ATT 10 Miler Set for Saturday October 22

Only about 2+ weeks until the 2011 ATT 10 miler! The North Carolina Road Runners Club created the American Tobacco Trail 10 Miler in 2007 to raise awareness and support for the growing trail system throughout the Triangle. Proceeds from these races will help American Tobacco Trail development and maintenance through the Triangle Rails to Trails Conservancy. Packet pick-up for race participants will be held at the White Oak Church Road parking area from 7:30 to 8:30am and parking there will be very limited during the morning hours. The trail will still be open to the general public on race morning for hiking, biking, recreational running and for equestrian use but we are urging all users to be mindful of trail etiquette. For more information on the race including volunteer opportunities, please go to the Volunteer Form for this race.

Officials Reach Agreement on Supplemental Funding for ATT Phase E Projects

In a September 14th meeting, the Durham-Orange Transportation Advisory Committee considered several options for additional funding and have opted to use ~3.5 million$ from a reserve fund which had been set aside to cover cost overruns, small and county transportation projects, and initiatives for Triangle Transit. An earlier proposal to reallocate funds that had been set aside for future sidewalks in Durham was turned down after serious concerns expressed by Durham representatives. Officials from the two counties agreed it made sense to use the reserve given that the tobacco trail’s completion has been threatened by a budget shortfall. “It’s a regional project that affects the central part of the State, and we need to move forward,” Durham City Councilman Mike Woodard said, after Mayor Bill Bell and Councilwoman Diane Catotti had also signaled support for using the money. The decision must now be approved by the Durham/Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization. Some changes to the specifications for the bridge are being considered such as allowing the contractor to have 18 rather than 9 months to assemble components for the bridge. No date has been set for start of the second bidding but if MPO approval can be settled in 30-60 days this could happen by the first of the year. It now appears construction will not start until sometime in the Spring. For more detail on the meeting please see the September 15th Herald-Sun article.

First Annual Ales for Rail-Trails 5K

North Carolina Rail-Trails, perhaps our closest sister organization, will be holding their first annual 5K race in downtown Durham on October 9th. The race starts at the FullSteam Brewery at 4pm and will include a short section on the American Tobacco Trail. Race proceeds will benefit the advocacy and rail-trail development efforts of North Carolina Rail-Trails. Registration can be through Active.com or by check. For the links and updated information, please see the race announcement on the North Carolina Rail-Trails site.

Bull City Open Streets--October 9th from 1:00 to 4:00pm

Bull City Open Streets (BCOS) will hold their fourth and final 2011 event on Sunday afternoon October 9th. The roads along Central Park and around Durham Athletic Park will be closed to car traffic, making active transportation easy and safe. Event highlights include: dance classes, bicycle powered smoothies, scavenger hunt, food trucks,skate demo, cake-off and much more. For background info please see the Open Streets Site, the Event Flyer and the Open Streets Facebook page.

Durham Plans to Push Forward with Bridge for American Tobacco Trail

Durham has received and reviewed the bids for completing the ATT in Durham County. The lowest bid totaled some $7.7 million, ~2million more than cost estimates and funding currently available for the project. The City Manager and top staff are examining options to allow the bridge over I-40 and trail sections connecting the bridge to be contracted for soon with the balance to be done in a later phase starting in 2012. Additional funding from Durham may be obtained from dollars currently budgeted for sidewalks and greenways. Other funding from non-highway projects requested by the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro MPO will also be explored. Coordination of such arrangements with NC DOT will be needed as well as approval by the City Council. An award date for the contract has not been estimated but could occur by October. For more background on this long running project please see Jim Wise's article in the News & Observer

And there's more in a August 6th article in the Durham Herald-Sun.

But, the Project is Facing Fairly Significant Delays

Since August 6th, NC DOT has decided that Durham must rebid the project. We understand that the construction drawings will have to be broken out into two documents (for each phase), and each will have to be approved by NCDOT again before bidding can start. Tentatively one phase/project will be the bridge itself as well as the trail from NC54 to Renaissance (the approaches), and the other phase/project would be the rest of the trail. This breakout is tentative and may change as the construction drawings are revised. For more on these more recent events please see this August 10th Herald-Sun article and a short piece from the the N & O's Bullseye Blog. Further status info can be found on the City's page on the American Tobacco Trail Project.

Late August News on Possible Re-Programming of Sidewalk and Other Durham Funding
In late August, Durham City staff announced pending efforts to shift ~$3.8 Million from four Durham sidewalk projects to the Phase E project for the ATT. This shift must be approved by the Durham-Chapel Hill/Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization as well as by Durham's City Council. Further detail on this proposal can be found in a August 22 article in the Herald-Sun. On August 28th a member of a key advisory board says Durham officials need to look harder at why the bids for an extension of the American Tobacco Trail came in about 38 percent higher than expected. Please see the August 28th Herald-Sun article for more on this issue
The $2.1 million overrun ..."indicates the possibility of a serious error in judgment" by the engineers who designed the project and the city staffers who worked with them, said Toby Berla, a member of the Durham Open Space and Trails Commission.

