On February 13th Cary's Town Council voted to approve funding of $1350 towards the cost of the tap-in fee to the water line at Pittard Sears road. This represents 50% of this fee and our Board certainly appreciates this fine support from the Council. With Winter and sub-freezing temperatures almost over, we hope to get the connection and water meter installed by early in March. We installed the concrete slab for the fountain in December but will still need to put in a smaller slab for a back flow device before we lay in the water line. Look for the fountain to be open for trail users by the first week in April. 3/24 Update: The meter was installed on March 11th and we have mounted the fountain on the slab (see above pic). We're planning to re-open the trench this week and soon thereafter to lay in the line and get it connected.

The City of Durham has partnered with Capital Broadcasting to install the initial camera of what is planned to be a network of multiple cameras on the initial four miles of the trail south of the DBAP. This initial camera will be evaluated over the next few weeks with plans to install several more over the next year or so. A recent article in Durham's Herald-Sun http://www.heraldsun.com/news/x2029062724/American-Tobacco-Trail-gets-se... has some of the particulars on these plans. This is a great first step in putting in place a new security feature for the ATT and will complement efforts done with the four wheel security carts and Volunteer Patrols.

On December 15th, TRTC gave users of the ATT an early Christmas present with the opening of the Pittard Sears parking area. This opening wraps up an effort to find a suitable site for parking in Chatham which began early in 2010. Our thanks for the donations which made this area possible: The major funding for our development of the parking area came from proceeds we received from the Tobacco Road Marathon http://www.tobaccoroadmarathon.com/ in 2011 and 2012. We also received funding from the ATT 10 Miler in 2010 and 2011 and from the Tarwheels Bicycling Club in 2012. Major support for the drinking fountain to be installed soon came from REI. Our entrance sign is pictured above.

November has seen a lot of progress on this project. We broke ground on the 12th and since then about 30 trees were removed, the area for parking was lightly graded and smoothed, geotextile cloth was put down, crusher run was spread and compacted, and finally several loads of 3/4" to 1" stones were spread and rolled. Forty four feet of reinforced concrete culvert was installed at the road and then covered with crusher run. We have placed about 10 logs on the edge of the trail side of the area as temporary wheel stops. It appears the lot should accommodate about 16 cars. No trailers of any kind will be allowed in this area since its relatively small size precluded us from putting in the kind of loop needed for trailers. We'll be putting a sign up at the entrance to inform parking area users. We plan to open the area for use about December 15th. Finally, we also put in a short stone path starting at the north end of the parking area to connect the parking area to the ATT.
As you can see from the image above, the lot has a double wide driveway (28' wide to allow safe simultaneous entry and exit) and wide approaches on both sides of the driveway. The asphalt for the driveway was put down in three layers with compacting after each layer. Needless to say this driveway was built to last.
Trenching for the water line to connect to a drinking fountain has been completed. The Town of Cary may partner with us on a portion of the fees charged for tapping in to their water line. This has delayed the installation of the meter a few weeks but we hope to get this done before the holidays. As we reported earlier, a grant from REI is paying for a substantial portion of the drinking fountain project. We just received the fountain and will be installing it on a concrete pad we plan to build just off the trail by the connector path. The major funding for our development of the parking area came from proceeds we received from the Tobacco Road Marathon in 2011 and 2012. We also received funding from the ATT 10 Miler in 2010 and 2011 and from the Tarwheels Bicycling Club in 2012.

As reports of assaults and robberies on Durham’s American Tobacco Trail attracted police and press attention this summer, resident Cynthia Cole began to worry it would prevent people from using the valuable local resource. "It actually made me mad,” she said of at least nine incidents reported between mid-May and October, which ranged from simple assault and robbery to a sexual assault report. “The thought that a town with a great trail system would have it compromised by a small number of people and a small number of incidents…”
To try to fix the problem by improving trail safety, Cole and husband, Lyle Snider, have joined Durham’s new Trail Watch Program, a group of about 25 volunteers who met on November 3rd for a training session at the trail’s Morehead Avenue entrance.

For more on the program please see this article from a recent Durham News http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/11/03/2460122/incidents-on-durhams-amer...

Cary has announced it will soon be installing Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons to help citizens safely navigate the intersections of some of its most popular greenways and well-traveled roads. These solar-powered safety devices emit rapid flashing LED lights when activated by a pushbutton. The LED lights are set to allow time for vehicles to safely yield to pedestrians and continue to flash until all people have crossed the roadway. This is pilot project and Cary will assess their effectiveness over the next year. By the end of the week (10/27) beacons will be installed at the following Cary crossings:
• NW Maynard Road at the entrance to Godbold Park as part of the Black Creek Greenway
• West Dynasty Drive near Sudbury Drive as part of the Black Creek Greenway
• Jenks Carpenter Road near Fryars Creek Drive as part of the White Oak Greenway
• Morrisville Parkway near East Ferrell Road as part of the American Tobacco Trail
Please see Cary's web site http://www.townofcary.org/Departments/Engineering/Streets_and_Sidewalks/... for more on the project.