RDU Public Workshop- Park Economy 3 Expansion -- 120 acres deforested for 7,000 new parking spaces
When: Thursday, July 20, 2023. 5-7pm (walk-in anytime)
Where: Airport Authority’s offices, in Conference Room 100 of the RDU Center at 1000 Trade Drive on the Raleigh-Durham International Airport, Morrisville, NC 27560. Parking is the "Cell Phone Lot" across from the Rental Car Returns.
What:
The Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority's (RDUAA) public workshop is THIS Thursday, July 20 at 5-7pm. It's a format with display boards and staff/consultants, so you can come and leave anytime between 5pm and 7pm.
The Park Economy 3 (PE3) parking expansion will rebuild the existing PE3 parking spaces and ADD another 7,000 new spaces. The project will impact (e.g., destroy the forested landscape) 120 acres and will be 50 feet along much of Haley's Branch and its tributaries as well as close as 112 feet from William B. Umstead State Park. The project appears to "squeeze" in as much imperious as would fit within 50 feet of Haley's Branch. In addition, the project is extremely close to the 150 acres of the bike/pedestrian trails on the east side of Haley's Branch currently leased by Wake County ("286 East").
RDUAA Board action is anticipated at their August 17 Board meeting.
Review the Draft Environmental Compliance Report (dated July 14, 2023, but just posted) here. Appendix A-H are linked from here.
The Appendixes include species inventory, stormwater control, wetland impacts, air quality, cultural resources, environmental justice, floodplain impacts, and mitigation measures to minimize project effects.
This surface parking lot project will result in a large loss of forested protection area for Umstead State Park and result in a large heat island, light pollution, noise pollution, habitat reduction, stormwater runoff and more affecting our Park. The draft Environmental Compliance Report implies these impacts will be minimal We disagree, more likely will be significant and detrimental impacts to our Park and downstream Lake Crabtree and Crabtree Creek. The draft report also ignores the vast amount of off-trail usage within Umstead State Park and only considers park users on the official park trails.
Public comments are requested on the draft report. Please attend workshop if can to learn more and also submit your public comments by the 5pm August 4 deadline to: publiccomment@rdu.com
The more public interest, the more likely the RDUAA Board will request more stringent protections for William B. Umstead State Park, Haley's Branch, Crabtree Lake, and Crabtree Creek.
