On May 20 Durham announced that Blythe Construction will begin work on the $7.7 million Phase E Project on June 11th. The final contract calls for completion of all work in 395 days. The section from Renaissance Parkway to the Chatham County line is scheduled to be completed in early March of 2013. We have not seen a timeline for the installation and completion of the bike/ped bridge over I-40 but all Phase E work is to be done by July 2013.
Durham has announced that the current dirt surface trail from Massey Chapel Road to the Chatham County line south of Scott-King Road will be closed to users soon after June 11th. The Fayetteville Road Trailhead lot may be used as a staging area by the contractor for the duration of the project and thus be closed for parking. The porta-john provided by TRTC was removed on June 4th. We've received many thank-yous for providing this service to trail users and we hope to restore porta-john service to this location after this trailhead re-opens, hopefully by ~April 2013. To keep up with specific events, trail closure dates, and progress please visit http://durhamnc.gov/ich/op/pwd/consproj/Pages/SW-24-ATT.aspx/ periodically. During construction trail users wanting to connect to or from the sections in Chatham and Wake Counties may want to look at this detour routing posted on Map My Rides http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/fullscreen/73395606/

Preservation Durham announced its 2012 Places in Peril list at its annual meeting Wednesday (May 16th) at Pop’s, the third year it has designated historic Durham properties with perilous futures. Six places are on the list, from a downtown railway to a rural farmstead. The 2.2 mile railway corridor known locally as the Durham Beltline, has not seen rail use in several years but still has tracks and is owned by Norfolk Southern Corporation (NSC). The City of Durham attempted to buy the corridor from NSC in 2005 and as recently as late 2011 held discussions with them on purchase/lease options but the two groups are far apart on price. The Beltline would make a fine rail-trail and could connect to the City's greenway system. TRTC, North Carolina Rail-Trails and the Durham Open Space and Trails Committee have been involved in advocacy for this acquisition and will continue to work with other partners such as Preservation Durham on trying to raise awareness and public interest on this project.

Cary has finished the trail repairs south of New Hope Church Road and has now opened an area just east of the ATT for parking by ATT users. This is not a large area but should accommodate ~16 vehicles. Cary has allocated funding for a larger, permanent lot on New Hope Church Road to be constructed in 2013.

Once again, TRTC has received a generous donation from the Tobacco Road Marathon. These funds will be used for a number of ATT projects over the next year and allow us to continue our trail maintenance efforts. In recent years funds like these have enabled us to build connector trails at Lawson Street and at Herndon Park and to continue our efforts to improve signage, provide mowing and surface repairs on the southern Durham County section of the trail and to pay rentals for the porta-john at the Fayetteville Road trailhead. In 2012 we will be developing a parking lot at the Pittard-Sears crossing in Chatham County and continue our maintenance of the southern Durham section until it is closed for Phase E construction.

Durham's City Council has approved the Phase E contract with Blythe Construction of Charlotte. We understand it will include a dual surface section from the Chatham County line to Scott-King Road. Durham has not released a specific schedule for the project but has previously indicated that construction would take ~13 months from the actual start of work. The contractor is expected to start work approximately June 1st. Public meetings to outline construction plans and the impacts on trail users during construction will be held on May 14th, 15th and 17th. To keep up with specific events, trail closure dates, and progress please check the Public Works Dept. web site periodically.

April 11 Update: Contract approved by NCDOT. See recent Herald-Sun article on the latest step toward construction

2/16 Update:The bid opening was delayed again- to Feb. 22. Apparently there was some concern about part of the instructions. The city made updates, but wanted the potential firms to have more time to review the changes.
The bid opening for Phase E construction scheduled for January 25th did not occur since there were only two bids rather than the three required by State rules. Durham will now re-advertise the project to try and elicit a third bid. We understand that the City does foresee opening this next round of bids as soon as February 15th but this might be a bit later. The pre-bid conference is now scheduled for February 7th. For more on the rebid see recent Herald-Sun article.
To keep up with the City's schedule and progress on Phase E, please see the Public Works Dept. web site.