where would you go on a connected bolin creek greenway- map
A map showing where the connected pieces of the Bolin Creek Greenway would allow people to go in Carrboro and Chapel Hill

So much misinformation is circulating around the potential greenway expansion into Carrboro. Over the weekend, we saw misstatements about funding, parking, the surface of the greenway, runoff, alternative paths, and trees.

Sign up for the Carrboro Linear Parks Project mailing list to get updates on building out Carrboro’s greenway network. Visit the Carrboro Linear Parks Project website for more information. There’s also a helpful FAQ with answers to many questions.

Update: We support the creekside alignment for the reasons detailed here.

The Carrboro Linear Parks Project FAQ is collecting primary source documents and artifacts related to the greenway, so that you can see what the town and environmental experts have actually said over the past 15 years.

What we know:

  • The trail’s current condition is generating uncontrolled runoff which currently contributes to trail and waterway erosion.
  • The trail would be built in an existing sewage easement which has already been cleared of trees.
  • Alternatives have been assessed, but they would require trees to be removed, would go along existing roadways, and would not connect much of Carrboro to the greenway network.
  • When you use federal money for a project (like greenways do) you have to conduct a robust environmental assessment.
  • UNC representatives favored utilizing OWASA sewer easements for multi-use trail development due to the existing recreational interest and their previously disturbed conditions.

If you see misinformation, please let us know. We want to have a community discussion about this topic, but we also want to make sure it’s based in facts — not in fear-mongering rumors or half-truths that muddy the conversation before it even begins.

Melody Kramer is a Peabody-award winning journalist whose work has appeared on NPR and member stations around the country, as well as in publications ranging from National Geographic to Esquire Magazine....