After years of complaints and delays from a small group of homeowners who are wealthier and whiter than the town of Carrboro at large, in the Spring of 2023, the Town of Carrboro created a community outreach process to seek input in a more scientific way than who speaks at a podium in Town Hall.

The Bolin Creek Greenway survey results were published this evening, and they are unequivocal, and unsurprising. Key highlights:

• 76% of over 1,700 respondents say that creating more trails is “Very Important.”
• 93% of those taking the survey report using the Bolin Creek corridor
• 66% of Respondents prefer the Creekside Trail Alignment from the 2009 Master plan; only 34% support the other two alignments (at least one of which, the rail corridor- is completely unviable) combined

Here are some screenshots related to those points:

These findings largely track what has been found in the Town’s most scientific public opinion survey, its bi-annual Commnuity Survey, conducted most recently in 2021. Roughly 70% of the town in that survey lists expanding the greenway network as a top priority, including those in low-income and minority Census Tracts. Our Town has spent a lot of time talking about Racial Equity and Climate Action in the past year. Few things could be more relevant to addressing both than moving ahead with the trail design and construction along the Creekside Alignment.

Near Neighbors Support the Creekside Alignment

While greenway opponents would have you believe it’s not so, there are plenty of people who live near Bolin Creek who would celebrate having a greenway, and are already thinking about how they would use it. Given the vociferousness of anti-housing and anti-greenway groups in the area, it’s not surprising that some folks from that part of town would not engage their angry neighbors, but feel safer putting their comments in a survey. Here are just a few of those comments.

What Moving Forward Means – An Alignment and Funding

The Town is likely to hear lots of podium comments on Tuesday night. I fully expect them to include some angry voices and demographics that are highly unrepresentative of the Town at large.

However, given these results, it’s time to stop kowtowing to the loudest voices in town, and approve that the Creekside alignment be moved forward to final design as fast as possible, and that funding for consulting firms to do that work should be put in the FY 2025 budget if funding cannot be identified in the remainder of FY 2024, which ends on June 30, 2024.

Let’s get started.