Are you tired of quarantining at home? Take a walk on a local greenway

Many residents might be looking for ways to get outside and enjoy the spring weather in wake of Orange County's stay-at-home order. 

According to the order, play centers, private and public playgrounds, skate parks and recreation centers will all be closed to the public in an attempt to mitigate the spread of coronavirus.

“By closing our parks and facilities, we’re able to minimize the occurrence of people congregating in close proximity and touching shared surfaces,” Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation Marketing and Sponsorship Coordinator Wes Tilghman said.

Despite parks and playgrounds being closed under the order, Orange County Board of Commissioners Chair Penny Rich said greenways and trails will remain open to the public. 

“The parts of the parks that are closed are where people would congregate and the equipment," she said. "That’s all kind of roped off, and we’ve closed the bathrooms because we don’t want people being close to each other.”

Rich said policies regarding the greenways have not changed in light of the order, although residents are being urged to be responsible and follow the physical distancing guidelines that are laid out in the stay-at-home order.

“We’re asking people to be responsible and use common sense,” Rich said. “We don’t have enough personnel to monitor all the greenways in Orange County, so we are asking people to monitor themselves.”

Tilghman said the Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation department is working on relaying information to their residents in order to increase awareness of physical distancing when using greenways and trails.

“We are currently working on adding to signs and messaging that we’re sharing with the public regarding social distancing and everything that we share regarding the greenways,” Tilghman said. “We are reminding folks to please use social distancing and always keep at least six feet between yourself and others while they enjoy the outdoors.”

Rich said construction projects involving greenways and trails are currently being put on hold unless they need to be finished for the safety of trail users. 

“Projects that are sort of underway that need to finish up for safety reasons will be completed, but everything else is going to be on hold until we have the opportunity to talk about the budget which is coming up,” she said.

Tilghman said one project in Chapel Hill that has been impacted is the Bolin Creek trail, which is in the final stages of constructing a trail connector.

“They are all currently open with the exception of some final phases to completing the trail connector for Bolin Creek, and there’s a short section on Bolin Creek that is closed. However, it has an alternate route around the closure to be able to continue use of the trail,” Tilghman said.

For Chapel Hill residents that are looking for larger trails that make it easier to practice social distancing, Tilghman offered up some suggestions.

“Some of our larger community parks, including Homestead Community Park and Southern Community Park, have large lots and trailheads that lead from the parks to the trails,” he said. “Certainly those would be some areas where you have more space between yourself and others with larger parking lots which access the trails.”

For a full list of greenways, visit the Town of Chapel Hill's website.

@jordanbarish

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