
{"id":11296,"date":"2010-07-01T15:29:10","date_gmt":"2010-07-01T23:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=11296"},"modified":"2010-07-01T15:29:10","modified_gmt":"2010-07-01T23:29:10","slug":"on-environment-and-competing-interests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2010\/07\/01\/on-environment-and-competing-interests\/","title":{"rendered":"On environment and competing interests"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Michael Birenbach<\/p>\n<p>I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a new resident of Carrboro. I moved here from Cary last year in June. I moved here for the trees and the town\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s smaller-neighborhood feel, as well as for the schools within five minutes of our house. So far, I like it a lot. Just the lack of chain\u00c2\u00a0restaurants\u00c2\u00a0is enough to please me!<\/p>\n<p>I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m writing to express my dislike of the idea of paving the route along the most sensitive parts of Bolin Creek, as recommended to the Carrboro Greenways Commission by Greenways Inc. of Durham. My first reaction on hearing news of this plan was, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If you want that, move to Cary.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>Most trails in Cary are neat, trimmed and perfectly paved. One may as well walk down the street as walk through the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153woods\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in Cary. An unfair characterization? Maybe.<\/p>\n<p>Though paving may seem like a good idea at first blush, it is clearly anathema to the spirit of Bolin Creek and its woodlands. The negative consequences of paving include degraded ecology and reduction of truly natural spaces currently available to residents.<\/p>\n<p>A study from the University of California at Davis investigated the effects of roadways, and some of its findings are relevant and can be applied to the smaller scale of the Bolin Forest trail system and the plan to turn the Bolin Creek trail into a 10-foot-wide paved alternative transportation route. <\/p>\n<p>As the UC Davis study notes: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Transportation planning can involve\u00c2\u00a0many private and public entities\u00c2\u00a0and disciplines.\u00c2\u00a0Rarely does it involve natural sciences\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (emphasis mine).<\/p>\n<p>On the subject of effects of road construction on a surrounding area, the study states:<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 10-100m from a paved surface: road construction &#038; roadside\u00c2\u00a0management, [increased] weeds, local\u00c2\u00a0pollution &#8230; and noise;<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2  100-1,000m from a paved surface: downstream pollution, erosion,\u00c2\u00a0stream habitat alteration, noise\u00c2\u00a0aversion;<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 >1,000m from a paved surface: landscape fragmentation, local &#038;\u00c2\u00a0regional extinction, weed\u00c2\u00a0invasions, large mammal\u00c2\u00a0movement &#8230; climate\u00c2\u00a0change.<\/p>\n<p>Let me address the last point: climate change. After my move from Cary last year, when my commute went from only within Wake County to an east-west route to and from Wake County, I felt a noticeable\u00c2\u00a0temperate drop in traveling west past\u00c2\u00a0Southpoint Mall at Fayetteville\u00c2\u00a0Road. I noticed this because many times I ride a motorcycle. I did some searching and found average temperatures for the last 30 years (source: weatherbase.com):<\/p>\n<p>Average temp<br \/>\nCary: 60.3<br \/>\nCarrboro: 57.9<br \/>\nDifference: 2.4<\/p>\n<p>These data show, on average, Carrboro has been more than two degrees\u00c2\u00a0cooler! Why? I believe the answer can be found by looking at a satellite view on Google Maps. Compared to east of us, we have significantly more greenery. Pavement, even white concrete,\u00c2\u00a0absorbs\u00c2\u00a0and holds heat. This creates the well-documented \u00e2\u20ac\u0153heat island effect.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>To what end will the current debate bring us? My hope is better solutions will be found:<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 For creek erosion. Members of the Friends of Bolin Creek are working on a restoration and conservation plan. The Town of Carrboro, meanwhile, is involved in restoration efforts. Water-bars on side trails will help immensely, given that these trails create most sedimentation problems.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2  For alternative transportation routes. Carrboro, Chapel Hill and UNC all have existing or planned bike lanes surrounding this entire stretch of forest. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2  For access for all to this natural beauty. Groups are working to make this a nature preserve, open to everyone. Yet accessibility does not mean a paved transportation route through the most sensitive part of a forest, in the heart of a riparian zone next to the creek. If we pave over the Bolin Creek trail, the creek\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s natural beauty will be lost, and no one will have access to what now is so special about this area.<br \/>\n(The\u00c2\u00a0UC-Davis study can be found at roadecology.ucdavis.edu\/pdflib\/TTP_289\/W08\/Modeling_effect_zone_11508.pdf) <\/p>\n<p><em>Michael Birenbach is a founding member of Save Bolin Creek.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m writing to express my dislike of the idea of paving the route along the most sensitive parts of Bolin Creek, as recommended to the Carrboro Greenways Commission by Greenways Inc. of Durham. My first reaction on hearing news of this plan was, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153If you want that, move to Cary.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11296"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11296\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11321,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11296\/revisions\/11321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}