Buffalo Creek Greenway
Wendell, North Carolina
Planning Communities is supporting the development of the conceptual design of Buffalo Creek Greenway/Multi-Use Path, an 8.7-mile long proposed greenway connecting downtown to a county nature preserve. The effort also includes Phase 1 construction design plans for the initial 1-mile section of the greenway connecting to the Town's community center. Planning Communities is leading the community context assessment and will work with the project team to integrate community needs, engagement input and planning context considerations into greenway planning to fulfill the community’s vision for the project, including trail connections, amenities, aesthetics and natural features, and design treatments.
An image from the conceptual design on the Buffalo Creek Greenway
The firm reviewed local plans, gathered relevant GIS and other data, and prepared a geospatial analysis and mapping to develop a summary of the community context, including surrounding land uses, activity centers, connecting mobility resources/facilities and demographic characteristics of neighboring communities. The firm also developed metrics for plan development to ensure that community context, needs, preferences, and equity considerations are integrated into greenway planning. The Community Context Analysis and metrics have been integrated into the planning and design for the greenway.
A heat severity of flooding hazard map for the Buffalo Creek Greenway area in Wendell, NC
Planning Communities is also delivering an equitable engagement program to inform the greenway plan. The Community Context Analysis has been used to inform project engagement in order to reach those most impacted by the development of the greenway, prioritize underserved communities, encourage diverse community participation, and facilitate meaningful input into the design process. Priorities for the engagement strategies include connecting with communities that have not been as engaged historically in the process, such as communities of color, limited English proficiency population, youth, low-income, and others. Direct engagement activities include leveraging outreach to community organizations and leaders, canvassing in nearby communities and local businesses, and hosting and attending community-wide events using interactive techniques to encourage input and feedback.
A map of the percentage of minority population in the Buffalo Creek Greenway area in Wendell, NC
A key element for project planning engagement was development of an ESRI ArcGIS Hub site including interactive online mapping for location-specific commenting and an ArcGIS Survey. This site is being leveraged to further enhance engagement, encouraging participation by community members who may have barriers to attending in-person events and by those who prefer to offer feedback in an alternative way. The website enables the project team to gather community feedback with geospatial elements and cloud-based data storage, which allows for a centralized and organized process combining online and in-person engagement.