Herndon Connector Trail Nearing Completion

Several years ago TRTC identified that users of the South Durham section of the ATT were often unaware that restrooms were available only a short distance from the trail at Herndon Park. As many users had asked us about facilities there and elsewhere on the trail we took action to try raise resources for construction of an all- weather path from the ATT to the Herndon building. Last year we were successful in getting a State Adopt-A-Trail grant and generous donations from the Carolina Tarwheels and the Tobacco Road Marathon. Construction of this 8' foot wide concrete walkway was completed in early June and is being used already. It is located ~600' north of Scott-King Rd. on the west side of the ATT. There is still some work remaining on the drainage basins and 1 small culvert but these should be done by late July. We're working to get signs to let trail users know of this new short cut to the restrooms. Take a look at some recent pictures of this fine new amenity. PIC 1 ; PIC 2 ; PIC 3

Recent Status of Permitting and Approvals for Phase E of ATT (ATT south of NC 54 and bridge spanning I-40)

Durham's Public Works Department web site has reinstated their posting of summaries of the project's status. The final permits have now been obtained and the Request for Proposals were released in early June. Opening of the formal, sealed bids is now scheduled for July 13th and a contract should be signed by early Fall. Construction is expected to require 1 year. PDF files of the plans, specifications and bidders list are now available for download on the City's web site. Click here for access to these files on the Department's ATT page. The latest summary is a PDF report near the top of this page.

Parking Restrictions in Effect At O'Kelly, Pittard-Sears and New Hope Ch. Road Trail Crossings --CORRECTED

In early February the State DOT installed numerous NO PARKING signs on both sides of O'Kelly Chapel Road adjacent to the ATT crossing as well as at the other two crossings. Chatham County has informed us that the State Highway Patrol is now enforcing these restrictions as of ~ February 22, 2011. With these restrictions now in place, users wanting to access this area of the ATT may want to consider parking at Herndon Park (at Scott-King Road) or west of the crossing on Pittard-Sears road. The short utility access driveway just east of the crossing on New Hope Church Road is no longer available for trail parking since the town of Cary has recently posted No Parking signs there. We understand that Chatham County is looking into the sign postings on Pittard-Sears and New Hope Church Rd.

Tobacco Road Marathon Needs Volunteers

The second Tobacco Road Marathon and Half Marathon will be held on the ATT on Sunday March 20th. Again this year, TRTC will be a benificiary of race proceeds. This is a large event and volunteers are needed on race day and on the 18th and 19th. Several of us from TRTC will be helping out on race day. There are volunteer opportunities for individuals and for groups. If you are interested in volunteering, please click on the Volunteer Letter for details.

TRTC's End of the Year Report

As the year closes out, please take a minute to look at our 2010 Report

TRTC Receives Generous Donation from Carolina Tarwheels

Late in November we were pleased to receive a generous gift of $5000 from the Carolina Tarwheels Bicycle Club. We will be using this gift to help fund the construction of a path that will connect the ATT to existing restrooms and parking spaces in Herndon Park near Scott King Road; construction will be undertaken in 2011. The Tarwheels , who organize regular social rides around the Piedmont and use their yearly Bikefests to fund local bicycling-related causes, have donated to TRTC to help with other projects in the past. We very much appreciate their continued support.

ATT Featured on UNC-TV

The American Tobacco Trail and rail-trails across NC are featured in Rick Sullivan's story on "North Carolina Weekend". TRTC's Dave Connelly and Board members from NC Rail-Trails were interviewed for this show on the trail. The show debuted on UNC-TV Thursday, Nov. 4th at 9pm. NC Weekend was repeated over the next few days on both UNC-TV and UNC-EX. For those who missed these on air showings, please go to a VIDEO of the Rail-Trails segment.

Porta John Installed at Fayetteville Road Trailhead

TRTC is pleased to announce that we have arranged for the one year rental of a fully-serviced Porta John for the Fayetteville Road Trailhead. See picture Since we completed the parking area and kiosk in early 2006 we have completed several drainage improvements, installed brick pavers around the kiosk and have held numerous workdays to remove trash from the woods and connector trail and generally maintain the grassy areas. Usage of this trailhead has been increasing steadily over the past two years and we believe this Porta John will be appreciated by lots of ATT users.

Durham Recognized Nationally as Bicycle Friendly Community

The League of American Bicyclists announced last week that it has honored the City of Durham with its prestigious Bicycle Friendly Community Award at the Bronze level. “Durham has many great places for cycling, from the American Tobacco Trail and North-South Greenway Trail to many low-traffic neighborhood streets,” said Mayor William V. “Bill” Bell. “We thank the League for recognizing our efforts to improve the quality of life for our residents and provide transportation choices. Our City staff, the North Carolina Department of Transportation, and the biking community have worked hard over the past decade to get us to this point.” The League is recognizing 18 new Bicycle Friendly Communities and eight renewals in its fall 2010 award cycle. Chapel Hill is also being recognized at the Bronze level, and Carrboro’s designation was renewed and upgraded to the Silver level. Other Bicycle Friendly Communities in North Carolina are Cary, Charlotte, Davidson, and Greensboro. The League of American Bicyclists will present Durham’s award along with a highway road sign at a local ceremony in the near future. See this recent article from the Herald-Sun for more detail.

