been completed between Broad Street
and Whipporwill Park. Also, the Durham Fitness
Council will be doing a water give-away on the
American Tobacco Trail at Woodcroft on August 21 in an
effort to solicit interviews on fitness habits.
(Submitted by Kim Douglass.)

INFORMATION SOURCE

The Trails and Greenways Clearinghouse announces the
launch of its redesigned Web site. The new site will
include a funding database, technical and
informational resources, the Trails and Greenways
Yellow Pages, referrals to trail and greenway
developers and advocates, and e-mail listserv. Visit
the Trails and Greenways Clearinghouse at
www.trailsandgreenways.org

ABOUT THE TRIANGLE GREENWAYS COUNCIL: WHO WE ARE

*A land trust: accepting donations of important
greenway corridors; building a fund to purchase
critical open space; maintaining and constructing
trails within the region.

*An advocacy organization: promoting greenways in the
Triangle; organizing regional conferences; raising
awareness; increasing networking; building a
pro-greenway constituency.

*An informational clearinghouse: a single source of
information about every greenway project and program
affecting our region; providing 'trail alerts' about
important trails and greenways issues coming before
local town boards, city councils, and county
commissions; mapping the network of regional trails
and greenways; sharing resources among the region's
trails, greenways, and parks advocacy groups.

QUOTE

"Art is a man's nature; nature is God's art." Philip
James Bailey, 1816-1902

REMINDER:

National Public Lands Day is September 18, 2004 - save
the date! For more information, go to
http://www.npld.com/

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North Carolina’s Land Trusts:

Savings the Places You Love

The Triangle Greenways Council E-Newsletter is a
bi-monthly publication of the Triangle Greenways
Council, a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization. Donald
R. Belk, editor. The views expressed herein may not
reflect those of the organization, its members, or its
board of directors. If you wish to subscribe or
unsubscribe to this newsletter, or to make comments to
the editor, please send a message to
trianglegreenways@yahoo.com.

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