Just before Christmas, I learned about Wake County Commissioner Greg Ford’s agenda for a Jan. 7th meeting to declare recently purchased open space land as surplus, and sell it to the highest bidder. A citizen group shared their concerns and requested that commissioners keep their promise to save the land for a future park. Would the newly elected board listen to ideas of how this open space is a benefit that promotes the health of Wake County Citizens?
My initial response was dismay, and it prompted me to get out my bike to ride and explore a new segment of the Crabtree Creek greenway near my home. While biking, I experienced the feeling of freedom, adventure, and awe that you feel when you are able to get outside and experience the sights and sounds of nature. Each day, I grew stronger, and could ride further, and faster, with more endurance, as I no longer had to stop to walk up the steep uphill gradients on my route. I even started to dream of replacing my long car commute with a combination of bicycle and bus routes.
Yesterday, I took a long drive from Chapel Hill to a press release hosted by the South Wake Park Project in Fuquay Varina. I choose to drive down Hwy 751, that runs along the American Tobacco Trail, rather than taking the highway. As I made the drive, I realized that I would be able to ride my bike 30 miles from my home to my office in the near future. Once Norfolk Southern builds a bridge under the railroad tracks, the Cary and Morrisville sections of the Crabtree Creek Greenway will complete a 15-mile loop through central Cary that will provide another connection to the American Tobacco Trail.
The South Wake Park Project open space in Fuquay Varina could also be extended and used to help make additional connections to the American Tobacco Trail with help from the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, the Trust for Public Land, and other civic groups. Given the citizen interest in protecting this existing open space, why not use this energy and passion to identify matching grants and federal funding, similar to what Wake County Commissioners did to help create open space and connectivity for residents of Cary?
Fuquay Varina and the surrounding areas in South Wake County are developing quickly, without strong land use plans that provide for open space and trail connectivity. You can see the lack of existing or planned trails in the Pocket Guide for Wake County Trails. It takes timely coordination between Wake County, Towns, and citizens, along with vision and planning to preserve open space and to provide safe outdoor recreational opportunities. Wake County Commissioners need to recognize the current lack of green infrastructure in this area, and prioritize the health and welfare of citizens by planning now to expand parks, trails, and greenways, before over-development makes it prohibitively costly.
Keeping the open space, and inviting leaders from the South Wake Park Project to be ambassadors for their community as part of a participatory budgeting process similar to the one being used by the City of Durham would be a way to make decision making more inclusive and transparent.
“Public Parks Provide a convenient, low-cost resource to enable active living” — Wake County Pocket Guide for Wake County Trails and Greenways