Durham Urged to Use Earmark Funds for Rail Corridor Soon

In late July, Durham received a letter from Congressman David Price urging them to take prompt action to obligate $2 million appropriated in 2005 for preservation of a rail corridor. At that time Durham was negotiating with Norfolk-Southern (NSC) for a short corridor commonly referred to as the beltline. Those talks broke down but NSC has recently indicated it is interested in renewing discussions about at least a portion of the beltline. The urgency arises because the House has passed a bill seeking to rescind some $713 million in old, unspent funds for transportation. While these corridor funds are not included, Price's staff believe other unspent earmarks may also be vulnerable to rescission. For a fuller discussion, please see the recent Herald-Sun article. At it's August 2 meeting, TRTC's Board moved to request the City Council, the Durham County Commissioners and several other officials to find a way to make use of the $2 million in transportation funds that was earmarked for the city's preservation of rail corridors, and to offer our wholehearted support for this effort. If acquisition of the beltline corridor cannot be accomplished, other potential acquisitions should be considered, including a long-abandoned north-south corridor ending at Falls Lake. We'll report on this again in the near future as we learn of efforts by local governments to work out a deal for acquiring a local corridor.

Update on Repaving of ATT and Other Durham Trails

Repaving efforts began in May and are continuing. The contractor plans to repair and pave trails in the following order:
1. The American Tobacco Trail between Cook Rd and Riddle Road

2. The Riddle Road Spur Trail

3. The American Tobacco Trail between Riddle Road and Morehead (downtown)

4. The American Tobacco Trail between NC 54 and Dunhill

5. The North-South Greenway Trail between Lavender and Murray.

Repairs to the pavement surface of the Riddle Road trail will begin on Monday, August 9.
Paving will begin on Tuesday, August 10. The contractor will first pave the American Tobacco Trail between Juliette and Cook, and between Cornwallis Rd and Riddle Road, then will begin paving the Riddle Road trail. This may take multiple days.

Following the completion of the Riddle Road Trail, the contractor will resume paving the American Tobacco Trail between Riddle Road and downtown Durham.

Survey on High Speed Rail Coridor

As part of the Environmental Impact Statement process, NC DOT is seeking public input through a series of hearings and a short on-line survey. Please take a few minutes to complete this survey. This new corridor will include a designated portion on which a trail can be constructed and we want to let the State know we strongly support this an want DOT and other State agencies to take an active role in getting trails planned and constructed from the VA line to Raleigh.

General Assembly Retains Funding for Adopt-A-Trail Grants
Great news! The General Assembly just passed a budget that retains full funding of $108,000 for Adopt-a-Trail, despite the extremely tough financial situation faced by state government this year. Thanks for your help in telling legislators about the value of the program. Legislators did report they heard from constituents, and that really made a difference in such a difficult year. Please take a moment now to thank your legislators for supporting the program. They will appreciate it, and it will help stengthen the support for future funding.
Here is contact information for House members and for Senators.

Trail Users Hear of ATT History, Key Players at Dedication of Chatham Section
About 100 people came out to the June 5th dedication. Information on the trail and related topics was available at several booths. Attendees heard remarks from Chatham, Durham, the town of Cary, NCDOT, NC Rail-Trails, TRTC and from Speaker of the NC House, Joe Hackney. A few images from the dedication can be seen here: PIC 1; PIC 2; PIC 3; PIC 4. For addional pictures please go to the American Tobacco Trail page on Flickr and to several on the dedication on Fotki.com

Parking at ATT Crossings in Chatham County
Over the past few months NC DOT and Chatham County have been examining traffic patterns and parking at both the O'Kelly Chapel and New Hope Church crossings. Significant and fairly high speed traffic is typical at both locations. In light of this high volume vehicle traffic and the limited sight lines at O'Kelly, DOT and Chatham have decided to limit road-side parking near the crossing. NO PARKING signs will be installed during June. Reduced speed limits for these roads are also being considered. Some discussion of this situation can be found in a recent Chatham Journal article. As noted in the article, Chatham is planning and budgeting for a dedicated trailhead parking area on New Hope Church Road to be opened in 2013. Trail users are urged to park at either the Pittard-Sears crossing or at the White Oak Church Road trailhead.

Tobacco Road Marathon Distributes Grants from Race Proceeds
In early May, TRTC was one of three organizations to receive a generous grant from proceeds of the 2010 marathon. TRTC received $20,000, the Wounded Warrior Project received $10,000 and $5,000 was awarded to the Red Cross to be directed to the Haitian relief fund. TRTC was involved in trail preparation for the event and intends to continue as an active supporter of the event in 2011. We plan to use the funds over the next two years for ATT trail enhancements and for surface upgrades at areas such as the Eagle Spur trail.

Durham Trails Closing Temporarily for Repairs
Using nearly $300,000 from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Durham will be doing much needed re-surfacing of portions of the ATT and several other greenways over the next 90 days. For more on the details and user impacts see the recent News & Observer article

Lawson Street Connector Trail Dedicated
On Saturday May 15th we sponsored a brief ceremony to dedicate the completion of this latest connection to the ATT. We heard remarks from staff from both the North Carolina Rails Division and the Parks Division, Durham Parks & Recreation, City Councilman Mike Woodward, Durham County Commissioner Ellen Reckow and from Ray Eurquhart of the Southside neighborhood group. All recognized the fine partnership in this effort. Several local residents said how grateful the neighborhood was for the connector and thanked the TRTC for our work. After the ceremony we installed a new information sign to guide connector users to nearby streets and destinations. Below are some pictures from this event: Ribbon Cutting   Some Attendees   Putting up the Sign

Interesting Article on Future Bridge for the ATT
Jim Wise, a long time Durham columnist, presents a short history of efforts to plan and then obtain funding and permits for the bridge to be built over I-40 over the next 12-15 months. The 2006 petition asking for expedited action by Durham was sponsored by TRTC.

