A Holiday Present to Users of the American Tobacco Trail (ATT)

On December 15th, the Triangle Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (TRTC) gave users of the ATT an early Christmas present with the opening of the Pittard Sears parking area. This medium sized lot (~18 cars) is located adjacent to the ATT crossing of Pittard Sears Road and is approximately in the middle of the Chatham County portion of the trail. This opening wraps up a 2+ year effort by TRTC to find a suitable site for parking in Chatham and to work with local organizations to raise the funding which made this fine trail amenity possible. The area was originally a sight triangle for the former rail corridor and is a portion of the corridor parcels owned by NCDOT's Rail Division and leased to Chatham for their section of the ATT. Major funding was provided by the Tobacco Road Marathon, the ATT 10 Miler Road Race, and the Carolina Tarwheels Bicycling Club. In addition to providing much needed parking, the area will have a seasonal water fountain to be installed just off the trail in the next few weeks. Major funding for the fountain was provided by a grant from Recreational Equipment Incorporated (REI). For more info and images of this project please see TRTC's web site.