Spots lost near Umstead

RALEIGH -- In the beginning, they were two sleepy gravel roads that provided informal access to the Triangle's biggest playground. Runners, mountain bikers and hikers used them for quick -- and often after- and before-hours -- access to the 23 miles of hiking trail and 15 miles of bike and bridle trails that explore 5,500-acre Umstead State Park. There was no formal parking area, but there was plenty of room along the shoulders.

Then, the improvements began.

The first "No Parking" signs appeared more than 10 years ago at the point where Reedy Creek and Trenton Roads terminate into each other on the southeast side of Umstead. The first signs were just on either side of the intersection, and they were intended to keep the tight intersection open enough for motorists going the posted 35 mph.

"There's no parking in that vicinity so motorists can make turn at a reasonable speed," says Tom Norman, director of the Division of Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation for the state Department of Transportation.

That became a greater concern about three years ago as construction projects -- the paving of Reedy Creek and construction of the adjoining greenway, not to mention The Lakes at Umstead, a pricey housing neighborhood -- brought in hefty construction vehicles. The no-parking zone was extended.

Park users were concerned that the neighborhood entrance -- one of three at Umstead in addition to the main entrances off Interstate 40 and Glenwood Avenue -- would be closed. Park officials assured the worried users that the popular entrance wasn't closing, it was just losing a few roadside parking spots. The concerned were appeased.

Until this past week.

"What's the story on the new 'No Parking' signs on Reedy Creek Road at the south end of the park?" wrote Lin Savage, who visits the park regularly, on foot and by bike. "Surely those new residents were aware that they were moving in next to a park entrance."

No doubt they were; can you imagine a better amenity?

In fact, the reduction in parking has nothing to do with Umstead's new neighbors. It's a direct result of added recreation, namely the Reedy Creek Greenway. The final stretch of that 2.3-mile greenway, from Edwards Mill Road to Umstead, opened last year. The greenway turned gravely Reedy Creek Road into an island-divided two-lane road with an adjoining greenway.

The problem?

Those enhancements gobbled up the roadside parking.

"N.C. DOT installed those signs for the protection of the greenway trail and for erosion control," says Vic Lebsock, Raleigh's greenway guru. "People were parking on the greenway and in the ditch, destroying the grass in the drainage." As a result, 15 "No Parking" signs spaced at roughly 60-foot intervals now line a stretch of Reedy Creek.

There's another reason the signs went up, says Umstead State Park superintendent Martha Woods: Most people couldn't park without their tires spilling out onto the street.

"It's a safety concern for sure," says Woods.

Woods isn't sure exactly how many people -- 560,000 visited Umstead last year -- use the park's three neighborhood entrances (the other two are off Graylyn Road on the east side of the park and Old Reedy Creek Road on the west side, near Lake Crabtree), but the number is "significant." The entrances are particularly popular for folks who like to enjoy the park before its official 8 a.m. opening.

(FYI, although the park's posted opening is 8 a.m., its entrances are generally open at 7:30 a.m., when maintenance workers arrive. And on Saturday, the Trenton/Reedy Creek entrance officially opens at 7 a.m.)

As for parking options for Trenton/Reedy Creek users, Vic Lebsock says the City of Raleigh has $35,000 set aside for a parking lot in the vicinity.

"I'd like to accommodate 20 or 25 cars at the most," he says. "But I can't identify any suitable land out there."

So where can you park, legally, to enter Umstead at the Reedy Creek/Trenton entrance?

"The [N.C.] Museum of Art would be the closest parking," says Lebsock.

That's about 2.25 miles down the road.