Bull City Summer Streets--To Be held in Downtown Durham
Clean Energy-Durham is sponsoring a "get out and walk around the downtown" event on Sunday May 23rd from 2 to 6 pm. One mile of city streets near downtown will be opened to biking, walking and playing. Come enjoy the safety and fun of open streets, and participate in free dance and aerobics classes, play catch in the old ballpark, and more. Please see the Summer Streets Site and the Clean Energy site for more on this and their other upcoming events.

Lawson Street Connector is Now Open
May3: We were busy last week. Cole Concrete took advantage of the nice weather and completed the grading, concrete pouring and bollard installation. This 115' walkway is just north of Mile 1 on the ATT and now provides a smooth connection to Lawson Street and the NCCU area for walkers, cyclists and wheelchairs. Local residents started using it immediatly and see it as an asset to their community. At our May 1st workday we prepared the side areas for grass and gave the sturdy 6" bollards an initial coat of paint. Over the next few weeks we'll be doing a bit of clean-up and landscaping. For a few glimpses of this new connector please see the following images: PIC 1 PIC 2 PIC 3 PIC 4 PIC 5

Formal Opening of Chatham Section of ATT-- June 5, 2010
Chatham County and the City of Cary will hold a Grand Opening on Saturday June 5th from 10 to noon at the Pittard Sears Road access. (The rain date and time is Sunday, June 6th from 2 to 4.) The event will be held along the trail south of Pittard Sears towards the Panther Creek bridge. Parking will be along Pittard Sears Road and in a nearby development being constructed on the west side of the trail at this intersection. All trail users are invited. The event will include refreshments and remarks by TRTC and local and State staff who worked to make this section happen. Congressman David Price and the press will be invited. Information tables/booths by groups are encouraged. For further information please contact Cary's Festival Coordinator Joy Ennis.

Work Resumes on Lawson Street Connector
On April 3rd we held a successful workday to cut up and remove some fallen trees and do a bit more on general trash removal in the wooded area bordering South Street. See workday PIC of volunteers. Our efforts to get the ATT connector built are moving well. (As reported earlier, funding we obtained under the Adopt-A-Trail grant program will be used to build a 115' connector trail from the ATT to South Street). We are evaluating proposals for grading and paving and expect to have the contractor work completed by mid-May.

Safety Evaluation for ATT Crossings in Chatham and Wake >
With the much increased use of the Chatham section, TRTC, numerous users and some nearby property owners have contacted NCDOT and staff from Cary to express their concerns about the dangers at trail crossings and for users parking and unparking cars near these crossings. In an effort to provide safe and effective at-grade crossings along the trail, the Chatham County Board of Commissioners, the Wake County Board of Commissioners, and the Town of Cary Town Council have passed resolutions asking NCDOT to perform in-depth safety evaluations of each crossing in Wake and Chatham. Please see a copy of the Joint Resolution for details. Please pay particular care and attention when crossing O'Kelly Chapel Road, particularly if you have children, dogs or horses. Due to the speed of traffic and the limited sight lines, O'Kelly Chapel is arguably the most dangerous road crossing along the trail.

Another Haul from Recent Workday on the ATT
On February 28, over 20 members of the Psi Upsilon fraternity at Duke University came out for a second pass at removing the old appliances and trash from the woods adjacent to the new Phase E section of the ATT near Masey Chapel Road. Their initial ATT workday on January 24th produced a similar haul. We estimate that the group's efforts have removed about 90% of the trash from this area. Click HERE to see the group and the latest pile. We also want to thank the Impact Team from the City of Durham who efficiently pick up these large hauls to keep the roadside looking nice.

Bridging Rails-to-Trails--A Documentary on the ATT
After several years of preparation, Carol Thomson has now posted her documentary on the history of the American Tobacco Trail. A formal presentation of the documentary is scheduled for 7-8pm on March 24th, at the Durham Arts Council theater.The recent release includes a historical slide show and a video of tobacco production in Durham and videos of the Apex Street bridge removal, the role of equestrian efforts in western Wake County and a short clip on Norfolk Southern use of the corridor, Jordan Lake's construction and the New Hope Valley Railroad, showing how all relate to the trail's history and development. [A video on the newly completed Chatham section was added in late March.]

NC Rail Trails Seeks Executive Director

North Carolina Rail-Trails (NCRT), a private, non-profit 501(c)(3) North Carolina corporation, seeks an Executive Director, who will be responsible for leadership, development and management of all NCRT programs and activities. The position will be the first staff position for NCRT, founded in 1989, which has until this time been an all-volunteer organization. The ideal candidate will be a service-oriented manager with successful experience in fundraising, advocacy, and board management and development. If you would like more information on the requirements, responsibilities and compensation of this position, please see the the full position description on the NC Rail-Trails site.

