After over a year of discussions with staff from the Town of Cary and Chatham County, TRTC's advocacy efforts were accepted and yellow dashes marking the trail's center line were put down by our contractor today. Our goal for these dashes is to provide trail users with a gentle reminder to generally keep right and ride or walk no more than two abreast. We believe most users will appreciate these efforts to improve safety on the trail for all types of users.
Our Conservancy now has two vacancies on the Board and would welcome anyone interested in our group to attend our next Board meeting on December 7th. We'll be meeting at 7:30 at the Clubhouse in Woodcroft (very near the trail)

As additional action from the monitoring of trail users and vehicles done this past May, the District DOT staff has installed signs to remind motorists that they are obligated to yield to pedestrians. These are regulatory signs and motorists not yielding can be ticketed. We are exploring ways to get transportation improvement funding for user activated flashing signal lights for this crossing through Chatham County. Stay tuned, this may not be a quick process.
Mid-November Update: No success in finding resources for the lights this year. The project is now included in Chatham's planning process as an effort to be seriously considered for funding by the Chatham Commissioners in 2016.

This just in! The Independent Weekly reports this week on the recently published study of safety on the American Tobacco Trail. Click here to read the coverage in the Indy: http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/does-the-american-tobacco-trail-unite-o...

Click here for the full report of findings: Durham Safety Study

Click here to read: Dave Connelly's response to the INDY article

Good News for trail users frequenting the ATT crossing at O'Kelly Chapel Road! Based on the 9 day monitoring of users crossing O'Kelly by volunteers with TRTC and vehicle speeds and numbers monitoring by DOT, DOT has installed 35 mph advisory signs for both directions. These are not legally enforceable limits, but these yellow advisory signs are very often effective in lowering the average speed of motorists passing through trail crossings. This is still a potentially dangerous crossing due to the limited sight lines by motorists and the enforceable limit of 50 mph. Users have suggested having blinking yellow lights installed at this crossing. We'll be exploring getting these as long term safety upgrades through the MPO planning process. July 21 Update: District 8 DOT has pulled together a study group to look at options for improved signage and other changes to improve safety at O'Kelly and similar road crossings. More on this as findings emerge.

As part of their long term support of improving user access to the ATT and other trails and greenways, the Town of Cary is now constructing a new trailhead facility on the north side of New Hope Church Road. This trailhead will have year-round restrooms, substantial parking, bike racks, a short walking trail, picnic benches and a direct off-road connection to the ATT. Construction has been underway since late Fall and completion is expected by late Summer/early Fall. The bathroom building is looking nice in this early June image. You can see a rendering of the trailhead's layout in the attached PDF: http://www.triangletrails.org/pdfs/Trailhead_Concept1.pdf

Over the past two months we've seen the completion of two ATT projects: Quarter mile markers reflecting the north to south measurements done last year have been installed in all three counties. In Durham white markers have been painted directly on the asphalt while in Chatham and Wake Counties bi-directional stand up signs have been installed. (See ATT Construction Photos http://www.triangletrails.org/gallery/att for view of new signs)

On the south side of Scott King Road in Durham County, Ben Kearsley, an Eagle Scout candidate, recently installed four exercise stations. This is a really nice addition to the trail and should be a popular amenity for numerous users of the ATT as well as those visiting Herndon Park. The balance beam station was made from rails and ties which once carried the trains on the former Durham & Southern line. TRTC and Tazikis Mediterannean restaurants of Cary provided support for this project.