Sig Hutchinson: ‘Emerald necklace of nature’ possible

Regarding the Aug. 29 editorial “Keep RDU ‘green’ ”: As someone who has been advocating for trails and greenways for 20 years, I can’t overstate the importance of this opportunity..

What makes Wake County such a wonderful place to live, drawing talented young professionals from around the world, is our recreational diversity.

Imagine an emerald necklace of parks, open space and accessible trails starting at Lake Crabtree County Park and continuing along a beautiful natural corridor of green space connecting to Umstead State Park, Schenck Forest, Prairie Ridge Park, the N.C. Museum of Art Park, Pullen Park, Dix Park, Chavis Park ultimately to the Neuse River Greenway, Anderson Point Park and beyond.

Now imagine a mountain biking destination of 30-plus miles of trails at all levels of interest and challenge. Add in access to the trails at Umstead for hiking and biking from BikeShare at the N.C. Museum of Art with access to downtown Raleigh in one direction and to the American Tobacco Trail and Durham in the other.

The possibilities are just amazing to create a recreational mecca unsurpassed on the East Coast.

Clearly, RDU is a valuable asset that will need our support to continue to expand. I believe we can find a solution that can meet the needs of the growing airport and create a recreational mecca.

This story was originally published September 3, 2016 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Sig Hutchinson: ‘Emerald necklace of nature’ possible."