Workday on South Durham Section of ATT

On December 12th, 14 students from Green Hope High School came out to help us clean-up a large collection of discarded household appliances and other trash near the crossing of Massey Chapel Road and the ATT. Much of this was in the nearby woods and required much pushing and dragging to get it to the road. Thanks to all who helped. Here are some pictures of the volunteers and their haul. Pic 1 Pic 2 Pic 3

TRTC's End of the Year Report

As the year closes out, please take a minute to look at our 2009 Report

Openings on TRTC's Board of Directors

TRTC will have two openings on it's Board for one year terms beginning in January 2010. If you are interested in working to enhance and maintain existing local trails, promoting new rail-trails in the Triangle area and in other activities supporting local trails you may want to consider serving on our Board. We meet on the first Monday of each month at the Woodcroft Community Center. If you have questions concerning TRTC's Board, please contact Bill Bussey or Curt Devereux.

The Triangle's Newest Full and Half Marathon--March 2010

The newly formed Tobacco Road Marathon Association (TRMA) has announced the first-ever marathon starting in Cary and traversing the American Tobacco Trail. The race is confirmed for March 21, 2010 starting at 7 a.m. TRMA is a group of highly experienced marathon runners and athletic event production managers headed by Cid Cardoso Jr., the president and founder of Inside-Out Sports, and five-time Boston marathon veteran Kazem Yahyapour. The scenic course includes 18 miles of the American Tobacco Trail for the marathon and 7 miles for the half. Runners will start from the USA Baseball/Thomas Brooks Park complex in Cary. Plans call for proceeds to go to the Wounded Warriors Project, American Heart Association and the Triangle Rails to Trails Conservancy (TRTC). Details about the event including online registration and training tips can be obtained through TRMA's Web site at Tobacco Road Marathon. You can also become a friend of "Tobacco Road" on Facebook.

New Frequently Asked Questions Page Initiated

To respond to various questions we have received, we have initiated a FAQs page to address them. These initial entries are only a start, we intend to expand this page substantially over the next few months. If you have a question on triangle area rail-trails, feel free to email us and we'll try to get you an answer. If it is of general interest we'll also post the Q & A on this page. Feel free to contact Bill Bussey or Curt Devereux

Fall 2009 Little Toot Newsletter Available
Articles on the Deep River Rail-Trail and coming events of North Carolina Rail-Trails.

Article on Chatham ATT Section on WTVD
Work on both bridges is nearing completion. Paving and screenings are largely complete from O'Kelly Chapel Road south. Paving from O'Kelly Chapel Road north to the Durham County line should be completed during November. See a October 19th article from WTVD TV for a recent bridge picture and remarks by Joe Godfrey of Cary Parks.

Grant for ATT Connector Project in Durham Approved
In September 2009, TRTC was notified that it's Adopt-A-Trail grant application to grade and pave a short connector to the ATT has been approved. Funding for this program was put on hold this Summer but we now expect to receive our contract by mid-October. With this grant, some donated materials and lots of volunteer efforts we plan to widen, grade and pave a 115' trail from the ATT to Lawson Street. Residents of the nearby Southside area of Durham have been interested in having this improved access to the ATT for some time and will assist us in upcoming workdays over the next few months.

Initial Phase of Deep River Rail Trail Opened
On September 19th local and state officials, volunteers and many from the Deep River Steering Committee participated in opening the initial .75 miles of the planned 18 mile Deep-River rail-trail. About 60 people attended the ribbon cutting in Franklinville including NC Secretary of Commerce, Keith Crisco. The planned trail will eventually connect Ramseur, Franklinville and Cedar Falls. This initial section is 8' feet wide and has a granite screenings surface over a stabilizing geo-textile material. TRTC has participated in several workdays at Deep River and will be involved when resources for the next phase are obtained. For pictures and descriptions of the Deep River Trail please see the Deep River Rail Trail Concept Brochure and MAP. Please see the Fall 2009 Little Toot for opening pictures and notes on plans for the trail.

Construction Pictures of Chatham Section of ATT
Work is moving well on the trail in Chatham. Screenings have been applied from the Wake County line to New Hope Church Road. Progress on both bridges is going well. New images of recent construction were added to PHOTOS 25 on July 27th.
Please Remember--this section is still a construction area and is not open for use. Current estimates call for construction on the Chatham section to be completed by late December.

Spring Newsletter from NC Rail-Trails Available

Durham Trailhead Transferred to City of Durham
After numerous delays, the City of Durham has acquired the Fayetteville Road Trailhead from the Triangle Greenways Council. For the near future, TRTC will continue its periodic mowing and other maintenance of the trailhead. Trailhead users may notice a new drainage grate which we installed in early May at the opening of the connector trail.

Rendering of I-40 Bridge Now Available
The City of Durham has made available an image showing how the proposed bridge might look when in place spanning the highway. See our ATT page for a link. Bull City Rising offers some interesting background on the project.

National Trails Day Workday--June 6th, 2009

For this year's Trails Day, TRTC held a half-day workday starting at 9am to pick up trash on the ATT and the Riddle Road Spur east from Hillside High School in Durham. We picked up lots of trash, especially in the wooded area between the trail and the high school. Here is a picture of several of our volunteers near bags of trash and recyclable items collected on the Riddle Road section.

