Wake County delays voter-backed parks projects as bond money falls short
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Wake County delays Buffalo Creek and Green Hills park projects to reallocate bond funds.
- Commissioners prioritize Kellam Wyatt and Lake Myra work amid bond shortfall.
- Inflation and rising construction costs forced earlier cuts across county bond projects.
Two parks projects will be delayed indefinitely as Wake County adjusts its plans to combat rising costs.
The Wake County Board of Commissioners agreed to push back two parks projects that voters originally backed as part of a $120 million parks bond in 2018.
“You hate to see these necessary cuts, but I know that to get some of these [other] projects going, it’s seemingly necessary,” Commissioner Tara Waters said. “I know that some folks were probably attached and expecting some projects closer to their own communities.”
Wake County staff members recommended postponing work on the Buffalo Creek Preserve and Green Hills County Park renovations in order to keep money flowing for other park projects, including work at Kellam Wyatt Park and Lake Myra Park.
In 2018, Wake County voters approved three bonds: $548 million for Wake County Public School System, $349 million for Wake Technical Community College and $120 million for parks, greenways, recreation and open space.
The $120 million parks bond was meant to pay for preserving 1,800 acres of open space, 15 miles of greenways and renovations at these county parks:
- Lake Crabtree
- Blue Jay
- Historic Oak View
- Harris Lake
- Crowder
- Historic Yates Mill
- Green Hills
- American Tobacco Trail
The bond money was also meant to help build new parks at Beech Bluff, Kellam-Wyatt and Lake Myra, and two new nature preserves.
Wake County leaders also added projects to the bond program after the vote, including $3.5 million for the design of the Swift Creek Greenway and $4.7 million for design of the Triangle Bikeway. Commissioner Vickie Adamson asked if work could be stopped on the Triangle Bikeway, a planned paved connection between Raleigh and Chapel Hill that runs parallel to Interstate 40.
“Post-pandemic, things have changed,” she said. “We’ve been out on tours showing how all the office buildings are empty. They can’t find tenants.”
However, staff members clarified that money was already committed for the Triangle Bikeway design work.
This isn’t the first cut to the parks bond.
Wake County leaders agreed to cut the Sinclair Nature Preserve and the renovations at the American Tobacco Trail to cover a budget shortfall for the Beech Bluff County Park, which opened earlier this year.
Inflation and increased cost of construction materials have forced other local governments to scale back bond projects. The city of Raleigh decided against expanding Six Forks Road despite it being included in a 2017 transit bond after the cost of the widening skyrocketed.
