Durham Receives Grant for Duke Beltline Planning

On September 10th Durham took a first step towards planning for the future acquisition and development of a 2.2 mile rail corridor in downtown Durham. The Duke Beltline is a rail spur that rings the western and northern portions of downtown. Supporters of a rails-to-trails conversion see it as a complement to the American Tobacco Trail and other city greenway projects.
Federal officials have awarded Durham a $222,700 grant the city can use to fund planning for a new trail along the Duke Beltline rail corridor.
U.S. Reps. G.K. Butterfield, D-1st, and David Price, D-4th, issued a joint statement Wednesday evening announcing the decision by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Butterfield made a point of thanking Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx, a former mayor of Charlotte, for supporting the application.
The grant replied to an application from the city government, which hopes someday to acquire the downtown-ringing Beltline from the Norfolk Southern Corp.
City Manager Tom Bonfield said the planning work should bolster the city’s case if and when it comes time to seek outside funding for an acquisition. “If we were going to look for philanthropic support from the private sector, the foundation or business world, it was difficult to do that without a plan or strategy or some visual representation of what we’re talking about,” Bonfield said, summarizing the advice officials have solicited from organizations who might be able to help.
Officials will need to come up with a $75,000 local match, with private contributions being a potential source of at least some of that money.
City Transportation Director Mark Ahrendsen said in putting together the grant application, officials touched base with Duke University, Downtown Durham Inc. and the people behind the American Tobacco complex and the proposed Durham Innovation District. They “indicated if we were successful [in landing the planning grant], we’d be returning to them,” Ahrendsen said. “They were open to that, but no commitments were made at that time. We will follow up with the private interests that expressed support for the project.”
He added that the grant is supposed to pay for the creation of a master plan for a trail project along the beltline, to include “trail development guidelines, [construction] phasing and a funding strategy.” Officials in assembling the application figured the work will take about a year. It can’t begin until they nail down grant agreements with the federal government and the N.C. Department of Transportation, and select a consultant. The city’s timetable calls for the administrative spadework to be completed by the end of the year and the selection of the consultant to take place by the spring. That would translate into a completed plan sometime in early 2016, Ahrendsen said. Acquisition talks between the city and Norfolk Southern bogged down in 2013 after the railroad said it wants $7.1 million for the corridor. The city had $2 million on hand thanks to a Price-secured federal appropriation. The project gained new life this year when a Virgina-based trust, The Conservation Fund, signaled interest in lending a hand. Its North Carolina operation is led by Bill Holman, a former Sierra Club lobbyist, state administrator and Duke University policy analyst. Bonfield said representatives of The Conservation Fund and the railroad have met several times and, while not making any deals yet, are having “fruitful talks” about the Beltline. Holman confirmed that talks are continuing.

To date, the conversations are about “seeing if we can get together an agreement on what the property is worth,” as a preliminary to figuring out “how to pay for it and how quickly to pay for it,” he said. But “both parties are very interested in working things out,” Holman said. Holman added that the planning grant “will help a lot.”
“There are opportunities to bring other public and private funds into the project,” he said. “Having a great plan developed [using the grant] will aid those interests.”

TRTC Completes North to South Measurement of the ATT

On August 24th, a volunteer team lead by TRTC's Treasurer, Mike Forte, measured the entire ATT and posted markings at each mile and at each quarter mile. These new markings will allow trail markings on the entire ATT to be based on a single, unitary mileage scheme rather than the prior scheme in which Durham used a north to south scheme and Wake and Chatham employed a south to north scheme.
All miles have been marked with a nail, washer, surveyor's orange paint circle (except mile 0.0 designated with white), and the distance in white. All quarter miles are marked with a dot and the distance in white. The exception to this is in the southern most 8 miles where the surface is granite screening. This area was marked by a 1' wooden stake to the side of the trail with the distance written on it, top painted orange, and the nearest tree (if one was nearby) with a white mark for the quarter miles and a white and orange mark for the whole miles. The total distance from the Durham 0.0 marker to the Apex 0.0 marker is 21.09 miles making the Apex unofficial/official end 21.09 miles. Measuring to the trail head in Apex at the New Hill Olive Chapel Rd parking lot is a distance of 22.08 miles. From the Durham Ballpark to mile 6.5 our measurements were consistent with those done earlier by Durham. From this point south new trail markers reflecting the unitary mileage scheme will be installed by Durham, Cary Parks and Wake County Parks early in 2015.

Teen Arrested for Two Assaults on the ATT

The Durham police have a teen in custody for two assaults on the American Tobacco Trail.
Since the assaults, Durham police have increased patrols along the trail and are askng anyone on the Durham greenways to follow basic safety and crime prevention tips:

Call 911 to report suspicious activity.
Stay aware of surroundings at all times.
Walk in well-lit areas that are not isolated.
If being followed, get away fast, change directions and head toward a safe location.
Carry a personal alarm to deter potential attackers.
http://www.wral.com/durham-teen-arrested-in-two-american-tobacco-trail-a...

Urban Section of ATT to be Studied by Group Chaired by NC Rail-Trails

On March 25th a group consisting of trail advocates, Durham City and County Police, pastors, planners and others concerned with trail safety met at North Carolina Central Univ. to kick off a several month study of the views and perceptions of trail crime on the ATT from the DBAP to NC 54. Researchers from both NCCU and NCSU will be leading teams of grad students in conducting interviews and collecting survey data via questionnaires. Funding for the study was provided by the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation. TRTC will be represented on the group. We'll post any early findings here on our site over the next few months. The study is scheduled to be completed by November 2014. For more on this initial meeting please see this article from WUNC radio: http://wunc.org/post/how-dangerous-american-tobacco-trail-really

Bridge Over I-40 Open at Last!!

Efforts on the safety fencing, lights and drainage were completed in mid February and the bridge was opened to the public on February 19th. Since then bridge usage has been significant and was even seen as crowded at times this past weekend. Since the contractor still has a few minor items to complete on the trail (largely south of Massey Chapel Road) in the next couple of weeks, maintenance by Durham will probably not begin until late in March. A short Youtube video by ATT user Jon Parker shows some bridge views a few days after the opening.

Break-ins at ATT Trailheads !!!

Since early November, a number of automobile break-ins have been reported at the trailheads at Fayetteville Road in Durham , at the White Oak Church Road in Wake County and at the shoulder parking along Scott-King Road. Police from Durham and from Cary have investigated the incidents reported to them and we understand that surveillance at all three areas has been increased in the last 30 days. ATT users parking at these areas need to be aware of these occurrences and to try avoid leaving valuables in their cars while out on the trail. If you are at one of the ATT access points and see unusual activity or what appears to be a break-in, please do your part and call 911 as soon as you can and take note of any cars or persons at the area that do not appear to be there for use of the trail. For continuing user reports and commentary on this issue, please visit the ATT Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/43492943009/

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