Durham Detours Portion of American Tobacco Trail for Bridge Demolition--May & June 2009
Users of Durham’s American Tobacco Trail should take note of a temporary detour to accommodate the Apex Street Bridge demolition work that is now underway.
The City of Durham’s Department of Public Works is beginning the next step in completing a new trail connection from the Southside/St. Theresa Neighborhood to the American Tobacco Trail. The demolition of the Apex Street Bridge is the second component of the project and will take place over the next few weeks. The first step in the project has been completed with the construction of a new ramp connecting the American Tobacco Trail to Apex Street. Due to the bridge demolition, a detour of the American Tobacco Trail is required between West Enterprise Street and Apex Street and began on May 27, 2009. The detour will remain in place for approximately four weeks.

Users of the American Tobacco Trail should note that the trail will not be passable from West Enterprise Street south to Apex Street during this period and they will be required to use a detour. American Tobacco Trail traffic between Apex Street and West Enterprise Street will be diverted from the trail to Fargo Street. The newly constructed ramp will serve as an access point for the detour. Signage providing directions to the detour will be posted on the trail.
For additional information regarding this project, including a map of this scheduled detour, visit the City's web site or contact Kyle Butler, civil engineer with the City’s Department of Public Works, at (919) 560-4326 or via e-mail at kyle.butler@durhamnc.gov

Rail Corridor in Northern Durham County to be Assessed
See our Photos Gallery for a description and pictures of an abandoned corridor near Panther Creek that may someday be a rail-trail.

Public Input for Rail with Trail along SE High Speed Corridor (04-19-09). Planning to support the Southeast High Speed Corridor has added a trail concept to SEHSR from Petersburg to Neuse River at Raleigh. Four (4) local workshops open to the public were held in North Carolina during May and June. The website presents information on the alternative routes under consideration and links to numerous studies of rail-trails in other States. For further information on the progress of impact studies and other work being done by the NC Rail Division please contact David Foster dbfoster@ncdot.gov

Opinion Piece on Need for Trails Stimulus in NC

2008 End of Year Message from Triangle Rails to Trails

Please Remember the American Tobacco Trail in your Year End Gifts
Thank you for your support of the Triangle Rails to Trails Conservancy! We have had an exciting year of progress in the development of the American Tobacco Trail. Construction has begun on the trail in Chatham County, including the long-anticipated bridges over Panther and Northeast Creeks. Anticipated completion is this coming June 2009. This will make the ATT an uninterrupted 13+ miles in length when measured from the southern end of the trail in Wake County.
We have been excited to finally see progress on planning for the bridge over I-40 and connecting trails in Durham. Expected for completion by the end of 2010, this four mile-long section will finally complete the American Tobacco Trail.
This progress is a direct result of the petition many of you signed almost two years ago! Thank you to many of you for your participation at several very well-attended public meetings and for sending in your comments to the City of Durham. TRTC coordinated "getting the word out" for these meetings, and have worked with Durham staff to do a better job at planning the ATT. We look forward to monitoring and advocating for completion of these projects over the next few years.
We are grateful to our loyal volunteers whose help is essential for regular weekly trail maintenance and special projects. Up until this past October, TRTC volunteers maintained over 7.5 miles of trail in southern Durham and Chatham County as well as two access areas. Though we are now down to 3 miles in southern Durham, plus the two access areas, we still need your volunteer and financial help. Sign up here for our volunteer reminder list. Join us every week, once a month, once a quarter or once a year.
Our special accomplishments in 2008 include a partnership with the Godiva Track Club to install a connector trail to Solite Park, as well as completion of construction of the parking trailhead on Fayetteville Road in Durham. These are used by hundreds each month to access the ATT. We've also been working with the Friends of the Deep River Rail-Trail in Franklinton to build North Carolina's newest rail trail. This is a neat project which will truly be a boon to the area. (see item below for more info)
Our work will continue in 2009 and beyond. We are currently starting work with the Southside Community to build a connector between the ATT and South Street at Lawson Street near downtown Durham. This will offer easy access between the ATT and schools, churches, NC Central and Roxboro Road. We still need donations to make this happen.
We have a list of 16 needed but currently unfunded projects on and near the ATT in Durham to make it even better. Email Bill Bussey and we'll be happy to send you the list. We'll be working with various partners to move them to fruition in 2009.

MAPS You can print out our latest ATT map right here.
This is our new color ATT map done by Wayne Horton of Winston-Salem.

Donations of any amount are gladly accepted and needed. TRTC will continue to apply for trails-related grants, but funds from memberships and donations remain an important mechanism for acquiring tools and supplies used in our year-round efforts to maintain the ATT and other local trails. We need donations and memberships to pay for our trail workday insurance as well as to assist in matching grant funding. TRTC will continue to build the facilities and amenities that the managing and building partners will not and cannot in the years ahead.

Again, please help keep the American Tobacco Trail moving toward completion and make it even better. Contribute NOW to TRTC. You can even pay online by PayPal if you like.

On behalf of the Board of the Triangle Rails-to-Trails Conservancy we'd like to wish you a wonderful holiday season.

Thank you for your continued support.

