We, the town voters, approved a $75million bond referendum in November 2022
for parks and recreation, roads and transportation, greenways and parking facilities, and the projects are beginning to take shape as described during the recent town board retreat.
Construction of phase three of the Dunn Creek greenway– NC 98 to East Juniper Avenue — will start this year and phases two and three of the Smith Creek greenway are planned for construction in 2026.
Nine bus shelters with benches and 10 stand-alone benches will be built this year, and design is underway for traffic signals at two intersections — Forestville Road at Coach Lantern and Wait Avenue and Middlegame Way.
The G.G. Hill Water Treatment Plant will be decommissioned, and the dam at Wake Forest Reservoir will be built higher to decrease the probability of a hazard. The design for both is underway and construction will begin in 2026.
The athletic field lighting systems in Flaherty Park, Tyler Run Park and Heritage High School fields and tennis courts will be replaced with systems that allow for remote monitoring, beginning in November of this year.
Ailey Young Park will be given universal accessibility by sidewalks and other improvements, more parking, expanded bathrooms, lights on the athletic field and 0.29 miles of Dunn Creek greenway starting in the fall of 2026.
And then there is Joyner Park phase three, which itself has three phases:
* Phase 3A — a pickleball complex of 14 courts, large enough for regional tournaments, infrastructure, lighting, restrooms, administrative offices and parking.
* Phase 3B — baseball fields, lighting, restrooms and parking.
* Phase 3C — tennis courts, volleyball courts, basketball courts and lighting.
There is no date given.
At the recent town board retreat, Ruben Wall, director of the Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources Department, spent considerable time describing what will be built in the third phase of Joyner Park. The commissioners asked questions but agreed to its construction.
The upgrades at Flaherty Park Field #2 could begin thin the third phase of Jois year — bids were opened January 18 — and the town has a grant from the NC General Assembly of $500,000. Those upgrades are an ADA Accessible ramp from the parking lot, a new public announcement speaker system, new bleachers, enhanced dugouts and enhanced bull pens.
When the town bought the land for the J.B. Flaherty Park — named for the farmer who owned the land — the town bought 111.57 acres, and staff estimates about 51 acres are used for the center and the sports facilities, Wall said. The remaining 61 acres is conservation land, contributing to the town’s tree canopy and refuge for wildlife.
The Skate & Pump Park will not be built near the senior center. Instead the town is purchasing 8.3 acres in Devon Square subdivision and will build it there.
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