Monday evening Mayor Vivian Jones, now in her fifth term, said the state of the Town of Wake Forest is excellent as she succeeded in praising almost every group in town from the town’s employees and advisory board volunteers to a new program, Launch Wake Forest, and a new event, the Lineman’s Rodeo in April, a one-time event.
She began by praising Betty Pearce, the administrative assistant in the public works department who also, with department head Mike Barton, has mapped all of the Wake Forest Cemetery. She also organized some men in the department into a group to keep the Dr. Calvin Jones Highway (the NC 98 Bypass) free of litter.
Later, she recognized Barton, who is retiring in April after 20 years with the town, 15 of those as the head of public works.
She singled out the many volunteer and civic groups, and a large part of the 200 people at the Wake Forest Presbyterian Church for the dinner are members of one or several of those groups. Think Koinonia, Rotary, Kiwanis, SING-WF, Wake Forest Arts, etc.
Jones also told the group that it takes a lot of time to accomplish some projects. Last year the town opened 3.2 greenway miles. “But you have to go back fifteen years to really understand how we go to this point. The greenway plan was adopted in 2002 so the vision was established at that time.” The point is, she said, that it can take many years, many people and many hours of work to achieve some goals.
She mentioned the new Wake Forest Aquatic Center due to open in May with new pools and a pump house, the new sprayground at Taylor Park that opened briefly last year, pickle ball courts, the future community house at Joyner Park, the extension of the South White Street streetscape from Elm south to East Holding Avenue and the expansion of the senior center.
She expanded on the renovations underway at the Renaissance Centre that are being paid for by town funds and money from the Wake County hotel, food and beverage tax, and thanked the county commissioners for the money. Wake Commissioners Erv Portman, John Burns and Matt Calabria all stood to applause. They were at a table with Town Manager Kip Padgett.
A large section of the speech was devoted to the transportation projects that will get underway soon.
“The upgrade to a complete street status of Stadium Drive will begin shortly and be completed in late 2019. Rogers Road widening will take place within a couple of years in conjunction with the railroad underpass. Pedestrian connections on Wait and Oak Avenues and several road connections will be completed this year. Design work is being done on the Durham Road pedestrian corridor with construction planned for 2021 and the Harris Road roundabout is under design with construction in 2020.
“Turning Capital Boulevard into a freeway is a project funded by NCDOT and scheduled to begin construction in early 2020. This will make it much easier to get to Raleigh and beyond.
As you know, I have served for the past three years on the GoTriangle Board of Trustees. I am excited that the voters passed the Wake County Transit Plan in 2016.
What this means for Wake Forest is that over the next couple of years, we will be able to expand our express bus service to Raleigh and our local loop bus, making it more convenient for more people. We will watch carefully to be sure Wake Forest benefits as soon as possible. There are also plans for commuter rail in later years.
As you can see, here again, we are talking about the fact that it is a long time from conception to completion and we appreciate your patience as we work through this.”
The dinner is hosted by the Wake Forest Rotary Club, the food was catered by The Forks Cafeteria, the table arrangements (also door prizes) were made by Wake Forest Florist & Gifts, and the Heritage High School Jazz Ensemble provided music.