Dan Clever        Bill Bussey

President           Vice President

New Rail-Trail Under Development in Randolph County

Construction of the first 3/4 mile was completed in November 2008 in Franklinville. The Deep River Rail-Trail (DRRT) in Randolph County follows an abandoned 18-mile railbed once used by the Atlantic and Yadkin Railroad (1897-1980). This shady, peaceful trail passes an old native American fish weir. The nearby town of Ramseur plans a 3.5 mile eastward extension, and Franklinville plans to lengthen the trail westward to Cedar Falls. TRTC sponsored two workdays at DRRT in 2008. Future efforts by TRTC will be announced through the weekly Emails to TRTC Volunteers. Have questions? Want to volunteer? Contact: Perry Conner:(336)549-4908 or Harvey Harman:(919)799-6819 or AL Capehart (w/ North Carolina Rail-Trails) (919) 542-0022. Click on the following links to see views of a very wooded trail section, the fish weir, and the nearby river:
     PIC #1   PIC #2   PIC #3   PIC #4
Concept Brochure for DRRT

Recent News (12/08) on Acquiring Duke Beltline Loop for Use as Durham Greenway

The City of Durham continues to push on what promises to be a long acquisition process. Durham has reserved some funding for this acquisition but Norfolk-Southern, the current owner, has so far been unwilling to accept Durham's offer. The City is now considering some type condemnation proceeding. For some flavor on this topic see the Bull City Rising Blog

Photos of New Fence at Solite Park

Work Has Started on Chatham Section of the ATT

See Several Construction Pictures showing construction near New Hope Church Road and O'Kelly Chapel Road

Construction of the Chatham section began on September 8, 2008. The following note from Joe Godfrey of Cary's Parks & Rec Dept. contains the particulars.

All,

I am pleased to inform you that the Town of Cary will be issuing Holmes Contracting, Inc. a Notice To Proceed with the construction of the Chatham County segment of the American Tobacco Trail. We anticipate beginning construction on September 8, 2008 and completing the project in June, 2009.

As you know the project consists of the construction of a 4.68-mile long multi-use trail with two typical sections as follows: beginning at the Wake-Chatham County line and continuing to the south side of New Hope Church Road, the first section of the trail shall consist of a 12-foot wide granite screenings surface. The second section of the trail shall consist of a 10-foot wide asphalt surface and an adjacent 6-foot wide crushed stone surface from the north side of New Hope Church Road to the terminus of the project at the Chatham-Durham County line. The Project also includes the renovation of two wooden bridge structures, 157 and 170 feet long.

We anticipate that the project will be constructed in 4 sections which are listed below. The contractor will begin with the Wake-Chatham Co. Line to New Hope Church Road section.

Wake- Chatham Co. Line to New Hope Church Road
New Hope Church Road to Pittard Sears Road
Pittard Sears Road to O'Kelly Chapel Road
O'Kelly Chapel Road to Chatham - Durham Co. line

Please forward this email to any user groups that I may have missed.

Thanks, Joe

Joe Godfrey, RLA
Senior Park Planner
Town of Cary
Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources
PO Box 8005
Cary, NC 27512-8005
Ph: (919) 462-3863
Fax: (919) 469-4344
Email: joe.godfrey at townofcary.org

East Coast Greenway Decides on Triangle Route

It's not official, but according to Chuck Flink, chairman of the East Coast Greenway (ECG), 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.
This latest info comes from Joe Miller's "Get Out! Get Fit! blog. Check out this link to his 7/29 blog for more and his commentary

Bid Opening on Construction Contract for Chatham Portion of ATT

A recent report from the Operations Committee of Cary's Parks Department summarizes the process for Cary's role in this effort. The Holmes Company submitted the lowest bid (of ten submitted) and Cary's Park staff has recommended that they receive the award. The final selection must be approved by NCDOT's Board of Transportation at their August 7th meeting.

National Trails Day Clean-up of Solite Park

On a very hot June 7th, TRTC volunteers removed large quantities of discarded junk from the ATT right of way adjacent to Solite Park. We removed parts of cars, numerous old appliances, many bottles and cans and loads of other stuff. Click HERE for a look at the pile shortly before we finished.

NBC17 Health Fair

TRTC's booth at the recent Health Fair received many visitors. We handed out several hundred local trail maps and fielded many questions on the progress of the various ATT construction projects. Click HERE for a picture of Board member Frank Bennett explaining ATT access to a visitor.

Fayetteville Road Trailhead Access

In 2008 TRTC has seen some progress in getting the trailhead property transferred to the City of Durham. Durham's Real Estate Department and the Triangle Greenways Council (a local Land Trust group that has been holding the property for us since 2002) are currently finalizing the transfer paperwork. We expect the City to have ownership by July. TRTC will be discussing management of the trailhead during the May/June period. The Trailhead has been open for public use since late May. On a recent workday we installed a very nice sign.

Second Community Meeting on I-40 Bridge Held April 29th

The second Community Meeting about the planned pedestrian and bicycle bridge crossing of I-40 for the American Tobacco Trail (ATT) was held on Tuesday, April 29, 2008. About 70 people attended. This meeting was hosted by the City of Durham Department of Public Works (and facilitated by Steven Grover and Associates).
Three proposed bridge designs are depicted in a printable PDF file. A 3D depiction of the three proposed designs can be seen in a recent posting in the Bull City Rising blog.

Durham's Publc Works Department has recently posted proposed schedules and information on the project on a new web site. Should you have any questions or input regarding this meeting, please contact Byron Brady, Contract Engineer, City of Durham at 919 560-4326 x 296 or byron.brady AT durhamnc.gov .

