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East Coast Greenway decides on Triangle route
Submitted by JoeMiller on 07/29/2008 - 16:42
It's not official, but according to Chuck Flink, chairman of the East Coast Greenway, the 3,000-mile greenway-in-the-works from Calais, Maine, to Key West, Fla. — about a fifth of which is done — the trail finally has a path through the Triangle. They're still working on where the ECG will enter the Triangle from the north, but from downtown Durham, it will follow this route:
- American Tobacco Trail south through Durham and Chatham County into Wake County.
- Near Green Level Road, it will head east on the White Oak Creek Greenway.
- In Cary's Bond Park, where the White Oak Greenway ends, the trail will pick up the Black Creek Greenway, which continues east and north.
- At Lake Crabtree, where the Black Creek Greenway ends, the trail will pick up the bike & bridle trail through Umstead State Park.
- On the east side of Umstead, the ECG will pick up the Crabtree Creek Greenway and head downstream to Anderson Point Park and the Neuse River Greenway.
- There, at Anderson Point, the ECG will hang a right and head down to Johnston County. The ECG is expected to continue down the Neuse to New Bern, where it will renew its journey south.
That the trail's route through the Triangle appears to have been determined is significant on its own. But there's an added significance: Both Flink and Sig Hutchinson, chief advocate of trails on the Triangle, believe the ECG designation will motivate the various municipalities involved to address the five major gaps that sill exist on this route. Hutchinson believes the trail from downtown Durham to the Neuse River could be completed by the end of 2010 (and yes, that includes the long-contemplated/procrastinated Durham ATT bridge over I-40), and on down to Johnston County by 2012.
Look for more on this development in an upcoming Fit column in the N&O's Arts & Living section.
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Joe Miller
Joe Miller grew up in Colorado, skied and hiked, but did not truly explore what all the outdoor world had to offer until moving to the Triangle in 1992. Since then, he's tried everything from diving with sand sharks off the North Carolina coast to clinging to the smooth face of Stone Mountain, 300 feet off the ground, wondering just how efficient the local search and rescue was. He still does a little of everything, but mostly hikes (writing "100 Classic Hikes in North Carolina," published in 2007) and bikes.
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Comments
Get Out Get Fit & Greenways
Fri, 08/22/2008 - 07:29 — Chipito (not verified)Joe, I just read that Colorado has some of the trimmest citizens in the USA and that the Southeast has some of the fattest (thank God NC is not at the bottom of the list!). A recent trip to Europe only confimed that the USA needs to get out of their cars, off the sofa and away from their computers long enough to get their heart rate up and burn a few calories - instead of consuming them! With that thought in mind, I just wanted to thank you for your columns and in particular the East Coast Greenway update. I can think of few public projects such as greenways that pay dividends as high, which encourage healthy activities, friend or family centric, that save gas, reduce CO2 emmisions, keep financial resources local, reduce healthcare costs, showcase the great Carolina outdoors so people can get out of their cubes and remember what the Earth is all about. I moved from a more urban environment to the Triangle partly because of their foresight with greenways, only much more needs to be done. Please keep nudging our overweight bodies outside to enjoy the wonders of Nature and our politicians to see the tremendous value of greenways!