As a Water Protector and Rights of Nature advocate, I wholeheartedly support all efforts to preserve Bolin Creek and Bolin Forest, and prevent the unnecessary, irreversible harms that will result from paving a concrete path alongside the sensitive riparian zone of Bolin Creek.
Since time immemorial, Indigenous peoples have been taught to treat the environment and other species as we would our human kin. Today, the Indigenous-led Rights of Nature movement aims to avoid the worst of the climate catastrophe by shifting the status of nature in our Western legal system from property or commodity, to arights-bearing entity. It challenges all of us to examine proposals for development through the eyes of our ecosystems, the more-than-human beings that inhabit them, and our future generations. It’s from these vantage points that I voice opposition to the proposed concrete trail alongside Bolin Creek.
Paving in the riparian zone of Bolin Creek would sacrifice the long-term vitality of its water quality and aquatic life by removing crucial riparian trees, destabilizing stream banks and creating ripe conditions for erosion. Manufacturing such frailty will have rippling consequences. Bolin Creek and Bolin Forest deserve health and resilience, and it’s our job as stewards to make choices that ensure it.
Bila:huk,
Dr. Crystal Cavalier-Keck, Co-Founder and Director of 7 Directions of Service
7 Directions of Service (7DS) is an Indigenous-led environmental justice and community organizing collective based on Occaneechi-Saponi homelands in North Carolina dedicated to canceling the Mountain Valley Pipeline/Southgate Extension,advocating for legal Rights of Nature and developing a land, language and cultural center based on traditional teachings. Visit 7directionsofservice.com to learn more and get involved.
Greenways are great in the right places. There is a big caveat. Pavement does not belong in riparian zones next to a creek. What is a riparian zone? See diagram below.
The 2009 Bolin Creek Greenway Conceptual Master Plan favored the creekside route before an engineering study was conducted. This proposed alignment would run for approximately two miles of trail in the riparian zone next to Bolin Creek, extending from Estes Drive Extension to Homestead Road and take out all the trees and tree roots in its path in the midst of a 425 acre forest. When tree canopy is removed next to a creek, water temperatures rise, and animal and insect populations decline along with water quality.
There are a number of alternative options to the proposed creekside route:
Upland Forest Alignment – A greenway alternative listed in the 2009 Conceptual Greenway Plan is located outside the floodplain that would direct users to Seawell School Road. This route utilizes existing trail corridors that vary in width from 72 inches to 15 feet.
Potential Rails to Trail Option – This can happen when UNC abandons reliance on coal, a prospect under consideration and was recommended in the 2020 Revised Bike Plan for Carrboro.
Neighborhood By-ways – According to the 2025 Revised Bike Plan these routes utilize neighborhood streets such as Cobblestone and Pathway Drive, tying low traffic streets with existing trails leading to the UNC bridge and the power easement.
Seawell School Off-Road Bike Path – This proposed route is part of the Carolina North Development Agreement between Chapel Hill and UNC. This is the most direct and efficient route for transportation use, tying hundreds of homes on Homestead with the new bike lanes to be built this year on Estes Drive Extension which in turn will tie to Chapel Hill’s Greenway system. This route can also connect with the proposed Campus-to Campus Connector endorsed by UNC, Carrboro and Chapel Hill following the adoption of the UNC Development Agreement. This route is located on land owed by Chapel Hill to the west of the railroad track, and connects Estes Drive by Estes Apartments and connects directly to Downtown Chapel Hill and Carrboro. Both Chapel Hill and Carrboro recommended that the Seawell School Off-Road Bike Path and the Campus-to-Campus Connector be placed on the regional Metropolitan Planning Organization’s (MPO’S) list for funding.
Connection to Chapel Hill – Chapel Hill is planning more greenways too. The Chapel Hill Greenway/bikepath at Umstead Park could run several routes. The least damaging to Bolin Creek would be to build the bikeway along Umstead Drive to intersect with Estes Drive Extension where new bikeways will be built this year, and then to join the planned off -road Seawell School Bike Path.
Many existing trails and off road bikeways are already available for recreation and some for transportation. Some are in the planning stages.
Why oppose the Carrboro Council’s current approach to identifying new greenway routes?
The Town has not performed due diligence because the “engagement process” underway now began before facts were provided on the available alignments.
In determining the preferred route, the Council and staff relied on a 14 year old Greenway concept plan – instead of an engineering feasibility study.
Any multi-million dollar project requires an engineering study that would assess construction costs, environmental impacts, and costs. At this point costs and impacts are unknown.
The Town has not performed mobility studies for any of the route alignments.
Challenging topography in the Upper Bolin Creek Watershed would necessitate placing the creekside paved bikeway in the riparian zone of the creek, a clear violation of the Jordan Lake Buffer rules.
The Neighborhood By-way, the Upland Forest Route, and the Sewell School Road off-road bike path all provide suitable alternatives to the creekside route. If UNC abandons coal, the railroad line also becomes a viable alternative.
The Carrboro Council proposes to put a 10 foot wide cement structure with additional clearing on each side, totaling 30 feet of grading to meet DOT standards. While it sounds appealing to recreational bicyclists to ride next to a creek, the conditions found in the upper Bolin Creek watershed would mean this project (clearing plus cement structures) would wipe out long swaths of trees and vegetation in the riparian buffer along Bolin Creek. Unlike the lower watershed, much of the upper Bolin Creek watershed north of Estes Drive Extension is located in a narrow valley, and the gravity sewer line is very close to the creek. OWASA would require additional grading to prepare the pavement for OWASA service trucks, further impairing a valuable riparian ecosystem.
No credible, accepted environmental science supports paving in a riparian buffer. The reason comes down to what a riparian buffer is and what it does: https://youtu.be/KIhZEfMGTxI
Riparian buffers provide multiple benefits for adaptation to climate change like microclimate creation, flood and drought mitigation. Moreover, by providing a biodiversity corridor and improving local water quality through their filtration capacity for nutrients and pollutants, riparian buffers are important features to maintain.
Additionally, perennial vegetation such as trees are particularly beneficial for long-term atmospheric carbon sequestration, also making riparian buffers a potential tool to further progress towards climate change mitigation.
The NC Gap Analysis Project has identified much of the Bolin Creek riparian corridor as a priority wildlife habitat (please see North Carolina State University, North Carolina Gap Analysis Project, last updated 2019)
The towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro make up more than half the population of Orange County, with approximately 80,000 people between them, according to the NC Department of Commerce 2020 estimation. With a mix of permanent residents and university students, this area boasts a deep-rooted cultural community, established school systems, and engaged residents who value environmental protection and outdoor recreation.
Nestled between these two towns and among schools and residential neighborhoods is a 429-acre forested greenspace that locals call Bolin Creek Forest. If you spend any time in Bolin Creek Forest, you will admire the beautiful mature hardwood trees on the banks of Bolin Creek. You will pass through a diverse, naturally evolving forest that includes centuries-old trees alongside new growth. If you stay long enough, you may even spot a box turtle crossing the trail, a great blue heron wading in the creek, or hear a pileated woodpecker tapping in the tall trees, foraging for its meal.
This large urban forest provides ecological, recreational, educational, and economic benefits to our community. Bolin Creek Forest is unusual for its proximity to growing urban development in Chapel Hill and Carrboro. As urbanization intensifies, the forests and creeks of the Bolin Creek Natural Area are becoming increasingly valuable to the environmental and recreational health of these communities.
