[Durham INC] why South Durham is what is getting developed

[Barry Ragin]

"But one great thing that seems untapped about North Durham is there is 
an abandoned rail spur that runs to Roxboro that would make the first 
great connection of that area to downtown by high-speed rail."

High speed rail from Roxboro to downtown? It's less than 30 miles 
between the town of Roxboro and downtown. You don't need high speed rail 
to cover that distance. If there were any stops on the line (which, to 
be honest, there would need to be to get any use out of a transit line 
along that route), you'd never even come close to reaching top speed.

That's not what's going to drive development in North Durham.

It would be much more cost efficient, and would move more people, to run 
a streetcar system up and down Roxboro St. between Infinity Road and the 
DPAC/Ballpark district first. Then run two perpendicular lines along 
Main St. and Club Blvd. Then add a 4th line between Duke Hospital and 
Latta Road. Put a hub at Club and Roxboro, and a terminal at the Kroger 
on Hillsborough Road to tie into the Main St. line and an eventual light 
rail line to Chapel Hill.

Build a transportation infrastructure within the existing city, and 
you'd be surprised how many more people could live here without having 
to expand into the sensitive watershed areas. Or turn existing towns 
into bedroom suburbs.

There are many, many reasons why the sprawl model of development has 
taken root in south Durham or much of Wake County. The existence of a 
WWTP is only one.

Barry Ragin

On 2/17/11 7:42 PM, RW Pickle wrote:
> I've been meaning to write this for some time in a effort to sort of put a
> bigger picture on why South Durham is/has been a hotbed for development;
> not just today, but in the last 20+ years. This just didn't happen
> overnight. And it happened long before I arrived here. Because what
> brought me here 30+ years ago was a plan that had already been set in
> motion long before I arrived.
>
> I came here as a field engineer for a construction company out of TN that
> was the general contractor for what was then the newest and largest waste
> water treatment plant (WWTP) in the region. It is the main WWTP on
> Ferrington Road for Durham. Now is all of this getting a little clearer...
>
> With the additional upgrades and expansion to the County's WWTP on Hwy.
> 55, most of the treatment capacity of waste water is on this side of town.
> Hence, all of the development. Without a treatment plant to tie into, you
> can not have density because you have to rely on septic systems. And with
> the soils in South Durham being what they are, some land would never perk
> to even be allowed to be buildable.
>
> So as we were building this WWTP facility, Cary was just getting started.
> Hard to believe it was just a sleepy little crossroads 30 years ago. If
> Durham had not built this plant and Cary or Chapel Hill would have
> expanded their services, we may have lost part of Durham to another city
> as it annexed areas into it that it served with water and sewer. Water
> isn't much of an issue as long as you have it somewhere because it flows
> under pressure. But waste water generally flows downhill by gravity.
>
> Meanwhile, the Little River Resevoir was being built to add water to the
> plan. And as it all has unfolded, South Durham has grown. I-40 came
> through. And for the most part, it now borders Chapel Hill and Cary.
>
> So what's next as our visionaries look toward the future? One can only
> think that with everything closing in on 3 of our sides that North Durham
> is the next big growth area. And there's plenty of room to grow. But
> they'll need WWTP and water as well as some major roads. But one great
> thing that seems untapped about North Durham is there is an abandoned rail
> spur that runs to Roxboro that would make the first great connection of
> that area to downtown by high-speed rail. And all the density you could
> want to build around it is there for the building because most of that
> land is undeveloped. It would change Durham if this plan was executed. The
> geographic density base would shift outside of the City to an area that
> could be planned. They'd say... "you can even see Durham from out here on
> a clear day..." as the ride the high-speed rail into Durham in 12 minutes
> from Roxboro.
>
> Someone's already planning our future just like it was planned when I
> arrived he 30+ years ago to build infrastructure. Don't just sit back and
> fuss about somethings that are already pretty much predetermined. Get
> involved and write the future because that is what will change Durham.
>
> Randy Pickle
>
> _______________________________________________
> Durham INC Mailing List
> list at durham-inc.org
> http://www.durham-inc.org/list.html
>