From billbus at verizon.net Tue Dec 21 21:27:05 2010 From: billbus at verizon.net (Bill Bussey) Date: Tue, 21 Dec 2010 21:27:05 -0500 Subject: [Trtc-beltline-timberlake-news] Triangle Rails-to-Trails Conservancy Year End Report Message-ID: <4D1161F9.2080004@verizon.net> Dear Friends of the American Tobacco Trail, Greetings and Happy Holidays from Triangle Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (TRTC)!It's almost the end of the year and we would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your help in the past, keep you up to date on what we have been doing this year, and ask you for your continuing support.As a reminder, your year-end contribution to TRTC is tax-deductible . Any amount will be welcome as we continue to maintain, promote and improve the American Tobacco Trail.Here is what we have been up to during 2010: *Trail Construction and Maintenance*:TRTC has conducted workdays on most Saturdays in 2010, keeping the ATT clear, clean and safe for its numerous users. We currently work mostly in southern Durham County. Here we move downed trees and branches off the trail, empty trash cans, mow the edges of the trail, and remove garbage of all kinds and sizes, from candy wrappers to the occasional large appliance, from the trail itself and the land next to it. Volunteers have also smoothed out ruts in the trail, notably in southern Durham County just prior to the very successful Tobacco Road Marathon that was held - entirely on the ATT- in the spring of this year.In addition we do periodic cleanups on the trail in Durham north of I-40. *Publicity*:TRTC has revised our comprehensive map of the ATT to reflect its current state.The full-color map, current as of June 2010, can be printed out at our website -- see http://www.triangletrails.org and, under the heading "American Tobacco Trail", click on the separate "Durham section" and "Chatham/Wake section" map links. In addition, as we do every year, we also set up tables at several local festivals and events, including Cary's Lazy Daze festival, the Festival on the Eno, the WRAL Health Fair and others. At these events we gave out maps and told trail users -- and people who are not yet trail users -- about the ATT and other trails in the area. *Special Projects*:This year, using funds from an Adopt-a-Trail grant from the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources, we built a 115-foot paved trail connection from the corner of Lawson and South Streets in Durham to the ATT. The connection provides easy street access to the trail in that neighborhood, and improves access to/from N.C. Central University. TRTC also applied for and was awarded an Adopt-a-Trail grant which will partially fund a trail connection from Herndon Park, north of Scott King Road, which we will build next spring. *Otherwise Improving the Trail Experience*:In this category we count a portable toilet that we recently had installed at the Fayetteville Road parking lot (not far south of Southpoint Mall), on a concrete pad that TRTC had constructed earlier for that purpose. We have contracted with a local company to provide the toilet and to service it on a regular basis. Signs will be installed on the trail before long, alerting ATT users to this facili *Support of other Trail-Related Events*:TRTC volunteers also volunteer to help staff other cycling/running events, including this year the Tobacco Road Marathon, BikeFest, Bull City Summer Streets and the October ATT 10-Miler race. *Advocacy: *TRTC spoke up at Durham City Council, and received favorable comments from Council earlier this year when we spoke in support of the bridge over I-40. This long-awaited project, once complete, will result in a continuous 22-mile trail from downtown Durham to Wake County. (For those of you who are anxious to know the latest (as of December 3^rd ) on the bridge, there are a couple of remaining permits to be acquired, followed by a few months for bidding and awarding a contract; construction should begin by summer.Details can be seen at this site:http://www.durhamnc.gov/departments/works/pdf/att_update_120310.pdf We have also pressed City Council to make use of funds that have been allocated for purchase of the abandoned Beltline corridor in downtown Durham. In summary, we continue to do what we can as volunteers to make the American Tobacco Trail a great place to go for a walk, run or cycle.Your donations help to buy tools and supplies, create and print the ATT map, and fund important special projects. All of us at TRTC thank you for your support. And in the meantime, we hope to see you out on the ATT soon! Sincerely, Dilys Bowman, President Triangle Rails to Trails Conservancy www.triangletrails.org dilys.bowman at gmail.com 919 968-1583 To print and mail a membership form, or to renew online via PayPal with whatever amount you can spare:Please go to http://triangletrails.org/MEMBERS.HTM. We appreciate your help! If you have any questions about joining or making a tax-deductible contribution to TRTC, or if you have any questions about your existing or past membership, please contact TRTC Treasurer Moria Smoski moriajoy at gmail.com (919) 383 4930. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: