Plans are underway to hire a contractor and repair the Richland Creek Greenway.
The greenway, which begins at the Cottage at Olde Mill Stream, 901 Barnford Mill Road, has been closed for over a year due to potential safety risks associated with severe stream bank erosion and greenway undermining.
Since the greenway’s closure Wake Forest has been coordinating with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the NC Division of Water Resources to repair or relocate the greenway. Late last year crews attempted to re-grade and strengthen the stream bank with coir matting, native non-invasive live stakes and container plants. The effort proved unsuccessful after an unusually wet spring weakened and eroded the repaired stream bank.
The latest effort to stabilize the stream banks and reopen the trail will involve relocating approximately 250 linear feet of Richland Creek away from the greenway trail and sewer lines. The plan also calls for the addition of log vanes to redirect the water flow as a means of reducing water velocities.
Weather permitting, the trail could re-open as early as mid-December.
The town made the decision to close the greenway in August 2013 after an inspection by the town’s urban forester and engineering department, along with a team of creek restoration experts, revealed a rapid increase in creek erosion along the greenway brought on by heavy rains during the spring and early summer. The creek erosion resulted in the undermining of the greenway’s foundation which caused several trees to fall over and left others in danger of collapsing on both sides of the trail. In addition to the threat to personal safety, the unstable trees posed a serious risk to several electric lines and a large sewer pipe in the area.
Signs are posted at the trail heads notifying users of the greenway closure. The public’s continued patience and cooperation is appreciated.
For more information, contact Assistant Town Engineer Holly Miller at 919-435-9443 or hmiller@wakeforestc.gov or Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources Director Ruben Wall at 919-435-9561 or rwall@wakeforestnc.gov.
For more information about the Richland Creek Greenway and all of Wake Forest’s greenways, visit www.wakeforestnc.gov/greenways.aspx.