New Access Ramp Now Paved and Open at Durham's Solite Park--April 2008
See a photo of the finished ramp. This ramp should make access to and from the Park far easier than the steep, rutted path it replaced. The ramp was jointly funded by TRTC and the Carolina Godiva Track Club

Durham Area Greenways Highlighted On Google Maps

• Guide to the ATT (with history)
• Information on Volunteering with TRTC
• Donations Via PayPal
• Clothing Available with ATT Logos
• American Tobacco Trail and other trails in Chatham County
• American Tobacco Trail and other trails in Wake County
• American Tobacco Trail and other trails in Durham County
• Links To Other Trail Sites
• East Coast Greenway
• New Maps of ATT
• American Tobacco trail Endowment
• Article on Nature and the ATT
• 1999 News Archive

Tony Reevy, a Durham resident, history buff and Board member of NC Rail-Trails has compiled a guide to the ATT. It presents mile by mile descriptions of the trail as well as brief historical discussions of the various rail lines which ran on the corridor and notes a number of local landmarks. The Guide is available in the Portable Document Format (PDF).

Donations Via PayPal

As of January 2004 you can make a donation to TRTC by credit card through PayPalJoin or Donate NOW using your credit card or electronic draft via PayPal  It's a quick and simple way to help us keep on developing local rail trails.

American Tobacco Trail Endowment

At it's September 2000, meeting, the TRTC Board voted to devote at least 20% of our dues and donations to the newly established American Tobacco Trail Endowment Fund. This fund is being set up in conjunction with the Triangle Greenways Council, who will also contribute. The fund's goal is $10,000. (As of 04/30/2010 the Endowment stood at $5,966) This fund's proceeds will be used to pay for management and upkeep of the Fayetteville Road Trailhead, and potentially others, forever.
When the City or County of Durham or some other jurisdiction takes over the management of this important and convenient trailhead, the fund's proceeds will go toward improvements to the American Tobacco Trail, or other advocate managed trail projects in the Triangle. These proceeds will NOT go to the managing jurisdiction. Thus, your contributions will forever be working for trails in the Triangle. This will be an excellent way to show your support for the American Tobacco Trail and to trails and greenways in the Triangle.

Clothing, Accesories Available with ATT Logos

A TRTC on-line store has been set up with Cafe Shops. Golf shirts, long and short sleeve T-shirts, hats, vests, bags, stickers and mugs are available with the American Tobacco Trail logo. By purchasing items from our store you will be helping to build the ATT in Durham, Chatham and Wake Counties.

American Tobacco Trail and other trails in Chatham County
See our archives for earlier Chatham County News

American Tobacco Trail and other trails in Wake County

See our archives for  earlier Wake County News

American Tobacco Trail and other trails in Durham County

See our archives for  earlier Durham County News

Please see the section on the Annual 1999 Meeting for other details on the construction and plans for trail heads.

Links to Other Trails

To assist users of the TRTC web site, we have initiated a Links page to provide a listing of site addresses of other rail trails and related projects around the country. Periodic additions are planned; if you know of sites that you feel should be added to our list please contact Curt Devereux at cdever@yahoo.com

East Coast Greenway

The First Annual East Coast Greenway Tour (at the site, click on the second bullet -labeled "here" at the top of the page) rode on the American Tobacco Trail and Ellerbee Creek Trails with a rest stop in Durham on October 12 and 13 2004.

Seven riders and two staff began their journey in Calais, Maine on September 12, and generally followed the future route of the East Coast Greenway down the coast to Key West, Florida with an arrival in early November.

The neat thing is that this is the first time any rider or group of riders have traversed a route which is known as the East Coast Greenway.

The East Coast Greenway (ECG) continues to make progress in North Carolina. Currently, the 6.5 miles of American Tobacco Trail currently open in Durham is a formally designated segment of the projected 2600 mile-long East Coast Greenway. The green and blue arrow East Coast Greenway signs are already up on the trail. Durham has given us permission to install some ECG informational signage and a list of North Carolina Mile Sponsors on the back side of the kiosk at the Morehead Avenue trailhead across from the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. This was installed in the Spring of 2004.
See our ECG News page for more news and contacts.

The East Coast Greenway (ECG) will be an 85% off-road greenway trail up the East Coast. As planned it will stretch from Key West to Calais, ME. The planned route takes it through Boston, New York, Trenton, Philadelphia, Washington, Richmond, Durham and Raleigh, Fayetteville, Wilmington, Charleston, and then down Florida's east coast to Key West. The ECG can best be described as a "Trail Connecting Cities".

See the ECG site  for more on the route.
New Maps of American Tobacco Trail

Durham has prepared a detailed map of the Durham portion of the ATT and all intersecting roads and highways. This new (3/2001) map includes the location of mile posts and will be posted at trail kiosks to be placed along the trail.

In late Fall 2000, the Geographic Information Systems group at Triangle J Council of Governments prepared an Updated ATT Map. This map and the accompanying text have been used to prepare a new ATT brochure. This current version focuses on landmarks on or near the Durham section and is available at the City/County Parks & Rec. offices at 403 Blackwell St. (in the DBAP office complex). As the sections in Wake and Chatham are opened for use, TRTC plans to revise the map and text and will make it available to trail users in those Counties.
The current text for the map    is in the Portable Document Format (PDF) and can be viewed with the Adobe Reader.